Transport Asset Holding Entity of New South Wales / Pre-Registration for the Provision of Professional Services for Workforce Planning and Management - Rostering Feasibility study - 2007/1401I

PREAMBLE

A significant portion of RailCorp workforce is rostered, with approximately 60% of RailCorp 15,000 staff subject to shiftwork. These staff are currently rostered using disparate processes that incorporate a variety of business rules and utilise a variety of systems.

In 2006, with approval of the board, RailCorp initiated an enterprise Workforce Planning and Management (WPM) Rostering program. The aim of the program was to:

rationalise and consolidate the number of technology solutions used for staff rostering;

improve rostering effectiveness across the enterprise; and

realise synergy benefits from taking an enterprise view to rostering (above business unit level initiatives)

In March, 2006, the review completed a concept phase in which it identified potentially sizable benefits from improved matching of resources to variable workloads through improved rostering and workforce planning.  These were identified as:

Improvement in the rostering of resources to meet operational peaks  therefore reducing the need for overtime

Reduction in the number of staff rostered on Public Holidays (where operational activity drops)

Reduction in overtime used, by covering only the tasks that were rostered for that individual where required, rather than covering for a rostered period of eight hours (or the full rostered  shift)

Correct and optimal rostering of Medicals and Training, where possible around operational peaks

Minimisation of risk exposure by automatically factoring fatigue analysis into all operational rosters

Reduction of absenteeism through supporting lifestyle-based rostering initiatives and providing a degree of flexibility to allow a proportion of an employees annual leave entitlement to be used as single-day leave

The RailCorp WPM Rostering program management is soliciting pre-qualification submissions from interested professional services firms with relevant experience in rostering across multiple operations with variable operations hours and skills classifications in a complex industrial relations environment.

Following this Pre-Registration, RailCorp will short-list up to five (5) organisations based on their qualifications in the responses to the pre-qualification request. RailCorp will then invite the short-listed organisations to tender for the provision of Professional Services for the Feasibility Phase

The intended deliverables will include:

Verification of the opportunities for improved resource utilisation,

Definition of strategies and initiatives to capture those opportunities,

Determination of the issues and risks associated with those strategies and initiatives

Determination of the appropriate risk mitigation plans for those issues and risks

Development of detailed functional designs for rostering solutions

A proposed future program of work plan for the succeeding phases of the project

This preamble provides only a summary of the main points of the RFI for the convenience of Applicants and therefore must not be relied upon as addressing all of the requirements of the RFI.  It is subject to the detailed requirements in the remainder of the RFI.  Without limitation, the proposed scope of work outlined in the RFI may be amended by addenda issued in accordance with clause A14 of the RFI.