Recognition for a Changing Industry
The Railway Innovation Awards celebrate organisations that are helping move the rail industry forward through practical, measurable innovation. Our winning entry, “Optimising Rail Operations Through Intelligent Crew Rostering and Workforce Orchestration,” focused on a challenge that many operators know all too well: managing an increasingly complex workforce with tools and processes that were never designed for today’s operational demands.
Across passenger, freight, and infrastructure operations, planners are expected to make fast, safety-critical decisions while balancing competencies, compliance, fatigue management, staff availability, disruption, and operational performance. Too often, those decisions are still supported by disconnected systems, spreadsheets, phone calls, and manual processes.
Our belief has always been simple: Workforce management should be an operational advantage, not an administrative burden.
Why WILSON Stood Out
With WILSON, we set out to rethink workforce management from the ground up.
Rather than treating rostering, competency management, workforce communication, time recording, and payroll as separate tasks, WILSON brings them together in one integrated platform, giving planners a real-time view of their workforce and enabling faster, better-informed operational decisions.
The platform helps operators:
- create intelligent, compliant crew rosters
- validate competencies and certifications automatically
- respond more quickly to disruption
- communicate operational changes instantly
- digitise time and attendance
- reduce manual administration by up to 70%
Ultimately, WILSON allows planning teams to spend less time searching for information and more time keeping the railway moving.
A Milestone for Our UK Journey
Winning this award is particularly meaningful because it comes at an exciting stage of Menlo79’s expansion into the UK.
Over the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to meet operators, infrastructure organisations, and freight companies across the British rail sector. Those conversations have consistently reinforced one message: workforce planning is becoming more complex, while expectations around operational performance continue to rise.
Receiving this award from such a respected UK industry programme gives us confidence that the challenges we’ve been solving for years are just as relevant to the future of British rail.
Built by People Who Understand Rail
One of the things we’re most proud of is that WILSON wasn’t created in isolation. Menlo79 was founded by former rail industry professionals with operational experience at Deutsche Bahn and DB Cargo. Every feature within WILSON has been shaped by real operational challenges, close collaboration with customers, and the belief that software should simplify complex railway operations,not add another layer of complexity.
That practical mindset continues to guide everything we build.
Thank You
Awards are never won by software alone. This recognition belongs to everyone who has contributed to WILSON’s development: from our product, development, and customer success teams to our customers and partners, whose feedback continually helps us improve the platform.
Most importantly, we’d like to thank the Railway Innovation Awards judges for recognising the importance of intelligent workforce management in delivering safer, more efficient, and more resilient railway operations.
Looking Ahead
Winning the Railway Innovation Award is a milestone, but not the destination.
The rail industry continues to evolve, and so do the challenges facing operators. As we continue our expansion into the UK, we’ll remain focused on helping rail organisations replace fragmented workforce processes with connected, real-time operational management.
We’re incredibly proud of what this award represents, and even more excited about what’s next.
The journey continues and we’re looking forward to helping shape the future of rail operations together.
Your Menlo79 team
This article was originally published by Menlo79.
