Improving the Quality Management System in the Locomotive Repair Shops of the Trans-Baikal Railway

Abstract

In the context of high competition in railway transportation market, quality management is becoming an important prerequisite for attracting customers and meeting their needs, gaining and retaining market share and increasing work efficiency. The current quality management system at the locomotive repair shops has a number of drawbacks that result in long-term idle time of the rolling stock for maintenance or repair and significant expenses. The article deals with the problems of defining the concepts “quality management” and “quality improvement” for locomotive repair shops. The authors analyze the current QMS in the locomotive repair shops of the Trans-Baikal Railway, make a SWOT-analysis, and develop a number of measures and management decisions for improving the quality. An objectives tree for QMS and Ishikawa's Cause-and-Effect-Diagram of inconsistencies are used to determine problems in the locomotive repair shops and propose ways of eliminating inconsistencies in each element of QMS.