We had the opportunity to interview Isabelle Garcia, who is in charge of the management of change at the SNCF, the National French Railway Company. She tells us about the use of BulldozAIR in the domains of maintenance and construction, and explains how BulldozAIR enabled her team to implement the digitalisation of their business processes.
Can you tell us about your role at Gares & Connexions?
My name is Isabelle Garcia, and I am in charge of the change management at the Department of Maintenance and Construction Work. We are currently working on the digitalization of our business processes.
How did you implement the digitalization of business processes?
We started by implementing, 18 months ago, a digital toolkit which gathered digital apps to improve the business processes of the operational staff. Therefore, for each process, we put two startups in competition, and selected the one which could best adapt to the SNCF functioning.
Generally speaking, we have a bottom-up approach, which means that it is the operational staff who lets us know, in brainstorming workshops, what are the areas that are creating problems on the fields. Then we put in competition, startups that could identify solutions.
How did you use BulldizAIR in the digitalization process?
With BulldozAIR, we wanted to find a solution to three areas for Gares & Connexions, and for the SNCF in general.
The first consists of enabling our operational staff to focus more on their core business: for example, our site supervisors are able to avoid time wasted in relation to internal communication, such as mailing or reports redaction, by making tools available to them, which enables them to communicate efficiently with their team members on the field.
Secondly, we are trying to deploy a much wider collaborative mode, because information sharing has become a crucial asset. We know that today, the power relies on sharing. Faster information, results in more efficient staff, which further results in more satisfied customers.
And thirdly, we have real stacks on traceability and transparency for Gares & Connexions. Indeed, we have to offer full transparency to the SNCF and to all the other carriers which are going through our stations. Also, since we are managing work sites with regulatory obligations, we need an exhaustive traceability.
A tool like BulldozAIR brought solutions to all of these three points.
How was the deployment of BulldozAIR implemented?
So the deployment has been taking place since October 2015, on a sample of 100 employees, in the cities of Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux. For each launch, BulldozAIR provided us with a resource person who made a demo. In addition, we found regional ambassadors very quickly.
Have you been supported by BulldozAIR during this deployment?
Yes, the BulldozAIR accompaniment has been very helpful in the deployment of the app. The BulldozAIR team assisted us in the launching of the app and in the follow-up of the implementation of the app, with online formations and a very interactive support. I also had a weekly report with KPI and factual elements to measure the rate of adherence, the involvement of the staff and the picking-up of the app.
Would you have any figures to illustrate the rate of adherence for BulldozAIR?
We have had 8700 photos taken with BulldozAIR, and more than 6000 documents uploaded in the app by our staff sample during the first six months of the experiment.
Would you have any advice for a company which would like to digitize?
If I had to give advice to another company which would like to digitize with BulldozAIR, I would say: Go for it!
In addition to the interview with Isabelle Garcia, we had the opportunity to interview François Fernandez, project manager at the SNCF, on his daily use of BulldozAIR.
Could you tell us about your profession?
Hello, my name is François Fernandez, I am a project manager at the SNCF and I specialize in the replacement of lifts and escalators in the region of France.
When I arrive on a worksite, my first step is to open BulldozAIR, to take photos and to note observations. Thereafter I share this information, either by transforming it via the app into Word reports, or by inviting those responsible for the building site to share my project directly on BulldozAIR.
What are the benefits of working with BulldozAIR?
One of the main benefits of BulldozAIR is that the app enables me to work, with my collaborators, from the same source of information, which is essential in a project. Indeed, each participant notices specific points according to his own view on the project, and it is the synthesis of all these elements which make the project successful.
Also, in more practical terms, for each project, we have around two or three kilos of paper for the requirement stipulations. As for me, since I am supervising several projects, this turns out to be an important load of documents. Therefore, BulldozAIR, by stocking all the documentation and giving quick and easy access to it, has become an indispensable tool for me.
Feel free to contact us if, like Isabelle Garcia, you are interested in giving a testimony or if you have any question.
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