No abstract

The changes currently being experienced by industry demand more flexibility and more interconnections. More interconnections mean more extended domino effects within a network in case of failure. Using the powerful tool of storytelling, this paper aims to highlight the need for a mind-set change in approaching reliability. Firstly, the paper will briefly explain why professionals need new tools and techniques for facing an uncertain future from a reliability perspective. Secondly, an explanation of the increasing importance for embracing disorder will be given, pinpointing the limitations of a deterministic approach and the benefit of a more antifragile method for reliability. Afterwards, the paper introduces the storytelling technique as a tool for breaking the common mind-set on reliability approaches, using a story based on the Dutch railways for underlining the value of antifragility in preparing for unexpected events. Finally, the paper discusses the findings and reflects on future research that would substantiate the benefits in several industrial sectors.

PurposeAsset-intensive organizations rely heavily on physical assets that are often expensive, complex and have a significant impact on organizational performance. Past introductions of critical assets in various industries showed that despite many preparations in maintenance and operations, shortcomings were identified after deployment resulting in unreliable performance. The main purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the factors that determine how asset-intensive organizations can achieve reliable outcomes in critical asset introductions despite random failures as a result of increasing complexity and infant mortalities.Design/methodology/approachTo gain a detailed understanding of the issues and challenges of critical asset introductions, a case study in railways (rolling stock introductions) was conducted and analyzed using qualitative analysis.FindingsThe case showed that organizational factors were perceived as decisive factors for a reliable performance of the introduction, while the main focus of the introduction was on the asset and its technical systems. This suggests that more consideration toward organizational factors is needed. Therefore, a critical asset introduction framework was proposed based on 15 identified factors.Originality/valueReliable performance is often associated with technical systems only. This empirical study emphasizes the need for a more holistic perspective and the inclusion of organizational factors when introducing critical assets seeking reliable performance. This study demonstrated the application of the affinity diagramming technique in collectively analyzing the data adopting a multidisciplinary orientation.

Asset-intensive organizations rely on physical assets that are expensive, complex, and have a significant impact on organizational performance. The management of such assets is essential when seeking for reliable performance in a world of increasing uncertainties. The observation that asset-intensive organizations deal with increasingly complex and tightly coupled systems and often operate in highly demanding environments may indicate that they should adopt practices from high reliability organizations (HRO) to ensure and maintain reliable performance in the fourth industrial revolution. This chapter operationalizes the HRO concept in the field of physical asset management, measures to what extent the underlying principles are recognized, and explores the relationship between the HRO principles and asset performance using a descriptive survey. Results indicated that the HRO principles are recognized and may, therefore, serve as an instrument for reliable performance when adopting new technologies. A positive relation between asset performance and the five HRO principles was identified.

Continued urbanization continues to pose one of the greatest challenges to the environmental, economic and social sustainability of society. The modal split between transport modes has remained relatively unchanged in recent decades. This suggests that the level of private car use will lead to even more congestion in urban areas. Therefore, a modal shift from private to public transport should be further encouraged. One of the decisive quality characteristics for preferring public transport over private car use, such as passenger railway transportation, is the level of comfort. However, one of the main challenges for railway operators is the change in demand for capacity during peak hours and the demand for comfort during off-peak hours. The purpose of this study is to investigate the applicability of adaptable design in rolling stock interior to facilitate adaptations using case study research. The proposed design concept was evaluated and compared with current coach interior configurations using grey relational analysis. The case results showed that the design concept was adaptive by providing more options to meet the different needs of comfort and capacity. In addition, three new guidelines were identified that can generally serve as functional guidelines in the development of more adaptable assets in use to further encourage a modal shift.