How collaborative engineering
saved INR 1.5 Crore!
Imagine a major Metro project is going on in full swing. You get on board a locomotive and expect it to take over the work smoothly and speed up the project work. But, things don’t really go as planned. The locomotive doesn’t work. Forget the plans; the entire project is on the verge of getting derailed. Even the locomotive company engineer can’t revive it. So what do you do?
That’s when two Afconians step up. They take over the non-working locomotive to solve the problem. And with their experience and expertise, get the locomotive back in action, to everyone’s delight. It was not just the revival of the locomotive, but they revived the entire project work and saved the company INR 1.5 crore! Now that’s how heroes are born.
That’s a long story short. The two heroes of this saga are Sunil Kumar, CPE Mechanical Manager, and, Manish Kumar Jaiswal, Electrical Manager, both based at CMRL package-8(4397), Chennai. They have gone beyond their regular work and line of duty to achieve this extraordinary feat. The locomotive in focus here is the SCHOMA CFL-180-DCL (P&M Code 19774, Sr.no.-5924) Diesel Locomotive which was used for mucking at Chennai Metro Project [CMRL Package-1(4384)].
After finishing the work there, it was transferred to Kolkata Metro Project where it completely stopped working. To get the machine back on track, a SCHOMA company engineer from Germany had to be called. But even after his his best efforts, the loco just could not be fixed. Eventually, the loco was sent back to Chennai [CMRL -2(4393)].
It was almost 1 year by then, that the loco had last worked. The SCHOMA company engineer attended the machine again in Chennai too, but all in vain. Now the company was in a big fix. The TBM had begun operations on CMRL 001 after Afcons had taken over the project. Either the Schoma CFL-180-DCL had to become operational or another machine would have to be imported at a cost of INR 1.5 Crore.
That’s when Sunil Kumar, and, Manish Kumar Jaiswal, stepped forward to find a solution. They were determined to identify and rectify all the problems so that the Loco could be deployed again. And so, the revival began. With able support from the HO team, they meticulously went into every system/ sub-system one by one. With the circuit diagrams as their guide, they checked every part and every connection, trying to identify the root cause and solution.
To their surprise, they identified number of hindrances. They discovered that the Valves were replaced by incorrect part numbers. So immediately, the misfiring parts were replaced. The faulty Pressure Switches were also replaced. They also found out that the brake system was not completing its cycle, thus in danger of causing a serious accident. They modified that circuit too.
Their attention to detail paid dividends; and the locomotive was operational once again. The dedication and persistence displayed by these two engineers in getting the SCHOMA locomotive back on track deserves a salute! Kudos!!
