70% increase in efficiency
Faster railway maintenance operations following the installation of an Aquakleen Automatic parts washer.
Simplify operations management
Easier maintenance operations at external construction sites thanks to our complete parts cleaning solution.
Non-hazardous washing solution
Using a non-flammable, VOC-free water-based detergent to create a safer and healthier working environment.
Faiveley Transport Italy needed to find a substantially more effective and efficient way to clean brake components and wagon access platforms in order to carry out maintenance activities for Italy’s largest railway company, while taking into account the restrictions present at the client’s site.
With Safetykleen’s assistance, Faiveley was able to meet all of its technical requirements, and to use their adoption of the Safetykleen all-in-one parts cleaning service to help overhaul operations at an external construction site and produce an overall increase in efficiency of 70%.
The company and its needs
Faiveley Transport is a large French company with over a century of involvement in the production and supply of railway accessories, ranging from devices such as single-arm pantographs and sliding door systems to braking and air conditioning systems.
In December 2016, the company merged with the American company Wabtec, establishing one of the world’s largest multinationals in the railway engineering and plant engineering industries, with 27,000 employees in 30 countries and an annual revenue of around eight-billion dollars.
Since then, the Group’s Transit segment – which encompasses all activities related to passenger transport – has continued to operate under the name Faiveley Transport, offering maintenance services and producing a wide range of components and systems for the safety, reliability and efficiency of trains, trams and buses.
The Italian division of the group, Faiveley Transport Italy, based in Piossasco, Turin, specializes in the overhaul of braking systems and access points on carriages and locomotives (sliding doors, retractable steplines, etc) for very important rail customers in Italy and abroad.
Among its clients are Voghera, Verona, Vicenza and Torre del Greco, the most important Italian railway group, for which it carries out maintenance services at its nationwide workshops.
In order to make maintenance activities as efficient as possible, Faiveley Transport Italy works directly with customers at their workshops, creating special external construction sites where all overhaul services are provided.
Working inside your customer’s locations, however, can pose some interesting technical challenges, since you are essentially “guests at someone else’s home”. Operating on sites not within your control can mean being subject to stringent limitations regarding the use of space and safety protocols, as well as having reduced freedom when it comes to changing workspace layout, equipment and processes.
Safetykleen’s collaboration with Faiveley Transport Italy began in 2016 with the installation of parts cleaning services at the site in Piossasco. Once the value of the services provided became clear, Faiveley explained their need for further support, particularly at the construction site of their client, Vicenza. This was the first important step towards what would become a nationwide partnership that continues to this day.
The Safetykleen solution
Maintaining any machinery or system involves periodic disassembly of some or all of its parts so that they can be thoroughly cleaned, removing dirt that can cause damage and inefficiency, and providing an opportunity to inspect individual components for signs of wear-and-tear. For this reason, parts cleaning solutions are highly valued by maintenance departments in a whole range of industries.
Back in 2016, Faiveley Transport Italy did not use any machinery to clean the components of the braking and access systems, but relied upon the manual cleaning carried out by its employees with cloths, solvents and a good dose of elbow grease. Hand washing every single piece was a long and tedious cleaning process with non-standardized results that did not fully satisfy the company. The cleaning of the parts and mechanisms with the most complex geometries, moreover, was rather difficult with the former process.
When Safetykleen recommended the installation of a large fully automated Aquakleen Automatic parts washer that used a non-hazardous, non-flammable and VOC-free water-based detergent, and that came as just one part of a service approach that meant no stocks were stored on-site and that waste disposal was included as standard, Faiveley Transport Italy was eager to change its approach.
Thanks to the parts washers provided, we have been able to optimise lead times by providing our operators with perfectly clean parts that make their overhaul operations much easier. In addition, the regular parts cleaning machine maintenance and waste management services provided by Safetykleen have enabled us to benefit fully from the machines over the years (with no interruptions due to breakdown). Finally, and something not to underestimate, is the added value in terms our enhanced reputation in the eyes of customers!
Luciano Arduino, Depo Responsible, Faiveley Transport Italy
Given the results achieved at the Vicenza site, it did not take long to expand the use of Safetykleen’s parts washers to the Verona construction site.
Here Faiveley Transport Italy was already using a customer-owned machine, but it was struggling to cope with the cleaning volume and frequency necessary for the maintenance of brakes and access systems. Installing one of our Aquakleen Automatic machines has made parts cleaning much easier. Safetykleen has also been able to provide a service-only support package for the parts washer belonging to the site owner that includes a regular supply of fresh parts cleaning fluid matched to the materials being cleaned, the contaminants being removed and the machine being used, as well as the compliant disposal of any used cleaning fluids.
And so, when Faiveley Transport Italy was awarded another contract by the same customer, for the maintenance of braking systems and access at workshops in Voghera and Torre del Greco, they immediately contacted Safetykleen to be their parts cleaning partner there as well. Parts washers were installed at the new sites, and the same all-in-one service of supply management, machine maintenance and waste management was put in place.
The results
The results of our collaboration with Faiveley Transport Italy over the years have led to the creation of a real partnership that guarantees the company peace of mind.
- Excellent levels of cleanliness
The parts cleaning solution provided by Safetykleen enables a level of cleaning in line with the technical needs of Faiveley Transport Italy, even when it comes to complex shares and components. - Process automation
The introduction of highly effective automatic parts cleaning machines has allowed the company to significantly reduce the number of hours spent cleaning parts, because its employees now focus on other tasks while the parts washers are in action. Overall, it has amounted to a 70% increase in team efficiency at each external construction site. - Comprehensive documentation management
Safetykleen provides its customers (and its customers’ customers when necessary) with all the compliance documentation relating to the part cleaning service in place: The safety data sheets for cleaning fluids, the machine manuals, the waste identification forms and the documents for all the employees who will have access to the site in order to carry out the liquid replacement and machine maintenance. Such careful, punctual and external management of documents relating to the environment and safety can be particularly useful in the event that you work at your client’s premises. - Production and waste management by Safetykleen
Since our parts washers are supplied to customers on loan for use, Safetykleen is the legitimate producer of the waste generated by the machine during maintenance. This means that Faiveley Transport Italy does not need to establish a register of loading and unloading of waste at its external sites in order to manage spent washing liquids, which translates into a substantial saving of time, especially if there are numerous sites and the management is remote. - No storage of chemicals or waste
Safetykleen takes care of supplying and replacing the cleaning solutions used in the parts washers. At scheduled intervals, the fresh are brought to the site to remove and replace the spent ones in one visit so that the customer does not have to worry about stockpiling cleaning fluids. And since Safetykleen removes spent liquids in the same visit, there’s no need to store waste either, it is removed and disposed of as soon as it is generated. - Non-hazardous solution
Compared to previous manual parts cleaning systems that involved the use of solvents, the automatic parts washers supplied use a non-hazardous, non-flammable and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds)-free, water-based detergent, for a safer and healthier working environment. - Widespread presence
Thanks to its network of branches, Safetykleen is well able to support customers as their operations expand. And so, when Faiveley Transport Italy obtained new contracts in Voghera and Torre del Greco, they was already confident that Safetykleen would be able to support them at the new sites.
