Infrabel is responsible for the Belgian rail network. 12 364 employees ensure day-to-day operation of the equipment: track, overhead line, points, signals, level crossings etc. Infrabel’s mission is to develop a safe and high-quality rail network for all trains of tomorrow. As infrastructure manager and operator of the Belgian rail network, Infrabel distributes the space on the track and coordinates all train journeys on Belgian territory. The infrastructure department of Infrabel consists of a number of technical departments. In addition, the country is divided into 5 areas and 22 districts. These different entities historically have a fairly large autonomy, resulting in a wide variety of culture, processes and IT tools.

The task
In the future there will be fewer staff available and fewer financial resources, which will make it necessary to bring more specialization (more focus) into the organization. This means that Analysis, Work Preparation & Planning and Implementation will be concentrated. The so-called Green, Blue and Red cells. Infrabel needed change management support during the transition to this new organizational model.

The approach
Mainnovation supported Infrabel by making Change Coaches available in the field of “Work Preparation and Planning” in order to set up the improvement engine and keep it going when setting up Blue cells. These change coaches supported this change process in the change course, from “Shop Floor to Top Floor”. The current maturity of the executive teams and their knowledge and expectations were taken into account. A Change Coach also managed the “continuous improvement circles” in the area of processes, content, IT and organization for each area. This way, processes that have been drawn up have been refined based on experiences. Best Practices were collected, communicated and provided with an update where desired.
A complete set of tools and Best Practices has been introduced to integrate into asset management. Workshops have also been facilitated to guide the desired change in the transition from current state to future state and a roll-out plan has also been set up. At the same time, the change management and communication process is supported.

Added value of Mainnovation
The added value of Mainnovation was the transfer of knowledge, both with regard to maintenance processes and in particular work preparation and planning as well as change management and performance management.

One Cell, One Team

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