RFIDJournal Live Keynote Orlando 2010

A Smarter (and Safer) Railroad with RFID

Keith SheardownGeneral Manager – Technology Solutions

Bombardier Transportation

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About Bombardier• Head Office in Montréal• Workforce of 60,000 people in 22 countries

with revenues of $19B• #1 in passenger rail equipment – #3 in civil

aircraft

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Innovating Since 1942

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Global Leader in Passenger Rail Equipment

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Passenger Rail Services

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Our RFID Journey

• It started with a problem to solve

• RFID Journal LIVE Canada 2007 – Eureka…Problem Solved!

• Ready to Spend – Got Cold Feet

• Went back to School

• Sketching the User Experience

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The Disclaimer

• This is based on one person’s experience

• We do not have all the answers – we are still learning

• This about the design process and not about the technology

• We have failed often – but we have failed early!

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A Problem Worth Solving• Track inspections conducted every 72 hours - primarily during daylight

• No viable technology currently

• Heavy reliance on rules and training

• Track workers are in harms way every day they go to work

• Number 1 on the list of Top 10 Rail Safety Action Priorities – Federal Transit Administration

Source: FTA, Rail Transit Safety Quarterly Newsletter, fall 2008,

“Safety Action Plan”

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Where’s the Money?

• I.T. Budget – replacing “Legacy Systems”

• R+D – about the product

• Investment must come from the Business– The business must know their problems

– The business must lead the strategy, the investment and the project

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RFID is Homeless!

RFID is ubiquitous yet it is not clear in many organizations where leadership for RFID

development should reside

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Who gets the Money?

The investment with the best…

R.O.I.…unless it becomes competitive

advantage, or a strategic imperative

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Innovation at Bombardier• Grow Services Business• Launched an innovation incubator in 2008 –

Technology Solutions• Our mandate – to help our Customers run a better

railroad• We solve problems and develop integrated solutions

for passenger rail agencies

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RFID Journal LIVE - 2007

• Attended presentation on Ultra Wide Band (UWB) RFID deployment at BP

• Designed to locate refinery workers in real time

• Retained Consultant to develop solution to protect track workers – problem solved!

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Ready to Spend

• Was convinced that UWB was the solution – very precise location capabilities

• Stopped looking at the problem and alternative designs– it was all about implementing UWB RFID

• Market urgency dropped off – needed a client to work with

• Got cold feet – we did not know enough about the stakeholders or their needs

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“When you come to a fork in the road, take it” Yogi Berra

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Went Back to School• We needed to re-focus on the

problem and explore design alternatives

• Found some smart friends – and a client with strong interest

• M.I.T. to McMaster University• McMaster was appointed

Technology Partner • Ontario Centers of Excellence

provided grant to match our investment

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…and then Back to the Problem

“People lie – their actions

don’t”Richard Hilleman Chief Creative Director - Electronic Arts (EA Sports)

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“Sketching” the User Experience

• Interviewed more than 60 stakeholders– walked many miles in their shoes (and boots!)

• Hired an expert in “Human Factors”• Documented all user requirements• Immersed ourselves into the social and

cultural issues• Simulated all major fatalities from the past

ten years

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“Sketching” the User Experience

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“Sketching” the User Experience

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“Sketching” the User Experience

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What We Learned• Procedures and training were believed to be

enough– In reality the Stakeholders needs were not

well understood by others• We needed to gain the trust of the people that

we were trying to help• Industry experience was not shared well• We found more value than initially thought• We didn’t know what we didn’t know!

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Sketching User Experiences

Bill Buxton

Sketching is about asking questions

Prototyping is about offering suggestions

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Sketching the User Experience

Two very common myths about designing solutions

1: That we know what we want at the start of a project, and

2: That we know enough to start building it

Bill Buxton

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Our Old Model for Design

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The New Model (Thanks to Buxton)

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Sketching the User Experience

“The things we have to learn before we do them, we learn by doing them”

Aristotle

The trick is do them early, invest smartly and learn quickly!

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What our Future Looks Like

• We can locate where people and trains are with relative ease – our focus is what to do with this knowledge

• Refining the user experience will never end• We expect that our solution will be a hybrid • The User Interface will get the bulk of our

resources, and where the real gold is• We expect to be leveraging our newfound

asset “visibility” into other value propositions

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RFID Innovation & The Organization

• Look for catalysts and change agents first – figure out where the empire should be built

secondly• Staff with people that know your “customer”

intimately• Create accountability for innovation • Demand an ROI but look for Competitive

Advantage • Accept early failures• “Sketch twice – Build once”

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Can’t Afford to get the design right?

But we can pay for the additional costs of major redesigns, or being late on a contract, or fixing bugs, or losing a Customer, or paying for additional support staff for “X” years until we get the design right

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No Money?

• Look for partners–“Customers”, Universities, Colleges,

government programs, trade groups

• “Sketch” the Experience

• Buy the book / Visit Youtube

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A Final Word to RFID Users• Know what problem you are trying to fix • Don’t expect any technology to fix business

problems on it’s own• Dream Big but start small – get a few small wins• Involve your people – manage change like your

life depends on it• Find champions throughout your organization –

educate and inform them on the possibilities• Create an incubator of innovation

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A Final Word to RFID Developers• Put your CUSTOMER at the center of your

strategy – not your Competitors and not your technology – Know your Customer better than they know

themselves– It is all about improving business performance

• Solve one or two problems extremely well– As opposed to “casting a line” in five market verticals

• Educate and Inform – Think like Roberti– Travel without brochures – share your knowledge– Visit sellingtobigcompanies.com – often!

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It’s About the Visibility into your Business

“Perhaps the single most important thing that RFID does for business is to provide visibility into areas of operations not visible previously”

Mark Roberti

Editorial Jan / Feb Issue – RFID Journal

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Fail early. Fail often. Learn.

As you Start (or Continue) your RFID Journey

More info at www.smartrailroad.com

Keith Sheardown 647.284.9300keith.sheardown@ca.transport.bombardier.com