Automated ECN Submission

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Overview

Project CalTrain was a combined effort between Stadler US (STAUS) and Stadler Altenrhein (STAR). The train was designed, modeled, and analyzed by the STAR engineering team. The STAUS engineering team was responsible for supporting production in manufacturing the train. Support included coordinating with suppliers in the form of first article inspections, providing solutions for non-conforming goods, and maintaining an ISO 10007 compliant change control system.

STAR maintained an independent change control system in the form of an Excel spreadsheet maintained by a responsible change engineer. However, this spreadsheet covered only the phases between the request (engineering change request or ECR) and the solution (engineering change notice or ECN). The CalTrain contract required a robust change system covering initial request to final physical installation of products. The final deliverable was to be complete documentation of which products were affected by changes across the project. STAR’s spreadsheet would not fulfill this requirement. Instead, it was primarily used to coordinate the engineering work in Switzerland.

STAUS utilized a web platform called ELSTR to manage change control. ELSTR had a direct database link with the engineering PLM system that provided distinct advantages in managing engineering work. ELSTR also had a notification system and user inputs for purchasing and production teams. This meant that ELSTR had the capacity to provide complete traceability from initial request to final physical installation.

STAR had no interest in using ELSTR to manage change control. The decision was made for both the spreadsheet and ELSTR to be used simultaneously. This meant that all requests submitted through the STAR spreadsheet had to be duplicated on ELSTR and vice versa.

Synthesizing data between both ELSTR and the STAR spreadsheet was a tedious and time consuming task. Converting all ELSTR information into a format accepted by STAR required a dozen steps and an Adobe Pro license to combine all documents into a single PDF. If one of the steps were performed incorrectly, then the final document would be missing key information and had to be redone. It required the constant attention of the individual preparing the documents and the tedium would quickly lead to fatigue that would further slow progress.

If the individual worked quickly, then the process would take anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes per change notice. However, with such a long throughput, opportunities for disruptions would reduce overall efficiency. Given that a project could expect up to 40 change notices per week, doing the work in such a way would require a part-time position.

Objective

Create a program to reduce the redline documentation time from 30 minutes to under 1 minute.

Method

Allow user inputs through GUI module tkinter on Python. Predetermine data locations and combine into single PDF package for STAR change management. Using VBA through Python, open STAR spreadsheet and insert data.

Implementation

First, I wrote Pseudocode to capture each of the steps needed. I broke each of the steps into a separate python script so that functionality of the sub tasks could quickly be validated. Once each of the steps had been successfully scripted, I connected them using the framework shown below.

Implementation Framework

The user interface was designed to mimic the inputs of the ELSTR website. I had made a version to take inputs from the ELSTR database directly, but not all staff members using this program would have clearance to access that database, so manual inputs was the intent for public use.


tkinter GUI

Results

Aside from the time required for users to manually input text fields and download attachments from ELSTR, the program performed all tasks in under 20 seconds. The program was distributed across shareholders and a process that would have required dozens of hours per week was reduced to less than an hour. Adobe Pro subscriptions were no longer necessary to perform the pdf operations, so the licenses were discontinued and budget was returned to the department.




 

 

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