Rail Network Expansion Feasibility Study
Operational efficiency presents rail network capacity increase opportunity
- 3 minutes read
Our client is a copper mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange focused on large-scale, low-cost open pit mining in Kazakhstan and developing new copper mining projects in the CIS region. They operate a facility near Aktogay, Kazakhstan, which includes a large open pit mine and processing facilities to produce copper cathode and copper concentrate.
A project was underway to construct a twin mining facility adjacent to the current operation, enabling production volume to be doubled to meet growing market demand.
The new facility would utilise the existing rail network to supply raw materials and equipment to the new facility and ship finished products out to market. Previous assessments of the rail network capacity indicated that extensive investment in new track infrastructure and rolling stock would be required to achieve this objective.
ORBIZ was engaged to study the current operational practices across the railyard and identify opportunities to increase capacity through operational improvements to reduce the capital investment required.
$22M USD
$6M USD
$5M USD
The approach
Stage one of the engagement involved a series of field observations to study how the railyard functioned. ORBIZ completed these Go-Look-See activities during all operating times 24/7 over two weeks to build a comprehensive dataset.
Working practices, rhythms, rolling stock movements, and material movements were mapped using Value Stream Mapping (VSM) principles. ORBIZ engaged the local workforce in a series of bilingual workshops to study the current operating practices and explore all opportunities for improvement.
Stage two involved developing a vision for a future state railyard operating system to maximise network capacity through improved operational efficiency. This activity was again completed using VSM principles and through a series of workshops to engage with the local workforce and build a shared vision.
The solutions
ORBIZ facilitated a series of improvement activities to test the thesis by proving the full potential of the current network through a trial. This activity included rail operations and infrastructure maintenance initiatives to ensure asset availability for the test. These initiatives proved the thesis and enabled broad stakeholder agreement on the validity of the future state operating system vision.
A network condition document was developed to identify the requirements to meet the capacity requirements of the expansion project.
The future state railyard operating system was documented to provide instructions for managing the increased volume levels through the yard.
A program management framework was developed to oversee the infrastructure upgrade project.
Learn more about our services
Interested in learning more about how ORBIZ can help your organisation? Fill in your details below and one of our team members will be in touch.