In 2016, VR Track was involved in three alliance-based infrastructure engineering projects: the Tampere tramway project, the project involving the upgrading of the traffic connections for the Äänekoski bioproduct mill and the project involving the piloting of the alliance model in infrastructure maintenance in Southwestern Finland’s rail network. Some of the projects are still at the development stage, while others are in the process of being implemented. However, they all have one thing in common: Cooperation is an efficient way of reaching the target.

The work is guided by joint targets

According to Veijo Valtonen, who works as a procurement expert in the Finnish Transport Agency and is a member of the maintenance alliance management team, a standard-form procurement model has been applied to track maintenance for about ten years. At the same time, the Finnish Transport Agency has already been a party to a large number of infrastructure engineering alliances. For example, the basic refurbishing of the Lielahti - Kokemäki track section, which was carried out as Europe's first public-sector alliance project, was completed in early 2015, under target budget and three months ahead of schedule.

– Encouraged by the positive results, we also wanted to test the suitability of the model in track maintenance. We are now at a development stage where a suitable alliance organisational structure and the target budget for the project are determined and the resources for the actual work are allocated, says Valtonen.

– We expect the project to produce good practices and tools that could also be used in track maintenance in other parts of Finland in the future, he adds.

All members of the maintenance alliance management team are unanimous on one thing: The alliance provides a strong incentive for cooperation.

– Kehitysvaiheessa keskustellaan paljon, ja yhteinen sävel alkaa löytyä sitä mukaa kun osapuolet rupeavat ymmärtämään toisiaan. Yhteiset tavoitteet muotoutuvat ja vievät eteenpäin, Liikenneviraston radan kunnossapito -yksikön päällikkö Jukka Valjakka kertoo.

– There is a great deal of discussion during the development stage and the parties start finding common ground when there is common understanding. Joint targets are shaped and take us forward, explains Jukka Valjakka, head of the track maintenance unit at the Finnish Transport Agency.

An alliance brings together the best experts

Openness and joint decision-making are the principles guiding alliance cooperation. Participants from different backgrounds and with different views bring smart ideas and better-working solutions to the project.  The work is carried out in groups and all key persons work in the joint Big Room either physically or virtually.

– The Alliance, with its Big Room approach, is an excellent model for implementing a project where there is a need to find common solutions to change pressures and unexpected situations without delay. The main benefit of the alliance is that we can make efficient use of experts in different sectors, says Ville-Mikael Tuominen from the City of Tampere, who serves as the tramway project manager.

Pete Ahonen, Design Manager at Pöyry Finland Plc, who is charge of the design work in the tramway alliance, agrees:

- We are working in a rapidly changing environment, which means that we must also make decisions substantially and more quickly than before. In the Big Room, experts coming from different backgrounds can present a broad range of different views for common use and for further processing.

According to Kari Simonen, Production Manager at YIT Construction Services Ltd, the Big Room provides an environment where the perspective of the project implementation is considered at every stage of the design process.

– I believe that we will continue to work towards a common aim during the implementation stage because cooperation in design and construction has already developed into a smooth process. 

Best possible end result

The Metsä Group bioproduct mill at Äänekoski, which will become operational in autumn 2017, is the largest ever forest industry investment in Finland and its effects will be felt in the region's business and traffic. The road and rail infrastructure for the mill must work reliably and smoothly.

Strict timetable, quality and cost targets have been set for the project involving the upgrading of the rail connections for the Äänekoski bioproduct mill. The alliance model, with its philosophy of continuous improvement is particularly well-suited for such a project. Joint target-setting and commitment to the targets, as well as the thinking that everybody should work for the good of the project, means that the project organisation is able to solve problems and produce new innovations quickly.

– We are working tirelessly for the project as a whole, says Mikko A. Heiskanen, Regional Construction Manager in the Finnish Transport Agency and a veteran in track infrastructure alliances.

– This project has shown that a strong commitment and exceeding one’s self are not just talk but fact. This project is considered a great workplace with a good atmosphere and the jobs here are also much sought-after. An alliance project of this type provides people with an excellent environment and opportunity to develop into experts and multi-skilled professionals, up to the highest level, explains Heiskanen and continues:

– In my view, the fact that this project has been successfully implemented in a timetable that has been almost impossible clearly demonstrates the benefits of the alliance model.

Harri Lukkarinen, Managing Director of VR Track, is quite pleased with the philosophy of continuous improvement applied in the alliance model and the opportunity to create best practices in challenging projects. Especially when you can do this in cooperation with a partner.

– We appreciate partnerships, and alliance-based work is partnership at its best, he adds. 

With the new operating procedures, there has also been huge improvements in the competence of the staff members.

– We believe in renewal. We are developing and introducing new technologies so that we can provide our customers with better services. At the same time, we are developing the infrastructure engineering sector and its operating practices as a whole, explains Harri Lukkarinen, Managing Director of VR Track.

Ilmari Halme, Development Manager at VR Track, gives an example of the bold piloting of new technologies:

– In autumn 2015, we tested machine vision in the mapping of track speed signs. In early 2016, encouraged by the promising results, we invited our personnel to innovate ways of using machine vision in track infrastructure and in our daily work. We had a wonderful opportunity to introduce new expertise into our work and to make it available to our customers, Halme says.

– At the end of the campaign we had several ideas that could be developed further, he adds.  Many of the ideas have been presented to the Finnish Transport Agency, the owner of the Finnish track infrastructure. The ideas allowing VR Track to develop and strengthen its operations have been assessed in accordance with the principles guiding the initiative system used in VR Group and the best of them will be gradually introduced.

Sensitivity to tacit signals is an essential feature in the piloting and introduction of new technologies and in the construction of an organisational culture encouraging renewal. Expanding services outside VR Track’s core business is a strategic decision that has required the adoption of new operating practices, a cultural change supporting the renewal and the identification of strategic competencies. The philosophy of continuous improvement and the dissemination of the best practices learned in the projects in the organisation encourage the personnel to actively explore new openings.

Participation in the design and implementation of the Tampere tramway, which is a sizeable infrastructure project in Finnish scale, has also required the adoption of new thinking. In early 2016, VR Track added a road, street and regional planning unit to its range of services and the Tampere tramway is the first project for the unit’s planning staff. The unit will be gradually expanded so that it can also meet other road, street and regional planning needs.

In the view of the planning staff, the alliance model suits the tramway project and the team members also look forward to working in a large-scale infrastructure project benefiting the residents of the city.

Mika Kaukoranta, who is responsible for street and tramway planning in the project, is happy to be a member of a team developing a modern mode of transport for Tampere and the city's public transport system as a whole.

At the same time, Jukka Heinonen, a transport infrastructure planner working in the project, describes the benefits of working together:

– Close cooperation between the parties means that all those involved are able to contribute their own expertise to the project. As a result, the perspective gets wider without anybody actually noticing it.

Hannu Lukkarinen notes with satisfaction the improvements at individual level and how a participatory organisational culture is gaining ground at VR Track:

– It has been a great pleasure for us to take part in different types of alliance and it has been a really positive experience to see how the people taking part in these projects have developed into multi-talented individuals, in professional terms and in terms of their teamwork skills. Through alliance projects, the idea of working together and the philosophy of continuous improvement will gradually become available to the entire organisation.

As Mikko Korpela, who is designing technical solutions for the tramway project, puts it:

– The shaking of old ideas has created a good atmosphere for creating new approaches.