Vol. 17 No. 5
May, 1987
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Stay Safe in 87
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Computerized YARDS Program Tailored for Shop's
Needs
On Line
Gentlemen: A.W. Olson, project manager, YARDS (left) headed a seven-person team which
implemented the Yard Activity Reporting Decision System at the new Golden car shop. Two of the other members of the
team who spent three weeks in Golden doing the training are analysts - data capture Jack Suzuki (right) and Brian
Skelton.
Golden B.C. - An integral part of bringing the new car repair shop on stream was
the implementation of CP Rail's special computerized Yard Activity Reporting Decision System (YARDS) to assist the
shop's over-all maintenance program.
A.W. Olson, YARDS project manager, headed a seven-person team in bringing the system to Golden.
Mr. Olson, and his team were stationed here during the latter part of March and early April. Their job was to
instruct employees in the use of YARDS.
EFFICIENT
"YARDS was pioneered in Vancouver in 1978 and serves to improve the efficiency of railway terminal operations.
It replaces the old manual card inventory system.
"Using YARDS, the supervisor in Golden can gain immediate information about car location by track and location,
inventory of empty and loaded cars, status of cars requiring repairs, and movement of records of individual cars or
groups of cars," he said.
Ray Robson, regional mechanical officer, said the system has been tailored to the car shop's particular needs.
"There is a tremendous base of information available. The planned maintenance system has been specially designed
for the coal car fleet. This will assist management in scheduling cars for maintenance. An additional useful system
for the car shop is the car maintenance information system which provides a history of repair work done," he
explained.
Using computer systems to assist in coordinating the multitude of tasks at the new shop means that CP Rail can ensure
its coal car maintenance program is in step with the demand to keep Canadian coal moving smoothly to
market.
This CP Rail News article is copyright
1987 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with
their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Company.
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