Marcelo Sanz Gonzalo, Head of the IT Unit at Metro de Madrid
Could you briefly tell us about the business context of the project? What benefits were/are you hoping to achieve?
The Project aims to automate, based on a series of requests and variables, shifts assignments for personnel in charge of driving trains and serving at stations. Assignments need to comply with existing agreements, be reliable and consistent. Also, they must be able to adapt according to people’s different circumstances and business needs at any given time.
In short, it is important to be clear on where and when each worker needs to be in order to organise a quality service. And to be able to adapt accordingly to any special circumstances that may arise so the service will not be affected.
Performing these tasks without any automated optimisation processes would require many hours of detailed work by a large team of people.
What is/was Decide’s role in this project?
Decide is participating in the development of intelligence for assignment processes. They are working on automation of complex processes that consider a significant number of variables.
In order to be able to prepare and present data, these rule and optimisation drivers connect to a series of modules that allow interaction with other applications as well as the necessary interfaces, both for data entry and presentation of results.
Are you satisfied with Decide’s contribution to the efficiency improvement process entrusted us by Metro de Madrid?
Results have been very satisfactory. Decide’s project team has helped unblock certain highly technically complex aspects and has shown us results which allow us to move our planning forward in a tangible manner.
What is your opinion about the quality of Decide’s work?
The quality of the work they have done is very good. This would not be possible if Decide hadn’t understood the problems Metro intended to solve with this application. I consider that one of their strengths is that they know how to listen, understand and adequately assess the needs expressed. Being able to ‘feel’ the problems means the solution implemented will be of outstanding quality.
Feeling that a company is totally involved with the problems is an attitude which provides those of us with the needs with reassurance and confidence they will be met satisfactorily.
I should also like to highlight that Decide’s Management has been available whenever we’ve needed to make contact. They have always shown their involvement and support, as well as their collaborating and constructive attitude.