OREANDA-NEWS. In order to guarantee smooth operation of transport networks, Siemens has introduced a set of innovations that will diminish traffic congestion, reduce rail delays, improve safety, and facilitate more efficient use of resources. Among the key elements are remote data transfer, rapid spare part provision, and knowledge-rich support centers.

Take one of the oldest transport control technologies: traffic lights. Constantly in use, their sequencing must vary in response to events. But if even one light fails, this can generate accidents, delays, and lost productivity.

“Our staff has gathered years of
experience in the field“
Bakir Bijedic-Hoffmann

Keeping the lights on…

Maintenance used to be reactive. Once aware of a fault, technicians would confront many challenges: get to the location (perhaps through the resulting jams); diagnose the problem (using their own knowledge); obtain any necessary vehicle or part (perhaps by maintaining an expensive inventory); then make a repair (again reliant on their own skills). So how does Duisburg, a small city in western Germany, cope with this responsibility, as a bulb blows at a busy junction? Remarkably well, these days.

The errant light is connected to a Siemens traffic control center in Munich, where the manager, Bakir Bijedic-Hoffmann, sees it instantly on his screen. While a reserve red bulb immediately clicks into operation at the traffic light, Bakir checks his database to see what sort of repair vehicle will be needed and then schedules the required elevated platform truck and spare bulb. Duisburg’s commuters will be spared gridlock or danger.

… and trains on the rails

Maintenance is equally valuable for the Siemens Velaro trains, passing through temperatures ranging from -50°C to +40°C on the Moscow-St Petersburg route, but achieving more than 99 percent reliability. One aspect of this is diagnostics, using onboard monitoring. There are up to 60 sensors per train constantly relaying data on the condition of train components online to a service center. There, systems translate this into requirements for preventive maintenance, which can happen when the train enters its depot, with no interruption to service.

Another aspect is efficient spare parts provision. Siemens’ World Distribution Center near Frankfurt can have a required component ready at a train depot in Spain less than seven hours after receiving the order from the Spanish rail operator. The center ships 50,000 items annually.

The common platform

These examples are part of Siemens Mobility’s integrated approach to maintenance – the common Remote Service Platform (cRSP). This involves taking account of maintenance needs when manufacturing, as well as feeding back all data generated through maintenance into improved product design. Maintenance-related know-how is also built through a network that combines academies and testing centers with the service centers.

The cRSP’s driving spirit is proaction, rather than reaction, and the result is savings for clients as much as improved reliability for transport users. Siemens knows that prevention is better than cure.