25.11.19
RIA and Network Rail launch supply chain survey
The Railway Industry Association (RIA) has today (Nov 25) launched a survey in partnership with Network Rail to gather views from the supply chain on the product acceptance process.
The aim of the survey is to gain insight into how the industry views their product acceptance process. The survey comes after a focus by Network Rail into speeding up this procedure and changes made in reaction to this focus.
RIA is the voice of the UK rail supply community and, on behalf of Network Rail, is hoping to shed light on supplier experiences of the process in practice and potential suggestions and improvement.
David Clarke, technical director at the Railway Industry Association (RIA), said:
“Having a smooth and effective product acceptance process is important in getting new products onto the rail network, with the plethora of benefits they bring. So, we’re really keen to hear from rail suppliers as to how they are finding the process – and what can be done to improve it even further. I’d ask all to fill in this short survey and help support Network Rail’s R&D activity."
Elements of the survey include rating the positivity of an individuals experience out of 10, satisfaction on time taken and various comment boxes for areas of improvement to be suggested.
Rob Forde, R&D programme manager, Network Rail, said:
“Our Product Acceptance process is all about ensuring we have safe, compatible, reliable, fit for purpose products on the rail system, and do not export unacceptable risks to our infrastructure. This is an opportunity for businesses from across the rail industry to feed in their thoughts and be part of improving how we work with suppliers.”
Network Rail will use the survey to develop the process further, improving engagement for a better experience.
The industry will be updated on the process at the RIA Innovation Conference on 2 & 3 June 2020.
The survey can be found here.