Carmen Rail Solution improves operational efficiency at Rail Gourmet

Carmen Systems AB has successfully completed delivery of the Carmen Rail Solution (CRS) to the Spanish operations of Rail Gourmet, a European rail catering and passenger care company. 450 restaurant staff on Spanish trains are now scheduled with CRS Shifts (Pairing) and Rosters.

Indications are that the Carmen Rail Solution should be able to save Rail Gourmet more than EUR 700,000 each year, mainly due to an estimated 7% reduction in crew costs when staffing the network. The Carmen Rail Solution also reduces the dependency of Rail Gourmet on a small number of key planners, as well as giving Rail Gourmet the capability to simulate different business scenarios in order to further develop their operations. Implementation work included the complete modelling of all crew rules and regulations, deployment of the software solution enabling the generation of optimized shifts and rosters, plus training of staff in the use of the system for production planning and simulation work. The system was taken into full production during January 2006. Anders Liestam, CEO of Rail Gourmet España said, “We are very pleased with the project results. The most important benefits achieved are substantial crew savings, a stable planning process and reduced dependency on key planners. We were also impressed by the result and the commitment of Carmen’s friendly and efficient team.” Joe Forbes, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Carmen Systems said, “The challenge was to reduce operational costs of Rail Gourmet, whilst delivering to a tight time frame. This was achieved due to the close co-operation between Carmen’s delivery team and Rail Gourmet’s project team.”