Dataflow Solutions

Optimisation

Automated scope generation

Rather than assembling each work scope by hand, we built the tool that selects the highest-value combination of defects for the available work window.

Context

A major Australian rail operator, resurfacing operations

Built with

  • Excel
  • Defect registers
  • Priority and quantity modelling

The situation

Every planned work window needs a scope: which defects get attended to, in what order, within the time and access available. Assembling one by hand is slow, and slow is not the real cost. The real cost is that a hand-built scope tends to capture the defects the planner happened to be looking at, not the combination that delivers the most value for the window being paid for.

What we built

A generator that treats scoping as the selection problem it actually is.

  • Defect registers and available quantities load directly.
  • The tool selects for both volume and priority, so a scope maximises the work done without dropping the defects that matter most.
  • The scope document comes out the other side ready to use.

The result

Two outcomes, and the second is the one worth having. Scope preparation stopped consuming planning time. More importantly, each work window now returns more value for the same cost, because the selection is calculated rather than assembled.

All work