The challenge
Our customer, one of the largest European railway operators, is currently upgrading its signalling assets and processes – a vast digitalisation and modernisation programme that will take many years to be completed. Numerous legacy electronical, mechanical systems and processes remain in use by its employees (e.g. for supplier management, testing, V&V, homologation certification, etc.) which are not fit for digital systems and must be replaced.
Our client must therefore find the right approaches, concepts, and processes to manage its digital transformation. The main challenge is to successfully map out the existing processes and identify areas where digitalisation could bring more benefits for in terms of safety, reliability, and experience for the passenger – and the introduction of new and more functionalities.
The solution
Having worked successfully with Expleo on various rail projects in the past, our reputation led the client to bring us back on board for another project in railway signalling at the start of 2021. Expleo’s national railway signalling know-how means we can support our client by providing unique expertise to deploy new and innovative digital systems. For this particular project:
- Expleo is helping the client develop a new approach for homologation, for the integration test process and for supply management that will be fit for a digital environment.
- Expleo does so by analysing the existing standards and writing new test concepts.
- We adopted a holistic approach to embark everyone in a transformation journey: we organised workshops with the client gathering all their stakeholders, to sit down together and co-create new ideas which were then collected and turned into concepts.
Due to our vast experience and knowledge in railways and similar projects, a large part of the project involves educating the client about new system procedures. Thanks to its multi-sector portfolio, Expleo is also able to use input from colleagues in its Automotive Department for reference, as digitalisation is advanced in the sector: this adds key insights and fresh perspectives to the railway project.
The result for the customer: four railways are now in commercial service
- The concepts we create for the client to manage signalling systems digitalisation, ultimately, increase the customer experience.
- They also reduce maintenance costs as digitalisation removes the need for signals on the tracks, making it possible for information to be displayed in a dashboard in the driver’s cabin and adding new functionalities.
- This also enhances safety: the railway vehicle in the future could be equipped with sensors and cameras to identify potential obstacles or danger on the tracks.
Expleo’s automotive industry experience is valuable as the industry has widely adopted IoT and vehicle sensors already, developing practical solutions through digitalisation, new approaches that could be applied to the railway industry. Our pool of local rail transportation experts knows the national context and therefore our client’s constraints, offering tailored and personalised support and services.
We know the old railway world as well as the new world, and what we also bring is our knowledge and digitalisation experience from other sectors. We have received good feedback from the customer, who is curious to see what else we can bring.
Account Manager Transportation, Expleo Group
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