Mark in Action Winners’ Stories: Unipart Rail Team

A recent Mark in Action is a great example of how collaboration across our business as one Unipart team, delivers our customer promise and secures profitable growth.

In the Rail sector, the safe operation of railways depends upon the absolute certainty of knowing the location of all trains.

The most common way of obtaining this information is by using a track circuit which indicates the train presence by short-circuiting a voltage applied across the rails. These track circuits only work reliably if the trains’ wheels make good electrical contact with the rails - something that can be hindered by rust.

This is where our innovative product comes into play as Unipart's Track Circuit Assister (TCA), also known in the US as an Onboard Shunt Enhancer (OSE), can blast off the rust, ensuring the track circuits are working effectively.

What was the challenge and what did our customer need?

Our customer Amtrak in Chicago wanted Unipart's product, but a slightly different specification due to the voltage on the US railway - instead of the standard 2.5A version, they wanted a 3.5A version - and they wanted it in 15 days so they could fit it to the train whilst it was in for service!

This was going to be a challenge to redesign, create drawings, manufacture, test and validate then ship to the customer in Chicago.

However the team geared up for this challenge, demonstrating The Unipart Way in the way they think, work and behave and going above and beyond to meet the customer requirements

How did the teams deliver?

Firstly, our Westcode business in the US received the request from Amtrak on the 6th May 2024, and quickly brought Unipart Rail's programmes team together to do the planning.

As the plan formulated, the UK teams at Unipart's Park Signalling started to re-design the current product to meet the required standard, then our Dorman business in Southport start to manufacture the standard product and await specification changes.

Finally, once Park Signalling released the drawings for the new specification, Dorman made the required final changes and the Unipart Rail Import team arranged the logistics and transportation of the product - from the paperwork to priority shipping.

The overall result was that the Tuners were shipped to Chicago on time, and the product was received by the customer two days earlier than the deadline!

This is a fantastic example of our engaged and skilled colleagues having a growth mindset, and working collaboratively, to bring Unipart's multiple capabilities together to deliver for a customer.

This has now resulted in significant growth with Amtrak, as we have now had a confirmed order for 798 units, with lots more potential sales in the pipeline with other customers!

The Next Mark in Action ceremony will take place Wednesday 26th February 2025. If there is an individual or group in your team who you think deserves recognition then please send in your nomination by using the form here.

If you aren't sure whether your story is a Mark in Action or not, just contact Katie Geddes Mark in Action Manager, who is happy to advise and support you through the process.

You can find out more about Mark in Action awards here.