The iCREW solution will allow organizations with large operational workforces to plan, schedule and assign crews, manage job boards and rotations, manage bulletins, bids and awards, and provide robust rule processing for end of shift reporting, claims validation, time to gross calculations and labor distribution. iCREW will be developed and tested according to HCL AXON's proven product delivery methodology and will be built to the same product development standards that SAP requires of its own developments. iCREW will integrate seamlessly into the SAP ECC environment, including SAP HCM, FI and Transportation Management modules. While iCREW initially will be targeted at the train crew deployment requirements of the railroad industry, HCL AXON's development team will work with partners in other industries including airlines, postal services and logistics in order to ensure that their requirements can be incorporated into iCREW.
iCREW will be developed by the same HCL AXON product development center that has delivered iMRO, a joint product development with SAP that delivers significant new functionality for organizations that manage large, complex assets, including aerospace and defense, travel and logistics organizations. Key components of the iMRO solution help extend SAP's functionality in areas such as maintenance scheduling and planning, resource management and engineering change management, while at the same time significantly enhancing the operational user interface. iMRO is SAP's solution for complex asset maintenance and iCREW will fully integrate with iMRO to allow the management and deployment of engineering crews.
Commenting on the iCREW partnership agreement, Alan Capes, CN's director of information technology business development and strategic planning, said, "CN has already delivered major cost savings and business value through the deployment of SAP across its back-office and asset management functions. Using iCREW to create an integrated crew management solution that leverages CN's investments in its SAP platform should generate additional significant savings and efficiencies in train operations."
When asked about the iCREW development, Steve Peck, President of HCL AXON in the Americas, said, "CN is laser focused on driving the best asset utilization in the industry and knows how to leverage SAP to deliver significant business improvements. We are delighted to partner with CN to extend their SAP solution to deliver further cost and utilization efficiencies. Our rapid development of eSOA compliant solutions such as iCREW & iMRO fully leverage the SAP business process platform to deliver a strategic advantage to our customers in an increasingly competitive and cost conscious global environment."
