59%
Reduction in FTE to meet demand requirements
Optimizing Staffing Levels for Heavy Maintenance Operations
Industry: Transportation, Logistics and Services
Service: Operations Strategy and Transformation
Service: People and Organization
Our Client
A large metropolitan rail operator’s heavy maintenance facility in Chicago sought approval to increase staffing to support a new weekly target of 30 passenger car inspections, up from a historical average of 23.
The Challenge
Leadership requested an independent assessment to determine the minimum staffing required and to identify operational improvement opportunities. Key challenges included:
- Uncertainty around actual labor needs for increased inspection volume.
- Inconsistent use of standard labor hours across car types and maintenance tasks.
- Lack of cleaning labor standards and unclear bad order repair projections.
- Potential overstaffing in a mixed-craft environment without efficiency validation.
Real Results Achieved Together
EFESO optimized rail maintenance staffing through productivity analysis, reducing workforce by 59% while meeting increased inspection targets.
Transformation Impact
- Recommended reduction in mixed-craft staffing from 136 to 81
Our Approach
EFESO conducted a detailed productivity analysis to determine optimal staffing levels:
Standard Hour Benchmarking
- Collected and compared standard labor hours across various car types; validated against foreman estimates.
Craft-Level Workload Modeling
- Calculated required labor hours by craft for maintaining 30 cars per week.
On-site Process Observations
- Assessed actual work hours and validated operational flow through time studies.
Adjustment for Unscheduled Work
- Incorporated bad order repair hours based on historical performance data.
Staffing Optimization
- Modeled FTE requirements to align workforce levels with forecasted workload.
Related Services
Operations Strategy and Transformation
Helping organizations rethink how they create value. We strengthen performance, build resilience, and accelerate growth across every layer of your business.
Facing Similar Challenges?
- Conduct detailed productivity analyses to determine optimal staffing levels.
- Utilize historical performance data to adjust for unscheduled work.
- Model FTE requirements to align workforce levels with workload.
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