Signalling the changes
Dealing with one client can be tough - meeting the requirements of 50 while introducing major technological changes takes something a bit special. PA Consulting took on a radio network project for the hyper-efficient Swiss railway system, and won.
Dr Phil White is the kind of man who does a degree in economics and politics for fun. It's a hobby that turned out to be a perfect supplement to his serious qualification - a doctorate in microwave engineering - for the project he led for PA Consulting, which has been picked as this year's overall winner. Economics proved useful because of the difficult calculations required to estimate the cost of integrating an intricate web of radio waves across Switzerland's beautiful but challenging mountainsides. Politics was vital because the project involved tackling the requirements of not just one or two major clients - in this case the Swiss Federal Office of Transport (Bundesamt fur Verkehr) and the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB), the country's biggest train operator - but also the 50 local railway companies who were all interested parties in the potential harmonisation of their diverse radio networks.
The judges were impressed by the way the PA Consulting team handled the geographical challenges as well as the logistical ones involved in negotiating with such a large number of companies in addition to the government. But Dr White brushes aside any suggestion that the sheer logistics of managing the needs of this diverse client base drove him to fish out textbooks on diplomacy.
"This project didn't have the frustrations that some projects do, and there are some where you do want to pull your hair out. This really wasn't one of them," says Dr White.
He attributes much of that to the two main clients, the Swiss Federal Office of Transport and the SBB, for the crucial role they played in opening doors for PA Consulting, particularly in reaching all 50 train companies, during the four-month project.
Put simply, the project involved devising a strategy - rather than implementing it immediately - for changing the communications systems across Switzerland's railway companies to meet demands of international working, new signalling systems and a need for common systems.
Even though the project required a detailed understanding of Switzerland's geography - much of the land is over 1,000m, which complicates the communications process - Dr White and his close colleagues Andrea Schrick, the project manager, George Tsoulos, the radio expert, and Colin Brown, the railway expert, were not based in the country itself. Perhaps surprisingly, rather than being regarded as a hindrance by their clients, the location of the team outside Switzerland was regarded as a positive aspect by Andre Schweizer, a telecoms expert at SBB in Bern. "We did not force PA to have offices here. We wanted the benefits of all of their relationships. That's the big benefit of such a company. They activate teams of people and bring experience from different places."
Dr White says this approach is typical of PA Consulting, putting together a small team which calls on the expertise of the wider group when necessary. "The way PA works is to work across all the disciplines. Everyone in PA has the consulting process imbued within them. Our approach is to get the right people working on the project. A small group of people can be very efficient."
Dr White admits that the project had a very wide scope but says PA Consulting was determined not to approach the mandate with preconceived ideas about the best way to link the radio systems. When the four-strong team began their work they had been considering that GSM-R (the R stands for railways) might be the most practical way to unite communications, but made it their task not to rule out alternatives before the GSM system was proved to be the most efficient.
Before deciding on GSM-R, Dr White said PA Consulting also looked for examples across Europe. They had previously looked at the use of GSM-R in the UK and talked to people involved in implementing similar systems in Germany and Sweden, which proved particularly useful in understanding the cost of its introduction.
In the end, though, the gut instinct proved correct and the team did recommend GSM-R as the best solution. This was not before going through the painstaking process of trying to contact all 50 rail companies to gauge their requirements for existing systems: the extent to which they wanted to be able to communicate with their rivals, reach signals along the trackside and create facilities for automatic ticketing.
The team quickly found out that many of the railway companies' needs were completely opposed. The big train operators needed to use their communication systems to deal with high-speed trains which crossed international borders and used different ways of communicating, in addition to providing a level of automation to allow electronic ticketing. At the other end of the spectrum, one of the train operators involved in the project operates 15 miles of track running straight up and down a mountainside without any signals which might need to be linked to radio communications.
PA Consulting managed to make contact with just over half of the railway operators, some through face-to-face interviews and others through questionnaires. But recommending GSM-R was only part of the solution. The nature of the problem (so many companies, many of whom regarded each other as competitors) meant that PA Consulting needed to come up with a way for the chosen network to be run. Dr White says four options were available: let one of the big railway companies run it; choose a third party which was already running GSM; give the government the responsibility; or set up a new service provider to be run by a consortium of railways.
Because PA Consulting had canvassed the views of so many of the operating companies, it concluded that the last option would work best. "In discussions with other companies we knew that some railways felt they were competing and didn't want to be buying from a competitor," says Dr White of the first option. The second option of choosing a third party might have limited the options on adapting GSM for the railways. The government was also ruled out.
"We looked at all the options involved and a joint venture was the best approach," says Dr White. The venture should not be dominated by the big rail companies, he cautioned, advising smaller rail operators to be included as well.
Mr Schweizer of SBB says he is convinced that PA Consulting came up with the best solution, but it is not yet being fully implemented in Switzerland. "It's a problem of time," he says, pointing out that the project was only ever intended to cover the technicalities involved. It achieved that goal.
Discussions are ongoing with other railway companies and the government to get the project rolled out, and Mr Schweizer is delighted with the outcome of PA Consulting's work. "We are very happy. There was a good relationship. We had very efficient meetings, which were concentrated to find what we had to achieve. It was a good cooperation."
The proof appears to be in the continuation of the relationship since the project was completed, SBB asking the consultancy to develop a more detailed business plan to set up the new network, including the costs and revenues that might be incurred and achieved by the new GSM-R provider.
