With a rich Kansas City history dating back nearly 125 years, it’s no surprise that Kansas City Southern—a transportation holding company with railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama—plays a significant and iconic role in Kansas City’s business community.
So it was a deep sense of heritage and a commitment to excellence that led Kansas City Southern to move its Customer Solutions Center (CSC) and Network Operations Center (NOC) in 2008 from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Kansas City, Missouri. The move was about Kansas City Southern’s dedication to always exceed customer expectations, while providing the most effective workforce in the rail industry.
“As Kansas City’s hometown railroad since 1887, we are committed to being headquartered in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, enhancing economic development and being a good corporate citizen,” said Michael R. Haverty, Chairman and CEO of Kansas City Southern.
To help make this nearly $4-million investment a reality, Kansas City Southern turned to the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City and the Missouri Department of Economic Development for assistance. Ultimately, the State of Missouri provided financial incentives and other assistance through its Missouri Quality Jobs, New Jobs Training and Employee Recruitment and Referral programs.
“It’s exciting that after more than 100 years in this city, Kansas City Southern is still playing an active role its economic growth,” Kaczmarek said. “Kansas City Southern is an icon in this town and we were delighted to play a part in this effort to unite their workforce in Kansas City, Missouri.”
The complete project took place on one floor of the Kansas City Southern’s downtown Kansas City office, and included general construction, core building infrastructure, tenant finishing and a technology infrastructure that makes the facility resilient to utility failure. The new center also features state of the market technology, including new Internet Protocol phone and radio systems, 24 high-end wall monitors that provide a comprehensive look at all trains on the system, overhead monitors that display call center statistics, along with new computers, monitors, phones, video conference capabilities and cable access in five conference rooms.
Together, the CSC and NOC make up the true heart of Kansas City Southern, responsible for such central operations as dispatch, quality analysis, locomotive power distribution, crew assignments and tactical executions that ensure top service commitments with the company’s most important target audiences. Moving them from Louisiana to Kansas City, where they are now together with the sales and marketing, e-commerce, revenue, asset and yield management, and service design functions has helped streamline processes, improved quality and enhanced overall execution.
“Having this center in Kansas City with the rest of Kansas City Southern’s headquarters operations not only means things are running more efficiently and effectively,” Kaczmarek said. “It also means that Kansas City Southern is evolving and growing, just like its hometown.”
