NEXT GENERATION NIMS CONCEPTUAL BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS - Version 6 17 June 2020
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NEXT GENERATION NIMS
CONCEPTUAL BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
Version 6
17 June 2020RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
CONCEPTUAL BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS CONTROL PAGE
ORIGINATOR
Custodian OCOO
Responsible Person Senior Manager BPI
CIRCULATION
Effective Date 17 June 2020
Circulated by ICT and Systems Management
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS REVIEW
Recommended Review Date As and when required
Prepared by:
__________________
Murray Crichton
FeverTree Consulting
Approved by:
Freddie
Kgomari
2020.06.1
7 11:25:40
+02'00'
__________________
Freddie Kgomari
Acting COO
Accepted by:
Digitally signed
by Mankwe
Makgate
Date: 2020.06.17
12:27:57 +02'00'
__________________
Mankwe Makgate
Chief Information Officer
Page 2 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1. Purpose ................................................................................................................................................. 5
1.2. Scope .................................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Building an Innovative NIMS NextGen ........................................................................................................... 7
3. Approach to Conceptual Business Requirement development ...................................................................... 9
3.1. Requirements Gathering ....................................................................................................................... 9
3.2. Stakeholder Engagement ...................................................................................................................... 9
3.3. Detail Business Requirements Development ...................................................................................... 10
4. Solution Capabilities ..................................................................................................................................... 11
4.1. Work Order Management .................................................................................................................... 11
4.2. Workflow Management ........................................................................................................................ 11
4.3. Case Management .............................................................................................................................. 12
4.4. Electronic Document Generation and Management ............................................................................ 12
4.5. Physical Asset Management ............................................................................................................... 13
4.6. Customer Service Management .......................................................................................................... 13
4.7. Risk Management................................................................................................................................ 14
4.8. Audit and Compliance Management.................................................................................................... 14
4.9. GIS Spatial Integration ........................................................................................................................ 15
4.10. Reporting ............................................................................................................................................. 15
4.11. Mobility ................................................................................................................................................ 15
5. Relationship between Solution Capabilities and Business Processes ......................................................... 17
6. Process Specific Business Requirements .................................................................................................... 18
6.1. Permit Management and Administration.............................................................................................. 18
6.2. Investigations....................................................................................................................................... 19
6.3. Contact Centre .................................................................................................................................... 21
6.4. Safety Intervention Planning ................................................................................................................ 22
6.5. Audits and Inspections ........................................................................................................................ 22
6.6. Compliance Management.................................................................................................................... 24
6.7. Penalty Management........................................................................................................................... 24
6.8. Revenue Management ........................................................................................................................ 25
6.9. Operator Asset Management............................................................................................................... 26
6.10. Data Management and Safety Analysis............................................................................................... 27
6.11. New Works and Technology Development.......................................................................................... 28
Annexure A: User Stories...................................................................................................................................... 30
1. Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 31
2. Scenario #1 – Planning ................................................................................................................................ 31
Page 3 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
3. Scenario #2 - Work Order Allocation and Execution (Planned Work) .......................................................... 32
4. Scenario #3 - Work Order Allocation and Execution (Unplanned Work) ...................................................... 32
5. Scenario #4 – Equipment with child Work Order .......................................................................................... 33
6. Scenario #5 – Workflow Management (Permit Application) ......................................................................... 34
Page 4 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
1. Introduction
The RSR is embarking on a rebuild of a National Integrated Information and Management Systems (NIIMS) as
approved by the Board (the NIMS Next Gen).
The current NIMS system has several shortfalls, for example:
• Lack of workflow functionality
• Lack of integration between modules
• Lack of an integrated database
NIMS NextGen seeks to assist the RSR to manage its processes using technology to improve service delivery
while empowering the entity to have up-to-date and real-time information at its disposal to make informed decisions.
1.1. Purpose
The Conceptual Business Requirements document outlines the needs of the business that NIMS NextGen intends
to meet. The document is also intended to get agreement among stakeholders, to communicate the business
needs to the technology service provider and to determine the next phase of the project. The document is intended
to be understood by NIMS Next Gen’s business users.
The requirements in this document are at a conceptual level, as such the requirements are at a high-level and are
provided to give an overview of the key needs that the proposed solution must meet. Detailed business
requirements will be developed in the next phase of the project.
1.2. Scope
NIMS NextGen is intended to meet the needs of all core operational business processes. The following business
processes are considered to be “In Scope”:
• Safety Permit Management & Administration
• Occurrence Investigations
• Audits and Inspection
• Penalty Management
• New Works and Technology Development
• Data Management and Safety Analysis
• Safety Intervention Planning
• Revenue Management
• Contact Centre
• Compliance Management
• Operator Asset Management
NIMS NextGen should also be able to integrate with RSR support processes, however, upgrades to existing
systems are excluded from the document.
The Conceptual Requirements have been grouped into 10 “Solution Capabilities”, which define the core capabilities
that the proposed solution should meet (refer to Section 4). Solution Capabilities are needed to drive each of the
above-mentioned processes’ requirements.
The document describes each of the above processes and describes how the solution should meet the
requirements of the process in Section 6.
Page 5 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
User Storiess have been included in Annexure A. A User Stories is any system functionality that can be tested.
The Scenarios detailed in Annexure A are the key scenarios that will be used to test the functionality of NIMS
NextGen.
The creation of User Storiess is based on the conceptual business requirements and ensures that the system is
thoroughly tested and that the system is working for the most common use cases. Furthermore, User Storiess help
determine the most important end-to-end transactions or the real use of the software application and will form the
basis for user acceptance testing of NIMS NextGen.
Page 6 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
2. Building an Innovative NIMS NextGen
Technology has become central to implementing business strategies, creating business and stakeholder value and
driving innovation, whereas in the past technology was an enabler used to increase the value derived from business
strategies. NIMS NextGen must therefore not only meet RSR’s business requirements but must also be
technologically innovative, i.e. it must adopt the latest technological trends.
The pace of technological change means that for RSR to meet its regulatory mandate in 5 – 10 years it must
adopt innovative technology now. As such, RSR requires a rethink of how technology can accelerate and enable
RSR’s business strategies.
Embracing and adopting the following 8 trends for RSR will put the organisation on the path to delivering
stakeholder value through technological innovation (Table 1).
Table 1: Technological Realities
Trend Description Stakeholder Value for RSR
Hyper- Hyper automation takes applications for Enables RSR to focus effort on improving
automation task automation to the next level. It regulatory enforcement of railway
enables the application of advanced operators, i.e. becoming more effective at
technologies, such as artificial intelligence creating safer railways by developing its
(AI) and machine learning, to increasingly regulatory framework and tools.
automate processes and augment human
requirements. A hyper-automated
business process is fully automated
without the need for human intervention to
perform basic tasks. Machine learning can
learn from past cases to determine the
correct process flow to follow.
Internet of The Internet of things is a system of Railway operations are capital intensive
Things (IoT) interrelated computing devices, and effective management of assets is
mechanical and digital machines with the central to safe railway operations.
ability to transfer data over a network Therefore, IoT-enabled monitoring of rail
without requiring human interaction. IoT networks has the potential to allow
has significant potential to improve the operators/ the RSR to predict where
safety of railway operations. IoT-enabled unsafe conditions may arise.
devices are used in the rail industry to
monitor the condition of rolling stock, and
the environment around the train. For
example, sensors around the wheels and
brakes of a train can detect changes in
vibrations and detect situations that might
potentially cause an accident.
Autonomous Autonomous things, which include drones, Enable RSR to improve the efficiency of its
Things robots, and appliances exploit AI to audits, inspections and investigations by
perform tasks traditionally undertaken by collecting routine evidence at a site, thus
humans. This technology operates on a allowing Inspectors to focus on collecting
spectrum of intelligence ranging from the “human-related” evidence.
semiautonomous to fully autonomous. Furthermore, autonomous things enable
the collection of evidence in unsafe
conditions.
Multi-experience Multi-experience currently focuses on Augmented reality has the potential to be
immersive experiences that use used by the RSR as a training tool for
augmented reality, virtual and mixed reality Inspectors, thus improving the
and sensing technologies. Augmented effectiveness of investigations as well as
Page 7 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Trend Description Stakeholder Value for RSR
reality is used by rail operators to train enabling experienced Inspectors at the
drivers. office to guide Inspectors in-site
Augmented Augmented Analytics focuses on a specific Augmented analytics can leverage
Analytics area of augmented intelligence, cloud, process outputs to improve decision
using IoT, machine learning and Big Data making by improved availability and quality
to transform how analytics content is of data for RSR to proactively monitor and
developed, consumed and shared. manage rail safety. Furthermore,
augmented analytics can be used to
predict unsafe rail conditions and related
risks.
Mobility and The rapid penetration of mobile devices Development of technology that allows for
virtual ways of and technologies in the market and the efficient off-site ways of working, e.g. for
working broad phenomenon of leveraging mobile audits, inspections and investigations.
solutions in the business environment.
Cybersecurity Given the increasing dependency of Protection of RSR’s IT environment
organisations on ICT systems and the against cyber-attacks will be required.
growing complexity of connected
environments, there is a strong demand to
ensure system security at all levels.
Blockchain Blockchain offers enhanced data security. Improved data security as well as
Blockchain can be described as data you improved transparency and traceability of
can only add to, not take away from or safety-compliance matters.
change, hence why blockchain is so
secure. Blockchain technology has the
potential to be used in the railway industry
to:
• Allow all trains to communicate with
each other;
• Reduce train delays;
• Reduction of accidents due to the
smart management and
communication of the trains; and
• Checking a driver’s license and driver
authorization.
Some of the above trends speak to technology that will be adopted by Rail Operators, whereas other trends
speak to technology that RSR can adopt to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. RSR must always operate
within its legislative mandate.
The above technology trends may not all be incorporated into “Phase 1” of NIMS NextGen, however, the solution
proposed by the technology service provider should be able to incorporate these trends into their service offering
in future versions of their software.
Page 8 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
3. Approach to Conceptual Business Requirement development
3.1. Requirements Gathering
Three key inputs were used to develop the Conceptual Business Requirements, being:
1. Business Process Improvement (BPI) As-Is Process Validation Workshops: conceptual business
requirements were gathered during a series of process validation workshops where current processes
were validated, challenges and opportunities for improvements were identified and conceptual business
requirements were defined. The business requirements seek to address the challenges identified during
the workshops;
2. RSR IT Business Requirements Gathering: the input provided by the business to the RSR IT
Department and captured in the “NIIMS NextGen BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT”, dated 26
March 2020; and
3. Technology Best Practice: research on the latest software and technology trends was used to identify
innovative features that will deliver value to the RSR and its stakeholders.
3.2. Stakeholder Engagement
A broad cross-section of the RSR was engaged during the development of the Conceptual Business Requirements.
The approach involved focused engagements with key stakeholders within the RSR. Process Champions were
identified by the IT Department together with the heads of business. The Process Champions each selected two
to four other team members to be a part of the process.
RSR’s as-is business processes were validated during a series of workshops with the process champions and
their process teams, where high-level business requirements were also gathered (Table 2).
Table 2: As-Is Process Validation Workshop Dates
Validation
# Process Process Champion
Workshop
1 Safety Permit Management & Administration Louisa Moloisane 13/05/2020
2 Occurrence Investigations Eric Nkwinika 13/05/2020
3 Audits and Inspection Thembelani Mzimba 14/05/2020
4 Penalty Management Koliswa Sheburi 14/05/2020
5 New Works and Technology Development Sbonelo Gumede 02/06/2020
6 Data Management and Safety Analysis Muziwandile Masango 12/05/2020
7 Safety Intervention Planning Muziwandile Masango 11/05/2020
8 Revenue Management Mapule Pitso 20/05/2020
9 Contact Centre Muziwandile Masango 12/05/2020
10 Compliance Management Muziwandile Masango 02/06/2020
11 Operator Asset Management Earnest Gow 11/05/2020
Page 9 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Workshop notes were circulated to the process teams following the above workshops, where process teams were
asked to confirm that the business requirements were accurately captured.
Further to the as-is validation workshops, a 2-day workshop with the Process Champions was undertaken on 03 –
04 June 2020 to review the Conceptual Business Requirements. Comments and input from the session have been
incorporated into this document.
3.3. Detail Business Requirements Development
Detailed business requirements will be developed through further stakeholder engagements and will be based on
the “to-be” process maps designed as part of the RSR Business Process Improvement Project.
The detailed business requirements will be used by system developers to configure NIMS NextGen.
Page 10 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
4. Solution Capabilities
NIMS NextGen should meet the following 11 core capabilities. High-level requirements for each of the Solution
Capabilities have been listed below and marked as either Mandatory (M) or Innovative (I). NIMS NextGen must
meet all of the Mandatory requirements in the short term, whereas Innovative requirements should be met in future
NIMS versions and, as such are ‘optional in the first version of NIMS NextGen.
4.1. Work Order Management
NIMS NextGen should be able to support the development and management of integrated plans for planned and
unplanned work orders, including people, equipment, costs and timelines and adaptation and monitoring of
developed plans.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
A1 Integrated work planning and scheduling for planned and unplanned or ad-hoc work
including the planning, monitoring and management of work progress, people, M
material and equipment, costs and timelines throughout the lifecycle of the work.
A2 Automatic work order scheduling and sequencing M
A3 Work order allocation to intelligently allocate work orders to Inspectors based on M
availability, caseload, area of specialisation and investigations undertaken in the
past
A4 Work order prioritisation based on for example on the severity level M
A5 Work order tracking, visualisation, analysis and reporting including the ability to view M
comprehensive and detailed planning information such as work plans, schedules,
costs, equipment
A6 Business users to be able to easily add additional work order attributes without the M
need for external consultants
A7 Materials management of vehicles and site equipment enabling RSR to develop M
integrated work plans and determine the availability of vehicles and equipment.
A8 Labour management of staff fulfilling work orders (e.g. Inspectors) to allow for M
integrated work order planning including the ability to maintain staff areas of
experience, skill-level and qualifications. The scheduling tool must be able to
present an availability calendar (daily, weekly) to the human planner for each field
user showing the availability
A9 Mobile responsive interface enabling the editing of work orders on-site M
4.2. Workflow Management
A comprehensive and integrated workflow management solution that coordinates the flow of daily work tasks and
ensures proper implementation of business processes.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
B1 AI-enabled design of workflows and processes with minimal human involvement I
B2 AI-enabled automation of workflow decisions (i.e. hyper-automation) I
The ability for business users to create and amend workflow processes via a
B3 M
graphical (e.g. drag and drop) and conversational (i.e. chatbot) user interface
Automated creation task lists, checklists and process forms for different process
B4 M
activities
Real-time, tracking, analysis and reporting of task progress and a wide range of
B5 M
process management KPIs
Notification of open and overdue tasks and task requirements (e.g. decisions or
B6 M
documents required)
B7 Manage data access for individuals or groups based on their role M
Page 11 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Manage approvals at various stages and notify responsible parties when approval
B8 M
requests are generated
Ability to start workflows based on, amongst other triggers, other workflows, events
B9 M
and data/document triggers
4.3. Case Management
Integrated case management solution that enables RSR to manage its non-standard business processes by
facilitating the capture of case information, creating desired workflows and giving the user the ability to control what
steps are handled next.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
C1 Adaptive/dynamic case management to improve knowledge worker productivity M
The ability for business users to create and amend case-flows via a graphical (e.g.
C2 M
drag and drop) and conversational (i.e. chatbot) user interface
Ability to intelligently analyse a case based past cases and determine the best
C3 I
course of action and probability of a successful case
C4 Create, access and track notes on case activities and updates M
C5 Automatically escalate cases by routing alerts or changing their priorities M
C6 Enhance alerts by adding entities and integrating and connecting data M
C7 Automatically add templates and forms to capture data for each step of the process M
C8 Mobile responsive interface M
4.4. Electronic Document Generation and Management
Document Management integrated with process workflows to help users create, modify, store, manage and share
dynamic and customisable documents driven by multiple data points, from standard forms and contracts to one-
on-one correspondence.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
D1 Automatic tagging of uploaded documents for specific information M
D2 Bulk upload of operator documents, e.g. spreadsheets and reports M
AI-enabled E-discovery, e.g. identifying, collecting and producing electronically
D3 I
stored information
Advanced document search functionality (e.g. free text search, fuzzy searching,
D4 M
proximity searching, field boosting, interactive filtering)
Receive, process and store multiple types of data/ documents (e.g. video, voice, M
D5
photographic, written) and file formats
D6 Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of typed and hand-written documents M
Receive documents and images from multiple channels (e.g. online portal, mobile M
D7
devices, document scanners)
Automatic assessment of submitted documents to determine the completeness of M
D8
submissions against RSR requirements
Enable users to work collectively on a document while communicating and sharing M
D9
information within the system in real-time
D10 Track document versions and approvals (e.g. versioning and audit trail) M
D11 Digital signing (per the ECT act), annotation and stamps M
Issuing and updating of secure documents including the issue of M
D12 authenticated/secure digital Safety Permits and secure control of the update of
permits as well as the printing of paper-based permits that can be securely linked
Page 12 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
to an electronic permit (e.g. by QR code), thus enabling various railway authorities
to authenticate paper-based permits.
Generation of documents with interactive and dynamic elements, such as I
D13 embedded videos, charts, and graphs and ‘live’, detailed safety analyses tailored to
a reader’s perspective.
Embedded within workflow management to physically move documents between M
D14
different processes
D15 Password protection and access control M
D16 Document archiving and auto disposition M
D17 Mobile responsive interface for the generation and upload of documents M
Support and/ or integrate with a Legislated Electronic Registered Mail system that I
D18
is compliant with Section 19(4) of the ECT Act 25 of 2002
4.5. Physical Asset Management
Asset Management of physical assets that allows RSR to record, store and analyse Operators’ asset registers.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Collection of detailed asset information including asset description (hierarchal and
E1 linear asset modelling), location, condition, maintenance history and future planned M
maintenance and failures
Manage assets electronically by enabling RSR Inspectors to tag assets by using,
E2 I
for example, barcodes or radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices
AI-enabled analysis of asset maintenance plans to identify future patterns and risk
E3 I
areas
Ability to easily add additional asset attributes to the screens and database tables
E4 M
as required, without the need for external consultants
Ability to define failure classes and failure hierarchies to record asset problems for
E5 M
immediate analysis
Ability to create work orders based on pre-set Condition/Inspection Monitoring
E6 M
tolerances for a measuring point on a specific asset
Ability to use Asset Modelling to determine relationships between a piece of an
E7 M
asset, its physical location and the systems with which it may be associated
Ability to assign risk/criticality to assets (i.e. integration with risk management
E8 M
capability)
Ability to integrate with external physical asset management systems used by rail
E9 M
operators
4.6. Customer Service Management
Customer service software that is integrated with process workflows that documents, tracks, and resolves internal
and customer (operator) queries from multiple channels (phone, email, live chat) into a single portal so that agents
can quickly and easily address queries.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Automatically receive, log, escalate and resolve externally and internally generated
service requests (i.e. queries, concerns, complaints and railway occurrences)
F1 M
received through multiple channels, such as digital (email, website) and voice
(phone) from operators
F2 AI-enabled to enable customers to resolve their queries in real-time I
Page 13 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
AI-enabled knowledge base. Build and manage a centralized, searchable repository
of information regarding frequent and previously asked queries and responses and
F3 I
recommend changes to exist articles based on how customers communicate their
issues, making answers easier to find and understand in the future
Manage incoming and outgoing customer communication on multiple channels,
F4 M
including email, online portal, phone, live chat and embedded into process workflow
Logging and resolution of queries through the use of a conversational user interface,
F5 I
such as intelligent chatbots to enable customers to resolve their queries in real-time
Real-time analytics to create detailed profiles of operators and the history of the
F6 I
communication sent to the operator to assist call centre agents in future interactions
F7 Integration with telephony and interactive voice response systems M
F8 Record and store occurrence related voice calls M
Integration with other solution capabilities to create a work order/ trigger a workflow
F9 M
from an incident or problem ticket
Ability to integrate with MS Exchange and other commonly used communication
F10 M
services
4.7. Risk Management
Risk management helps RSR measure levels of risks arising from railway operations and generate meaningful
insights and action plans for mitigating risk.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Automatic identification, monitoring and of risks and from multiple sources and
current and historic events related to an operator, such as permit-related
G1 M
compliance, audit findings, investigation findings, asset data, non-compliance
notices and railway operations etc.
G2 AI-enabled prediction and monitoring of risks I
AI-enabled decision-making in terms of what risks to further investigate and where
G3 I
to focus audit resources
G4 Assessment of risks and issues based on multiple factors M
Aggregation of risk scores across multiple factors and entities (e.g. operators,
G5 M
locations, risk type, risk category), e.g. management of accumulative risks
Set and assigns key risk indicators (KRIs) and monitors these live on an interactive
G6 M
visual display
Configuration of alerts for critical events and receive notifications in case of a breach
G7 M
or failure
4.8. Audit and Compliance Management
Audit software that automates the process of preparing and executing audits by helping organizations analyze
data, assess risks, track issues, report results and manage paperwork.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Create audit plans, schedule resources, and determine long-term goals for audits -
H1 generate and allow RSR to easily build audit protocols, checklists and reports M
depending on the elements of the SMS and scope of the audit or inspection
Monitor all audit-related statistics, metrics, timeline, budget, and performance in a
H2 M
central location
Page 14 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Issuing, tracking and closing of compliance-related matters such as to permit
H3 special conditions, audit and investigation outcomes (e.g. non-compliance notices, M
corrective action plans, improvement and prohibition directives etc.)
Traceability into historical incidents, defects, work orders, and other relevant data,
H4 which helps to support audits, inspections and investigations and enforce M
compliance
Automatic identification of similar findings and overlapping non-compliances
H5 (enhanced analytics), based on e.g. location, nature and description of non- M
compliance
Mobile-enabled interface to help auditors capture real-time data in the form of
H6 M
pictures, voice notes, GPS coordinates etc.
Analysis of compliance-related matters - analyses the non-compliance notices
H7 issued against an operator and determine the high-risk areas and where further M
action should be taken
4.9. GIS Spatial Integration
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that creates, analyses, and displays geographic data on digital maps.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Create, analyse and display geographic data (e.g. asset description and location,
I1 M
work orders, occurrences, audit and inspection data) on digital maps.
Ability to navigate between the spatial view and the system easily and seamlessly
I2 M
(i.e. embedded in-process workflows)
4.10. Reporting
Reporting that allows real-time access to essential data and facilitate the rapid generation of reports from multiple
data sources.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Automated and ad-hoc report generation for a range of standardized operational
J1 M
reports
J2 Easy integration with business intelligence data analytics and visualisation tools M
J3 Exports data in multiple formats (e.g., PDF, DOC, CSV) and into other platforms. M
AI-enabled report generation, e.g. conversational chatbots for report generation and
J4 I
querying
The ability for non-technical, business users to generate reports as necessary from
J5 M
all entities
J6 Provide a complete, 360-degree view of the operator. M
4.11. Mobility
A mobile-compatible solution that enables core processes to be undertaken with ease from mobile devices and
allows external stakeholders to easily access RSR data from mobile devices.
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Ability to support mobility requirements within your solution (the proposed solution
K1 M
must be able to function on a mobile device, such as a tablet).
Page 15 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
Mandatory (M)
No. Requirement
or Innovative (I)
Ability to capture written (including signatures, text and sketches), photographic,
K2 M
video and voice data on a mobile device
K3 Ability to attach and download data to and from the main server M
Ability to operate a mobile device with no training. The design shall be "user
K4 friendly" so that it can be operated by employees who have little or no computer M
experience
The mobile solution does not require a wireless signal to enable the field technician
to keep working. For example, the technician can open a work order which has
K5 already been received on the mobile device and progress through all its statuses to M
completion, then can synchronise with the back-office system when the wireless
signal is restored.
It must be possible for internal resources (such as a system administrator) to
K6 change the configuration of data entry screens on the mobile device and hence M
modify the data captured and/or the workflow on the mobile device
Page 16 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
5. Relationship between Solution Capabilities and Business Processes
A summary of the Solution Capabilities and Business Processes is presented below and indicates which processes the Solution Capabilities apply to. The table below is meant
only for summary purposes and does not necessarily show the link between modules or between processes.
E. Physical Asset
A. Work Order
Generation &
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
D. Electronic
I. GIS Spatial
H. Audit and
F. Customer
J. Reporting
B. Workflow
Compliance
Integration
K. Mobility
Document
C. Case
Service
G. Risk
Business Process/ Solution Capability
1. Permit Management and Administration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2. Investigations Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
3. Contact Centre Yes Yes Yes
4. Safety Intervention Planning Yes Yes Yes Yes
5. Audits and Inspections Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
6. Compliance Management Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
7. Penalty Management Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
8. Revenue Management Yes Yes
9. Operator Asset Management Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
10. Data Management and Safety Analysis Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
11. New Works and Technology
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Development
Page 17 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
6. Process Specific Business Requirements
The solution proposed by the service provider covers the following core RSR business processes.
6.1. Permit Management and Administration
6.1.1. Process Description
A new or active operator submits a permit application online and pays the application fee online to the RSR via eft
or credit card. Some operators require an invoice to be raised before making payment.
The permit application is accompanied by several supporting documents, including the operator’s Safety
Management System (SMS), which are all uploaded online.
The RSR assesses the operator’s application and supporting documents according to a common assessment
methodology. Additional information may be requested from the operator during the assessment. The format of
the SMS is prescribed by the RSR, however, poor quality submissions can delay the assessment process.
Following the assessment of the application, the permit will be drafted and approved and the permit fee will be
calculated. Operators are required to pay the permit fee before the permit is issued.
Safety Permits are issued in hard copy on security paper and electronically, however, there is no legal requirement
to issue paper permits.
Safety Permits are issued with several standard and special conditions that the operator must fulfil within a time
specified on the permit. Failure to fulfil the conditions will result in non-compliance notice being issued.
Operators are required to submit proof of special condition fulfilment to the RSR. The received information is
assessed. Approved Special Conditions are revoked and a compliance letter is sent to the Operator. For non-
compliance, a letter of non-compliance is sent to the operator
Issued permits are updated on an annual basis following the re-application/renewal of the permit. Furthermore,
operators re-apply for Safety Permits on expiry. The re-application process is similar to the new application
process.
Updates to permits are made on an annual basis through the Annual Safety Improvement Plan (ASIP) process
and when operators details change.
6.1.2. Summary of Requirements
The efficiency and effectiveness of the permit management and administration process rely on timely payment of
application and permit fees, the submission of high-quality safety permit applications and SMSs, timely application
assessments and the monitoring and management of the implementation of permit special conditions.
The proposed solution should be able to support the upload and assessment of operators’ submissions including
application supporting documents and special conditions information (Electronic Document Management). The
proposed solution should support the upload of high-quality (complete) SMSs, that include a variety of file types,
including drawings and that enable the RSR to then assess the content of complete submission (e.g. a ‘smart’
application form and system assessment of a ‘smart’ SMS template) by automatically determining whether
submissions are complete and identifying critical elements that are missing before applications proceed to the
assessment step.
The proposed solution should enable the RSR and operators to produce a dynamic SMS document during the
review process and intelligently guide operators on SMS development and update with guidance from a
conversational user interface, such as chatbots.
Operators should be able to save incomplete applications without having to re-check documents and be able to
update documents throughout the year (between applications)
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The proposed solution should intelligently prompt RSR technical assessors on high-risk elements of the SMS
based on an operator’s history.
The proposed solution should enable the RSR and the operator to view all past permit applications, supporting
documents and assessments and all past changes to the operator’s permit (e.g. administrative changes, such as
name changes and amendments to the technical parameters of a permit). The assessment of permit applications
also takes into consideration past audit findings, investigation findings and technology reviews etc., therefore, the
system should support a complete, 360-degree view of the operator.
The proposed solution should automatically identify changes in an operators operations based on submitted
information and operator updates made that may impact the Permit Management and other RSR processes
The proposed solution should automatically calculate application and permit fees, support the assessment of
applications and drafting and approval of Safety Permits and the management of the implementation of permit
special conditions by the operator (Workflow Management).
The proposed solution should be able to issue secure, digital Safety Permits and securely control the update of
permits (Electronic Document Management). The proposed solution should support the issue of a single,
authenticated permit document that is automatically updated in real-time as updates are made by the RSR
(interactive and dynamic document generation). The proposed solution should enable the printing of paper-based
permits that can be securely linked to an electronic permit (e.g. by QR code), thus enabling various railway
authorities to authenticate paper-based permits.
The proposed solution should be able to integrate with the RSR’s financial accounting system (Pastel) and RSR’s
Banking System.
The proposed solution should be able to communicate with operators and other RSR staff on multiple channels,
including email, online portal, phone and live chat. The solution should enable the timeous resolution of
queries/service requests raised by the operator and other RSR staff during the process (Customer Service
Management).
The proposed solution should be able to generate automated and ad-hoc reports for a range of standardized
operational reports.
6.2. Investigations
6.2.1. Process Description
The Operator must investigate every railway occurrence that takes place directly or indirectly in connection with
an operator’s railway operations, among other things to identify the root cause or causes thereof, within a
reasonable time after that occurrence.
All operators must, upon request, furnish any occurrence investigation report to the RSR and the RSR may require
the operator to assess the impact of the recommendations made in the operator’s occurrence investigation report
to effect safety improvements.
The main sub-processes within Investigations are:
1. Investigation registration
2. Investigation
3. Occurrence investigation report
4. Corrective action plan and follow-up investigation
5. Investigation close-out
Investigations are registered following the notification of a major occurrence through RSR’s call centre, the
submission of an Investigation Report from an Operator or a request within the RSR or Ministry of Transport. The
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nature of the occurrence and therefore the source of the request is linked to the type of investigation that is
undertaken.
There are four types of investigations (point 2 above) that can be undertaken, namely:
1. Desktop Review – A review of an Operator's investigation report following a minor occurrence;
2. Safety Issue Investigation – An investigation into several similar or related occurrences as identified by
the results of safety trend analyses, occurrence investigations or audit reports or following a complaint or
request from operators or members of the public’
3. Preliminary Investigation – An investigation that is undertaken immediately following the report of a major
occurrence by an Operator (preceded the BOI investigation); and
4. Board of Inquiry (BOI) – A comprehensive investigation following on the findings of the preliminary
investigation or from a directive from the Minister of Transport or RSR’s CEO. A BOI may comprise of
RSR employees, External Specialists or a combination both, RSR employees and external specialists.
Investigations involve site visits and inspections and the collection of documentary, photographic, oral and physical
evidence from multiple sources (e.g. witnesses, operators, SAPS etc.)
An investigation report is created following the investigation and submitted to the operator. The operator is required
to submit a Corrective Action Plan, which may outline several corrective/improvement initiatives. The RSR is
responsible for the follow-up with all corrective initiatives to ensure that they are implemented by the operator. Non-
compliance may result in the issue of a non-compliance notice, which may further lead to the issue of a penalty
and/or a court process. An investigation is closed once the Corrective Action Plan has been implemented.
6.2.2. Summary of Requirements
The efficiency and effectiveness of the investigation process rely on the ability of the RSR to investigate and report
on investigations timeously (especially for Preliminary Investigations where investigation reports are required within
24 hours of the occurrence), the ability to effectively document, analyse and report on a variety of evidence types
and the ability to follow-up and enforce the implementation of corrective action plans.
The proposed solution should be able to register, prioritise, schedule and allocate an investigation to a relevant
Inspector and enable planning for the investigation to be undertaken in terms of the scope of work, time and cost
to be spent on investigations (Work Order Management).
The proposed solution should intelligently aid decision-making on which minor occurrences and safety-related
trends should be investigated further by the RSR.
The proposed solution should enable Inspectors to document/record photographic, location, oral and written
evidence on-site (i.e field reporting) through a mobile device and the establish chain of command (COC) for
physical evidence and to generate an interactive and dynamic investigation report according to an appropriate
template (system generated report) (Case Management).
The proposed solution should be able to automatically tag uploaded documents for specific information, produce
electronically stored information and have advanced document search functionality (e.g. free text search, fuzzy
searching, proximity searching, field boosting, interactive filtering) (Electronic Document Management).
Investigations may not follow a standard process, therefore, the proposed solution should have the ability to allow
for, given reasons, deviation from the given time to complete a task as well as the ability to design/ amend the
process workflow using, for example, a drag-and-drop interface based on the investigation type from minor
investigations to complex, major investigations (Case Management).
The proposed solution provides an interactive investigative workspace with interactive visualisation and search
capability.
The proposed solution should enable the RSR to automatically and securely distribute/issue confidential reports
for internal and external purposes.
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The proposed solution should automatically keep RSR officials at head office up-to-date on the investigation’s
progress.
The proposed solution should enable the input/upload of operator Corrective Action Plans (Electronic Document
Management) and the ability to track and trace improvement initiatives contained within the same plans (Audit and
Compliance Management).
The proposed solution should be able to track the process, issuing notifications to RSR and external parties on
outstanding activities and documents (Workflow Management).
The availability of operator data on permit conditions, past audits, inspections and investigations is needed to
undertake a thorough investigation, as such the proposed solution should support a single 350-degree view of the
operator and be integrated with other RSR processes.
The proposed solution should be able to automatically identify repeat findings from multiple historic audits,
inspections or investigations.
The proposed solution should include GIS spatial integration to record, store and visualise location information
concerning investigation sites (GIS spatial integration).
6.3. Contact Centre
6.3.1. Process Description
The Contact Centre is responsible for receiving, logging and escalation of immediately reportable occurrences
reported to the RSR. Operators are by law required to report all their major occurrence to the RSR within 15
minutes after the occurrence comes to the attention of the Nominated Manager. Therefore, the contact centre
remains central to the initial investigation processes as well as the occurrence data input processes.
On a secondary level, the contact centre also receives RSR and operators in general queries and concerns. These
come via emails as well as telephonically. Those queries and concerns not having an effect on the RSR get
communicated to the relevant stakeholder including specific railway operators Whistle-blowers may phone into the
call centre or send an email to report unsafe conditions, in which case, the matter is investigated further.
The Contact Centre reports on all occurrences, queries and concerns received on a weekly, monthly and quarterly
basis as required by line managers.
6.3.2. Summary of Requirements
The efficiency and effectiveness of the Contact Centre are dependent on the ability to accurately and timeously
capture reported information (especially as it relates to occurrences), to reduce back-and-forth between callers
and to be able to respond to queries timeously and with appropriate information.
The proposed solution should, therefore, offer an integrated service management system to automatically separate
and log occurrences, queries and concerns received by phone, email, online and mobile device and to track and
report on the status/progress of unresolved matters. There are some queries and concerns that are not related to
the RSR. The non-RSR related matters are separated from the RSR-related matters, as such there will be
information which the RSR system will not house but forward to external parties
The proposed solution should provide an AI-enabled knowledge base that can build and manage a centralized,
searchable repository of information regarding frequent and previously asked queries and responses and
recommend changes to articles based on how customers communicate their issues, making answers easier to find
and understand in the future.
The proposed solution should be able to integrate with telephony systems. The proposed solution should also
enable the automatic notification of relevant RSR employees by SMS and email of reported occurrences (Customer
Service Management).
Page 21 of 35RSR Conceptual Business Requirements
The proposed solution should be able to integrate with Operators’ occurrence management systems.
The proposed solution should provide a conversational user interface, such as intelligent chatbots to assist with
the real-time resolution of queries.
6.4. Safety Intervention Planning
6.4.1. Process Description
Safety Intervention Planning is undertaken to direct RSR resources towards the areas which will derive most value
(safety benefit) from intervention. Interventions include audits, inspections, targeted investigations (i.e. issue-based
interventions) as well as quarterly liaison meetings with the large operators and monthly regional operator liaison
meetings.
The RSR has adopted a risk-based approach towards regulatory oversight. Therefore, RSR prioritizes its safety
intervention initiatives to high-risk areas. RSR considers the impact their safety intervention initiatives will likely
make and will focus on interventions that will derive the most impact. Safety intervention intends to achieve a
reduction in the level of harm, a reduction in the number of occurrences, to advance the level of rail safety
awareness to the operators and the public.
Planning is performed annually and implementation of the plans are monitored on an ongoing basis. Plans are
adapted throughout the year. The plan informs the Audit and Inspection Department’s activities.
The development of safety intervention plans is based on the analysis of, amongst other things, permit-related
information, past audit findings, investigations, non-conformance and directives etc.
Safety Intervention Plans are linked to the Organisation’s overall operational plans.
6.4.2. Summary of Requirements
The efficiency and effectiveness of Safety Intervention Planning are reliant on having accurate, up-to-date and
readily available information in a format that is easy to manipulate and analyse as well as the ability to create
implementable plans.
The proposed solution should, therefore, have the ability to generate a variety of reports on permit, investigation,
audit and compliance-related data (Reporting), to automatically identify & categorise high-risk areas that will
become a focus of future safety interventions (Risk Management) and to develop integrated operational plans,
including detailed workforce and resource plans that can be monitored and managed and allow for the scheduling
of safety interventions and the related staff and equipment needs (Work Order Management).
The proposed solution should allow for AI-enabled identification, prediction and monitoring of risks and from
multiple sources and AI-enabled decision-making in terms of what risks to further investigate and where to focus
audit resources.
Reporting should allow for data visualization, exports data in multiple formats (e.g., PDF, DOC, CSV) and into other
platforms and AI-enabled report generation, e.g. conversational chatbots for report generation and querying
6.5. Audits and Inspections
6.5.1. Process Description
Audits and Inspections are undertaken to ensure operator compliance with the ultimate aim to create safer railways.
Audits and inspections are scheduled according to the above-mentioned Safety Intervention Plans, however,
unplanned inspections may also be undertaken.
The key steps of an audit or investigation are:
1. Scheduling the audit with the operator
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2. Pre-audit preparation - the review of relevant operator-related information, such as to permit special
conditions, past audits, past occurrences, past and current non-conformances, directives and corrective
action plans etc. Information is obtained from RSR’s records and additional information may be requested
from the operator. Pre-audit preparation is used to select the elements of the SMS that will be audited.
3. Site visit – audit of the operator’s SMS, which involves the collection of supporting evidence (e.g. oral,
documentary, photographic evidence)
4. Audit report – drafting of an audit report listing the audit findings and areas of non-conformance.
5. Audit follow up – the operator is required to submit a corrective action plan addressing the non-
conformance raised in the audit report. The RSR must ensure that the plan is implemented and non-
conformances are addressed.
6. The issue of non-compliance notices and directives during the pre-audit, audit and audit follow up steps.
Non-compliance may result in the issue of a non-compliance notice, which may further lead to the issue of a penalty
and/or a court process. An audit is closed once the Corrective Action Plan has been implemented.
6.5.2. Summary of Requirements
The efficiency and effectiveness of audits and inspections are dependent on the ability of Inspectors to focus their
audits on ‘high-risk’ elements, to be able to collect and analyse supporting evidence, to report on audit findings
and to track the implementation of corrective action plans.
The proposed solution should, therefore, enable the RSR’s audit and inspection schedule to be managed. The
proposed solution should be able to generate and allow RSR to easily build audit protocols, checklists and reports
depending on the elements of the SMS and scope of the investigation that is audited (e.g. ‘smart’ forms and reports)
(Audit and Compliance Management).
The proposed solution should enable Inspectors to focus on high-risk audit elements and audit findings, therefore,
should be able to automatically identify and predict ‘high’ risk audit findings (Risk Management) and enable
advanced analysis of the data to be undertaken.
The proposed solution should enable Inspectors to document/record photographic, location, oral and written
evidence on-site (i.e field reporting) through a mobile device and the establish chain of command (COC) for
physical evidence and to generate an interactive and dynamic investigation report according to an appropriate
template (system generated report) (Case Management).
An audit or inspections may generate over 100 to 1000 audit findings, therefore, the proposed solution should
allow each audit finding to be tracked until closure (i.e once the operator has implemented corrective action), which
will require the ability for operators to upload supporting documents (Electronic Document Management), workflow
management, automatic communication (notifications) with operators and Inspectors (Customer Service
Management) and the ability to report on audits and audit findings throughout the process (Reporting).
The availability of operator data on permit conditions, past audits, inspections and investigations is needed to
undertake a thorough audit, as such the proposed solution should support a single 360-degree view of the operator
and be integrated with other RSR processes.
The proposed solution should also have the ability to manage the actual time and cost spent on audits vs. what
has been planned (Work Order Management).
The proposed solution must provide have the ability for Inspectors to generate a variety of reports without the need
for external support. The reporting solution must be able to report on findings from an operator that operates across
multiple sites and multiple past audits and inspections.
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