Efficiency arrives on schedule at Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) plays an important civil role in daily life in the Netherlands. More than 1.1 million passengers daily use over 400 stations throughout the national passenger rail system. While NS is not a listed company, it voluntarily abides by the Dutch Corporate Governance Code and maintains a focus on openness and transparency.

For Senior Financial Controller Erik Alberts and his colleagues, overseeing the finances that keep this vast network running is a complex, continuous journey. The challenges they face today are the same as any public or private organization: “Like everyone these days, we are dealing with rising costs — energy costs, personnel costs, and other costs,” Alberts says. [Note: Quotes are translated from Dutch.]

An engine of efficiency

To navigate these challenges, NS relies on the detailed, real-time modeling and accurate forecasting capabilities of the Anaplan platform. “We use Anaplan for short- and long-term forecasts,” Alberts explains. “It runs on data from our ERP system, with which we have set up a simple connection, so we always have the latest data.”

The Anaplan implementation at NS began in 2015, with a focus on collaboration from the start. “I had open communication with my 30 fellow controllers on what worked and what didn’t,” Alberts recalls. “This enabled us to achieve positive results quickly.” Role-based security in Anaplan ensures that sensitive data is accessible only to authorized personnel.

To keep things running at peak performance, NS established an Anaplan Center of Excellence to maintain and improve the Anaplan solution. In one major efficiency move, the team merged five separate project control models into a single, unified model.

Destination: better decisions

Planning, budgeting, and forecasting are the main parts of the solution. Other Anaplan models, including Operational Workforce Planning (OWP) and several cost-related models, help with compliance and financial efficiency. 

“We use Anaplan for a cost-price model that enables us to comply with relevant legislation,” Alberts explains. “We also have an energy- and service-cost model that enables us to identify in advance which costs we can — and can’t — pass on to the commercial tenants in our stations. This has saved us a lot of money.”

The impact of this planning precision is felt across the organization. Improved passenger forecasting, real estate planning, and train maintenance, managed with Anaplan, have contributed to a pleasant and sustainable passenger experience.

“Financial planning in Anaplan ensures that we achieve high-quality planning with fewer people, while gaining time for better analysis,” Alberts concludes. “So ultimately, better decisions can be made.”

Photos by Martijn Martens and Arno Leblanc.