Lanzhou Lubricant Plant Strengthens Fine Management of Owned Railcars, Significantly Improving Rail Transport Efficiency

Since 2010, the Lanzhou Lubricant Plant has faced an increasingly difficult situation in rail transport and the management of its owned railcars. Persisting in seeking benefits through internal management and vigorously pursuing fine management of owned railcars, the plant achieved a record high in bulk oil shipments from January to October. A total of 1,859 railcars were dispatched, averaging more than 180 cars per month, with owned railcar turnover reaching 1.16 turns, significantly improving rail transport efficiency. In 2010, due to product mix adjustments and changes in the feedstock supply structure of Lanzhou Petrochemical Company, the Lanzhou plant's 160 owned railcars handled the outbound transfer of more than 10,000 tonnes of bulk oil per month as well as supplying some products externally. At the same time, it had to purchase nearly 8,500 tonnes per month of oil products from sister plants. With about 170 railcars of various base oils, rail throughput was large and operational coordination difficult. In addition, the Lanzhou Railway Bureau's increased vehicle maintenance workload this year severely constrained the plant's railcar maintenance efficiency, leaving due-for-maintenance vehicles unable to be serviced normally and making the already strained railcar fleet even more insufficient. Faced with the heavy task of bulk oil shipments, the Lanzhou plant strengthened fine management of owned railcars and focused on raising transport capacity in four ways. First, to improve owned railcar utilization efficiency, while coordinating with the rail transport department of the petrochemical company to make full use of all available in-plant railcars, the plant also coordinated with railway inspection personnel wherever possible so that some vehicles could make one extra trip before their maintenance due date, avoiding unnecessary detention. Through painstaking effort, in the busiest months of September and October, three shop-repair vehicles and eight due-for-depot-repair vehicles were ultimately released, reducing vehicle detention and improving owned railcar operating efficiency. Second, operations staff contacted each center and customer every day, tracking the movement and arrival of every railcar, urging and coordinating prompt receipt, unloading and return by counterparties, and reducing practices such as using cars as warehouses. The empty return period of owned railcars was markedly shortened, with the turnover rate reaching 1.53 turns in October in particular. Third, in response to the unfavorable situation of difficult railcar maintenance at the railway bureau, railcar management staff took the initiative. They closely tracked dispatched vehicles and dynamically monitored the maintenance due dates of each car. For vehicles likely to be detained for repair, they contacted customers in advance so that, after unloading, the cars returned directly to the Lanxi Vehicle Repair Plant, simplifying repair delivery procedures. In September alone, 20 railcars were sent directly back from other bureaus to Lanxi for repair, reducing the number of vehicles awaiting maintenance and improving railcar maintenance efficiency. Fourth, the plant actively coordinated with relevant railway bureau departments and successfully obtained approval to temporarily use railcars from other bureaus. Making full use of railcars from sister units arriving at the Lanzhou plant, it used empty returning cars after loading and unloading to transport the Lanzhou plant's base oils and products to sister units, greatly increasing outbound volumes. This saved the Lanzhou plant substantial empty-return expenses and genuinely improved rail transport efficiency.