Spain—EMT Madrid: Vehicle Maintenance Processing Using SOA-for-SAP Approach

Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid SA (EMT Madrid) provides transportation throughout the city of Madrid, Spain, through a network of 2,000 buses that run on 190 city lines to serve 500 million riders annually.

Accenture was able to deliver a significant improvement in vehicle maintenance processes through the integration of SAP and non-SAP applications, processes and roles.

Whether we talk about a public transportation company or a private one, vehicle maintenance is one of the more critical core business processes. For EMT Madrid, which annually serves more than 5 million passengers on a 24/7 basis with a fleet of 2,000 buses, vehicle maintenance processing requirements are at a higher level, well beyond the definition of “demanding.” In this scenario, a major improvement in streamlining vehicle repair processes and reducing bus downtime could mean a sound savings increase in the company’s operating costs.

Using our SOA-for-SAP approach, Accenture was able to deliver a significant improvement in vehicle maintenance processes through the integration of SAP and non-SAP applications, processes and roles located on the buses, in the garages and on the mechanical floors. This enabled on-the-road information to be recorded directly on the SAP Maintenance processing application, expanding the vehicle maintenance processing out of the garage to include other agents such as bus drivers and bus road service agents.

The solution Accenture provided allows recording on-the-road information directly on the SAP Maintenance Processing application and planning in advance the maintenance workload. Additionally, it expands maintenance processes out of the garage and enhances process collaboration, including other agents such as bus drivers and on bus road service agents.

Right from the mechanical floors—through cutting-edge touchpad kiosks equipped with touch screens, contactless card identification and barcode readers—garage mechanics and foremen were able to enter, using a comfortable and highly intuitive user interface, vehicle maintenance work time and material lists directly on the SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. Additionally, garage foremen could use these kiosks to assign the maintenance orders to appropriate mechanics based on the type of tasks to be performed.

Through these highly automated repair processes, EMT Madrid has achieved new levels of efficiency and productivity, which are hallmarks of high performance in the transportation industry. It has managed to reduce the repair cycle time—from detection to resolution—by as much as 80 percent, enabling the company to put 10 percent more buses on the road for their daily routes at 6 a.m.

Everyone involved is more efficient, too, especially in repair shops where productivity is up 30 percent. Most importantly, EMT Madrid is doing a better job of serving Madrid’s citizens and securing its competitive position in the face of future uncertainties.