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como Complete mobility - Facts, Trends, Stories Issue 07 | October 2011 | www.siemens.com/mobility Urban Visions The search for the perfect city

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welcome como 07 | October 2011 Dear readers, Some important news first: on October 1, Siemens launched its new corporate sector, Infrastructure & Cities, which will effectively be a new home for Siemens Mobility. This means the topics you are used to reading about in como will hold even more sway at Siemens in the future: the areas Rail Vehicles and Components as well as Services and Turnkey Systems are now combined in a newly created division, Rail Systems, managed by Hans-Jörg Grundmann. Mobility and Logistics, which I am responsible for, will turn its attention to products, systems and solutions for automating rail, road, water and air transport infrastructure. Yet many topics will remain common to all of us, and it is no coincidence that urban infrastructure is a focus of this issue. Cities are the growth market of the future. The world's 600 largest cities already generate around half of global economic output. These places will see stronger economic growth than the world as a whole over the next two decades. At the same time, the proportion of people living in cities will rise from just over 50 percent today to 60 percent - that means around 1.4 billion new city dwellers. What happens in cities will also decide whether humanity can overcome the challenges that lie ahead - in particular climate protection, transport and mobility. None of this will be achieved without considerIn the cities it will be able effort, nor will it come for free. Therefore, long-term strategies such as "Complete mobility" - decided whether humanity the linking of various transport flows on land, on can really master the big water and in the air with the aim of making mobility, transport and logistics truly sustainable - are challenges of the future. all the more important. One thing is already clear: only intelligently networked solutions for the entire transport infrastructure are viable for the future. Ever since the dawn of cities, the way their infrastructures work has been crucial in the rise, growth and flourishing of urban civilizations. As the focus story in this issue reveals, these developments can be traced back over millennia, allowing us to draw lessons for the future. On that note I hope you will find this issue of como a stimulating read. Yours sincerely, Sami Atiya CEO Mobility and Logistics

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como 07 | October 2011 contents contents horizon 4 lying greener F At the world's only airport without a single plane, the infrastructure of tomorrow is being tested today. 8 iving airports a lift G How can the world's airports become even more efficient? The Airport Health Check program provides answers. focus 10 Step by step toward a new city The elixir of urban life is always infrastructure, says Prof. Klaus J. Beckmann. A journey through the past and to the future. 18 Archigram Walking cities and flying buildings: visions of mobile urbanity in the 1960s. connect 26 Perfectly intermodal In the project Future of Hubs, engineers optimize the transport hubs of tomorrow. move 32 Marathon fitness Ensuring safety for millions of rail miles: Siemens Rail Services. 36 Digitally sealed Postal automation performs many tasks - and now offers even more.

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horizon como 07 | October 2011 Flying greener At the Siemens Airport Center in Fürth, Germany - the world's only airport without airplanes - the future is always at your fingertips. And this future is changing: the Airport Center is to become even more crucial as a laboratory and center of expertise for Siemens' green infrastructure technology.

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como 07 | October 2011 horizon n airport anywhere in the world. Operations are running like clockwork. A charter flight is just docking at Gate 3. The baggage from a New York flight slides promptly onto the carousel, and over on the parking level for electric cars almost all the charging stations are once again occupied. Everything is running smoothly - until one of the 27 monitors suddenly signals significant delays and cancellations of several flights. This can cause quite a headache. If just one variable changes in the highly complex business of air traffic, the passengers are rarely the only ones affected: the fleet management, building automation, baggage handling, flight infor- mation systems and security procedures can all be disrupted. If several planes are unable to fly, maintenance vehicles have to be redirected, personnel redistributed and baggage storage capacities recalculated. Is the whole operation going to be thrown off kilter? To prevent such a situation, Siemens created the Airport Center in 2005 - an airport in Fürth, near Nuremberg, where a real plane will never land. "Our Airport Center is a virtual airport, a testing and technology laboratory for carrying out simulations and refining technical and logistical processes," says Markus Fuchs, head of Airport Marketing at Siemens. "The focus of our work here changes regularly, and we have examined plenty of areas that you would not necessarily associate with air traffic." To return to the original idea, the Airport Center was designed to present, demonstrate and test the entire Siemens portfolio for airports in a clear and compact manner. The systems on display here include high-tech solutions for a smooth check-in, time-saving baggage transport and intelligent parking management. The entire infrastructure of an airport - complete with check-in desks, a baggage conveyor system, a parking guidance system and a control center - was built on an area roughly the size of a football field. There are no planes, control towers or runways here, though many of the computer systems work with real airport data. This means interfaces can be simulated, the airport systems on site can be controlled, and processes can be tested, evaluated and optimized. Because the Airport Center incorporates so many influential factors into its simulations, including the tracking of checked-in baggage, Siemens experts and their customers are able to reproduce all kinds of processes and redevelop and fine-tune individual functions. In this way, real projects can be tested for feasibility long before any foundations are laid.

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horizon como 07 | October 2011 The Airport Center makes realistic simulations possible. For airport operators, it is well worth going to these lengths. For when it comes to the complex procedures of an airport, many different experts have to be able to work together smoothly - and this requires the support of a whole range of technical components. For example, Beijing Airport had to be expanded in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. This meant building a new terminal, Terminal 3, to cope with 30 million passengers a year. It was a huge project, which was the reason for testing the interplay of key baggage conveyor system components in Fürth. Siemens installed a real test system here, over two kilometers in length, in order to simulate the planned high-speed tray conveyor system for Beijing, which would be approximately 50 kilometers long. The technology center integrates components from various suppliers, and even has X-ray machines for checking baggage. Further, since the entire site has LAN and WLAN network coverage, IT solutions can be flexibly implemented and evaluated - not only for communications but also for signaling and warning systems. In the meantime the Airport Center needs space for new projects, so the test conveyor system, once the most complex in Germany after Frankfurt and Munich airports, has been dismantled. "After all, we're not running a technology museum here," quips Fuchs. "This is a cutting-edge laboratory where we can tackle challenges related to the infrastructure of tomorrow, as well as try out completely new ideas under realistic conditions." Efficiency and green technology are at the top of the agenda these days. "If we do install another baggage handling system here one day, it will of course have the latest generation of energy-saving motors, intelligent deactivation of sections not in use, and many other green features." And since mobility is not restricted to flights between one airport and other, the Siemens experts are increasingly turning their attention to peripheral processes. "How can we make the processes in and around an airport more efficient and less draining on resources? Finding the answers to these questions will be a central task of the Airport Center in the future," according to Fuchs. One thing to consider, for example, is designing the so-called ground procedures on the airfield more efficiently. Could the journeys over the tarmac be shortened so that the plane reaches its parking position more quickly after landing? This would simultaneously shorten the service procedures and reduce the running time of the turbines - both of which would cut total energy con-

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como 07 | October 2011 horizon sumption considerably. "There is also a lot of discussion at the moment as to whether the ideal airport really has to be spread out over a large surface - as is often the case today - with long, right-angled terminals and frequent journeys of several kilometers for passengers and baggage. If we designed round, tower-like terminal buildings, for instance, allowing the planes to dock in a star formation, the distances for passengers to cover would be shorter and time and energy costs would fall." Because an airport is also a highly frequented mobility hub with connections to various modes of road and rail transport, the Siemens experts at the Airport Center are also thinking about how they can improve these processes. For arrivals by car, for instance: In the future passengers will receive a customer card from the airport or airline containing an RFID chip. The parking guidance system will then greet the passengers personally and navigate them to a reserved parking space. Electric cars could be guided directly to a free charging station by a customized guidance system. "We already have several charging stations in operation and we are likely to integrate these into a smart grid test system at a later date," says Fuchs. "Airport parking lots are ideal locations for electromobility and smart energy infrastructure that is capable of using the batteries of parked cars as temporary storage and buffers. At a charging station on the street you never know when the driver will come back and want to drive away. But at the airport the flight information tells us how long the battery will be available to the smart grid - and when the driver will return, needing a fully charged battery." Could such findings from the Airport Center also be helpful in other areas? "Certainly. Many airport processes are comparable to those at a train station. If a commuter arrives by car and is looking for a space in the parking lot, the situation is almost the same as at the airport. Passenger information systems, significant parts of the building technology, security technology and fire protection issues are also quite similar. Even at ferry ports we find logistics and monitoring processes that resemble airport procedures surprisingly closely," adds Fuchs. In other words, the transfer of ideas is well underway. 1 Extra security at the check-in: biometric system recognizes faces ... 2 ... and fingerprints. 3 Baggage handling system for practical testing. 4 Smart grid test system for electromobility. 2 3 4

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horizon como 07 | October 2011 Giving airports a lift With its globally successful Airport Health Check program, Siemens is identifying clear strategies on how to make airports greener and more efficient.

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como 07 | October 2011 horizon reen thinking has long since reached every part of the air transport industry. Efficiency and environmental sustainability are high priorities for airport operators worldwide who are trying to lower energy consumption and reduce CO2 emissions wherever they can. With this goal in mind, in early 2010 Siemens developed the Green and Efficient Airports Health Check - a consultancy program with a tangible benefit: the focus is on strategies and recommended measures to make airports more environmentally friendly, more energy efficient, and at the same time more profitable to operate. benefits due to savings or increased income stood at EUR 1-2 million per year, depending on the degree of implementation. This made it clear that environmentally friendly measures such as energy efficiency and the reduction of harmful CO2 emissions can also be worthwhile in financial terms. The logistics service provider FedEx - the fastestgrowing airfreight company in the Pacific region - can also take advantage of these positive findings at its distribution center at Baiyun International Airport in the Chinese province of Guangdong. In autumn 2010, Siemens drew up guidelines as to how the company could benefit from a massive energy A Health Check of this kind takes around four weeks. Every aspect is put under the microscope - from technology to process management and dayto-day operations. Siemens' experts employ the company's extensive experience and know-how in the fields of baggage and parcel logistics, material handling, building automation, lighting, power generation, distribution and IT. They check the airport's facilities and infrastructure and interview employees. They collect data on energy consumption and the energy mix, examine technical procedures and analyze background processes. Finally, they assess the airport's current use of resources. The consultants then document their results, suggest concrete improvement measures to the airport operators and submit a profitability forecast. This serves as a solid roadmap for implementing a longterm environmental strategy. Siemens carried out its first comprehensive Health Check at Marco Polo Airport, Venice, at the start of 2010. Serving around 7 million passengers per year, it is one of Italy's highest-traffic airports. The team discovered approximately 70 concrete points where improvements could be made. The detailed cost-benefit analysis showed that savings of around 20 percent were possible - at no great effort. And further activities, such as generating electricity at the airport, could increase savings even further. Particularly impressive was that some of the proposed measures would pay for themselves after just one year, and that the economic savings of around 60 percent. Among the key recommendations in this case were photovoltaic systems; effective heat insulation; optimized heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems; and energyefficient drives for the parcel sorters. The first German airport to book itself in for a Health Check was Hamburg. Although this airport was already groundbreaking in certain respects, most notably for having set up its own environmental management in 1989 and implementing corresponding guidelines, the operators suspected that some processes and procedures could be optimized further. And they were right: 38 areas for potential improvement were discovered. Siemens studied the energy consumption of the terminals, hangars, apron, airfield lighting and office buildings, paying particular attention to the interaction between technology and organization. For instance, electromobility plays a key role in the final recommendations. If the airport operators implement all the measures proposed by the Siemens team, they can considerably lower their energy costs and CO2 emissions again, despite the good work already carried out by their environment protection division. With results like these, word soon gets around. The consultancy team just completed a Health Check for Stuttgart Airport, and it could soon be in action in Portugal, Italy and the UK. After all, sustainability and energy efficiency are increasingly proving to be competitive advantages - and airports are no exception.

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focus como 07 | October 2011 Step by step The age of urbanization has begun. Over half the world's population lives in cities, and these function like complex organisms - supporting their residents, providing them with livelihoods, mobility and spaces of personal freedom. Unfortunately, cities are not always fit for living in: assistance is urgently needed in cities with unreliable water and energy supplies, and where constant traffic chaos and thick smog make residents' lives difficult. But where to start? What conditions make it possible for thousands or millions of people to live together in the first place - and what must tomorrow's cities offer their residents in light of constantly rising populations? A journey through the past, present and future of urban infrastructure in the company of Professor Klaus J. Beckmann, Scientific Director and Managing Director of the German Institute of Urban Affairs in Berlin.

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como 07 | October 2011 focus toward a new city city may be large or small, have grown over centuries or be fresh off the drawing board - yet without functioning infrastructure it will not survive. "Good infrastructure is an absolute prerequisite for people to be able to live together in densely populated spaces. It has made the founding of cities possible and provided a basis for their growth," explains urban studies expert Professor Klaus J. Beckmann, head of the German Institute of Urban Affairs in Berlin. The term infrastructure not only includes geographic and climatic preconditions, it most often refers to man-made personal, material and institutional structures: in terms of technology the transport routes, water and energy supply; in social terms the administration, schools, trade, services and much more besides. "The combination of all these elements has determined the functionality and appeal of urban communities over the ages." Looking back, even early civilizations attached great importance to infrastructure. For example, the largest remaining Bronze Age city, the 4,500-year-old Mohenjo-Daro in what is modern-day Pakistan, was already blessed with opportunities for boat trans-

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focus como 07 | October 2011 Military and trade route: Via Appia near Rome. port and fertile land thanks to its location on the lower course of the river Indus. But excavations have revealed more: built in the center of the city, rather than a monument to a leader or a deity, is the so-called Great Bath - also used as a central water supply and a drainage system for the monsoon season. "Greeks and Romans also knew how essential it was to have a good water supply," adds Beckmann. "Numerous aqueducts are still being uncovered in Italy today. Without this remote water supply from the mountains, Ancient Rome - which had over a million residents in its heyday - would not have been fit to live in." Infrastructure defined The term infrastructure comes from the Latin word infra, meaning "below." It therefore refers to foundations: all the basic personal, material or institutional facilities that allow a large, work-sharing community to function. As well as the existing infrastructure - the climate, geographical conditions and the people themselves - it includes technical and social infrastructure designed by individuals and society (the state): the economic system, infrastructure planning and investment and entrepreneurial activities. The counter-term "superstructure" includes any construction made on top of this foundation, meaning all plants, buildings and technical facilities. The second key element is transport infrastructure. "Urban settlements are often found at the base points of mountain passes and safe river crossings, as well as at the junctions of major long-distance trade routes or roads of military importance." This military use is often crucial - take the Incas' longdistance paths through the Andes or the deadstraight, partly paved Roman roads, for example. In the late 16th century Palmanova in Venice is built from the ground up as a fortress town, featuring a central parade ground and a radial network of wide roads for marching soldiers. It is an example of a planned town, constructed according to certain formal criteria like Alexandria in Egypt or Manhattan in New York. "Even Berlin, with its classic urban expansion, was planned not by architects but by engineers - particularly with regard to its technical infrastructure," Beckmann explains. In the 13th century up to 300 coastal and inland cities of Northern Europe become allies in the Hanseatic League and sea transport gains in importance. The ports are expanded into transport hubs

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como 07 | October 2011 focus lite towns around Madrid together in this way, but he hopes that his idea will spread and link towns and cities all over the world. A little later the Englishman Ebenezer Howard develops a countermodel: his "garden city," built in the countryside, would consist of several medium-sized towns separated by wide agricultural belts. A circular railway line and radial subway trains and roads would connect the parts together - via intermodal transport hubs. In this way, Howard aims to avoid the drawbacks of the major cities while retaining their benefits, such as proximity to social facilities. "This way of thinking was very integrated," notes Beckmann, "and the available technology always heavily influenced ideas about urban construction." Garden cities with such strict geometric designs did not catch on, but the idea has survived in a certain regard: spacious residential areas with small houses and large gardens would later become prevalent, in the United States in particular, forming what we now call suburbs. One thing the 19th century does fundamentally alter is urban transport infrastructure. "Until then only pedestrians and horse-drawn vehicles used the roads," says Beckmann. "Now the new age also with warehouses and storage areas for the processions of merchants along the long-distance trade routes. The horse-drawn wagon is the preferred means of transporting goods over land - and soon becomes so for people and information too: in 1601 an English horse-drawn carriage carries post for the first time; in 1657 the first stagecoach line starts running between London and Chester; and by around 1750 carriages have prevailed as Europe's most important means of land transport. By this point Rome only has around 160,000 residents, while Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty of China, is the world's largest city with a population of 900,000. Beckmann: "In every case the rulers of the cities had to ask themselves: How can we ensure the transport of people and goods? How can we secure supplies? Then, as industrialization took hold in the 19th century, the question of gas and electricity supplies gradually became more significant too." This is the age of steam engines, spinning machines and mechanical looms - and the age of engineers, who lay practically all the foundations for urban water supply and drainage systems, gas and electricity grids, over the course of the 19th century. Even all modern modes of transport are invented in this century - the bicycle as the first mechanical means of personal transport, the train, tram and subway, the car and the airplane. When the first steam locomotives and trains start running on European railways in the 1830s, public transport also embarks on a rapid development. "The first long-distance railways merely connect cities together," Beckmann underlines. But the new industrial centers cause more and more people to stream into the cities and new settlements form along the railway lines for urban and regional transport. In Berlin, for instance, the population rises from just under 460,000 in 1858 to over 1.1 million in 1880. In many places the established urban infrastructure becomes overstrained. Toward the end of the century, this situation calls visionaries into action. Spaniard Arturo Soria y Mata proposes a model of planned urban development as a reaction to the poor living conditions in major cities. In 1882 he publicizes the idea of the "linear city," built along the transport routes between two towns. His first aim is to link the satel- The new age also requires new means of transport. Intercity transport in 1784: the fast link between London and Edinburgh.

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focus como 07 | October 2011 requires a new means of transport - and therefore a different kind of planning." The first rail-based systems revolutionize public transport almost simultaneously in the Old World and the New World. "The first system to really make its mark on cities is the tramway - initially in the form of a horse-drawn carriage on rails," he says. The first horsecar runs through New York in 1832. In Germany, Kassel gets the first steam-powered tram in 1877 - but as soon as 1881, the world's first electric tram is trialed in Lichterfelde, at the time a suburb of Berlin. This was conceived and built by Werner von Siemens, who discovered the dynamo-electric principle in 1866 and built the first practical dynamo. Grand Central Terminal, New York, in 1913: train stations are central transport hubs of major cities. Since 1900 individual transport has made its mark on urban infrastructure. These new modes of transport share the roads with pedestrians and horse-drawn carts - even in New York freight trains initially operate along the streets. "Today we want to recreate this kind of proximity wherever possible," says Beckmann, "although for different reasons: to bring public transport closer to the people again and ensure resource-conserving, environmentally friendly mobility for everyone." Back then, of course, there was soon not enough room for everyone on the streets of many major cities. In 1863 the London Metropolitan Railway is the first to start running through an underground tunnel, linking London's various intercity train stations to the City of London. Using steam power in underground tunnels brings numerous drawbacks, so Beach Pneumatic Transit in Manhattan, a subway under Broadway, opts for pneumatic power, as used in letter shoots. Other operators put the rails on stilts and operate Le Corbusier: "Tear down the center!" them as elevated steam or cable railways. The real metro boom begins with the arrival of electricity: London's Northern Line is launched in 1890, and in 1896 Siemens builds the first electric underground railway on the European mainland in Budapest. This is a significant step. "Technical and social development are always correlated," says Beckmann. "For instance, at the start of the 20th century social infrastructure also changed and set itself apart from the past - this aspect is often overlooked. For one thing, the catchment area of the factories grew and journeys to work became longer. In addition, a growing number of women took to work and became more independent. All of this was made possible by the range of public transport on offer - and the effect was amplified again decades later when private cars arrived." Indeed, after 1900 individual trans-

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como 07 | October 2011 focus port would leave a lasting impression on urban infrastructure. Although different automobile drive types compete with one another for a long time, in the 1920s the combustion engine prevails: fuel from oil is cheap and available almost everywhere; the long range and relatively high speeds of these vehicles allow people to get wherever they want, whenever they want, without having to pay heed to rail networks and timetables. The car and motorbike come to epitomize personal freedom. Beckmann: "Private car ownership has the undeniable advantage that you can decide for yourself when and where you travel and whom you take with you. This increasing individualization has influenced our Western society over centuries - it is a social factor that must be taken seriously. However, it causes problems when taken to the extreme." This soon becomes apparent in the major cities of the world - particularly in the United States. Detroit, for example, records population growth of 100,000 per year in the 1920s. And one in three of these people owns a car. Although fewer than 20,000 cars are registered in Berlin, conditions at some road junctions are already chaotic. Rules have to be developed - and quickly. As early as 1925 Siemens installs Berlin's first traffic light, visible from all sides, in the middle of Potsdamer Platz. Urban planners are seeking new directions - including the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. "He is a staunch proponent of functional separation," says Beckmann. Le Corbusier designs geometric city grids; he proposes high-rise blocks as well as ventilated living machines with generous green spaces in between. He clearly separates the city's main functions - living, working, relaxation,

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focus como 07 | October 2011 Houston, Texas: even the United States is again making greater use of public transport such as trams and metros. transport. A broad network of highways and a dense network of paths for pedestrians provides access to the city. "Now motorized traffic is suddenly playing a very different role, and it is even more crucial to the city's ability to function." In his utopian urban planning project for Paris in 1925, Plan Voisin, Le Corbusier intends to tear down large areas of downtown Paris to make way for a gigantic high-rise project with 18 skyscrapers and wide boulevards. The plan never comes to fruition, but Le Corbusier and some fellow architects formulate the Athens Charter, a plea for the functional city in which he defends his idea: "Where are the cars headed in such a hurry? To the center! There are no suitable roads in the center. We have to create them. We have to tear down the center!" It is only in the 1950s that urban planners in Europe take up this idea, calling for the "carfriendly city" as a way out of the traffic chaos brought about by the advent of mass motorization. "This is where the idea comes about that the entire living environment should come second to the unrestricted flow of car traffic - the private car becomes the new measure of all things," says Beckmann. Many cities have wide urban freeways built right through existing city districts; giant parking lots and multistory car parks provide drivers with easier access and allow trucks to deliver goods; city squares become distributors of traffic. "On the one hand, mass motorization improves the quality of people's lives," says Beckmann. "On the other hand, it produces a series of side effects. Cities in Germany, the rest of Europe and the United States dismantle their tramways and rely on buses for what remains of public transport - and these get stuck in traffic jams just like any private car as the numbers on the roads increase. Greater noise and air pollution cause many residents to leave the cities in favor of the suburbs or even the countryside." It is a vicious cycle: the sustained flight from the city makes journeys to the office, the shops or the theater longer, leaving cars as the only travel option. Then comes the return to earlier values: in the early 1960s a British commission chaired by Colin Buchanan develops proposals for new planning

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como 07 | October 2011 focus Masdar City in the emirate of Abu Dhabi: future projects for self-sufficient infrastructures. concepts. The Buchanan Report, officially entitled "Traffic in Towns," distinguishes between optional traffic and traffic necessary to business and commerce, finding that many traffic problems arise through the extreme increase in optional traffic. It proposes access and speed limitations and environmental zones, aiming to make the quality of the street environment for pedestrians and residents the top priority in the future. It is only in recent times that such ideas have been applied in practice - during a paradigm shift in all areas of urban infrastructure. Beckmann: "With a view to future-viable, sustainable development, we are leaning towards technical infrastructure featuring compact, decentralized systems with a certain self-sufficiency. When it comes to electricity generation in cities, locally organized systems using photovoltaics, geothermal energy, and combined heat and power generation are coming to the fore. Water and waste disposal cycles can also be organized much better with decentralized models rather than with large-scale systems." Transport structures are altering too: instead of building new highways through the city, existing traffic spaces are being utilized and enhanced with intelligent superstructures such as traffic and parking guidance systems, including those developed and finetuned by Siemens. "This works especially well when the various modes of transport are adjusted to one another and can be linked up to form an integrated system." People appreciate this new direction. "We are already noticing a certain reurbanization; people are happy to move back to the city," says Beckmann. Improvements to the technical infrastructure also boost social infrastructure: "Older people are able to do their own shopping here, go to the doctor or the theater. Young people find work easily here and have developed lifestyles over recent years that are best suited to urban environments - more and more city dwellers are getting rid of their cars these days." Of course, for urban planners this means putting significantly more emphasis on public transport. "Tramways are particularly appropriate here, as they offer high transport capacities while occupying very little space." Continued on page 24

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focus como 07 | October 2011 Ideas Circus, photograph Peter Cook © Archigram, 1969 Plug-In City, Peter Cook © Archigram, 1964 Instant City, Peter Cook © Archigram, 1968 Instant City, Ron Herron © Ron Herron Archigram Group, 1969 Plug-In City, Peter Cook © Archigram, 1964

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como 07 | October 2011 focus Drive-In Housing, Michael Webb © Archigram, 1966 ARCHIGRAM hat does our urban future look like? The ques­ tion is a very particular preoccupation of some architects, especially those of the 1960s, a decade of great changes - and contradictions. In 1965 the stick­ thin Lesley Hornby, known as Twiggy, is the face of fashion. The Mont Blanc Tunnel is opened, becoming the world's longest road tunnel, and in Germany for the first time a scheduled high­speed train travels at 200 km/h. At the end of the decade Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon, a certain music festival is held in Woodstock and the British comedy group Monty Python takes the world by storm with its brand of surreal humor. In the same period a group of British avant­garde architects is busy drawing up utopian designs for cities. Peter Cook, Warren Chalk, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron and Michael Webb give themselves the name Archigram - a portmanteau of "architecture" and "telegram" - and publish informal drawings of their ideas along with comic strips and their own poems in their eponymous pamphlet. The pop architects dream up capsules and igloo settle­ ments - as well as Plug­In City, which constitutes both a megastructure and an infrastructure. With Plug­In City, housing blocks, office towers, honeycomb theaters and information silos are arranged in rows, held up by diago­ nal struts and linked by tubes. Individual modules can be moved and switched using permanently installed cranes. Walking Cities and Instant City Airships could be described as cities with no fixed place of residence: they provide for themselves, move on telescopic stilts or hang from giant airships and simply wander - with people and furniture in tow - wherever life currently has the most to offer. A dream or a nightmare? House 1990, photograph Dennis Crompton © Archigram, 1967 Entertainments Palace, Michael Webb © Archigram, 1961- 63

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focus como 07 | October 2011 Continued from page 17 This realization is gaining ground: over 50 municipalities worldwide are currently reviving their tramways or planning a tram network for the first time. North Africa, Turkey and the Gulf States are installing light rail systems modeled on those in European cities; the tram is booming in Portugal, Spain and France. Even the United States - the land of the automobile - has the expansion and construction of transport networks on its agenda. The Texan oil metropolis Houston is one of the success stories. After 77 years of automobile dominance, Siemens has installed a modern light rail system there. The rail lines of the new tram, running along Main Street straight into the downtown business district, has given the area an economic boost as well as considerably improved the local residents' quality of life. "Cities all over the world, notably the rapidly growing metropolises and megacities in India, China and the southern hemisphere, need strong public transport systems with bus and train networks that complement each other," stresses Beckmann. And the future belongs to integrated systems: "The transport hubs, whether train stations or airports, are increasingly becoming intermodal hubs. You can easily switch from your car to the train; you can arrive by metro or tram, by bus or bike or on foot before continuing your journey. Only intermodal models will be sustainable in the long term." But what will be crucial in the more distant future? What do urban infrastructures have to provide for in order to keep cities functioning in 50 years' time? "We can already detect some basic tendencies," says Beckmann. "Societies all over the world will certainly be marked by greater individualization." As was the case in previous decades, the desire of individuals to manage their daily lives by their own decisions is almost certain to bring about high demand for more personal mobility - thus increasing the traffic volume. "On the other hand, engineers will have to come up with new technical systems that are sustainable in the long term, because energy costs are set to rise and so are demands on the environment. However, this applies not only to transport infrastructure but also to energy and water supplies, Klaus J. Beckmann The structural engineer Dr. Klaus J. Beckmann was appointed as a professor for the teaching and research group Communal Infrastructure Planning at the University of Karlsruhe in 1985. From 1990 to 1996 he worked as a technical planning director for the city of Braunschweig, after which he became head of the Institute of Urban Engineering and Urban Transport of RWTH Aachen University. Since October 2006 he has been Scientific Director and Managing Director of the German Institute of Urban Affairs (www.difu.de), the largest research, education and information center for cities, municipalities, administrative districts, regional administrative associations and planning associations in the German-speaking countries. Decentralized power plants: buildings on the smart grid. for example, which we will have to organize more locally and turn into circular flow economies." Connecting decentralized systems intelligently requires advanced communications networks - smart grids - for almost all areas of supply and waste management. "For instance, the role of storage batteries for electric cars is a hot topic at the moment: can these batteries also be used as buffers and intermediary storage for energy from PV systems and wind turbines? This means exchanging information and networking systems together in a highly complex manner, but I am certain that this issue will gain traction in this area and in other decentralized systems."

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como 07 | October 2011 focus Even mobility in urban areas could change so drastically that new structures and technologies become necessary - in goods transport, for example. "Although most city logistics projects of the 1990s failed, under different conditions the idea could be revived. In relation to goods transport, it would be important that not every forwarding agent would simply be allowed to drive into the city center," says Beckmann. After all, it makes more sense for the economy and for the environment if a few electric distribution vehicles take over the goods from a larger number of diesel trucks at a multimodal logistics center on the periphery and deliver them through- world's first car-free city: an underground personal rapid transit network with individual automated cabins, an elevated railway and a regional underground rail system provide mobility, leaving the street level free for pedestrians and cyclists. The Algerian town of Boughezoul, known as "New Town," paints a similar picture. The project, 200 kilometers south of the capital Algiers, is part of the United Nations Environment Programme and aims, like Masdar, to create a living space that can do without fossil fuels. For this reason, environmentally friendly trains will provide mobility Fast, green trains will make tomorrow's city links even more sustainable. out the city following optimized routes. This means that the infrastructure of a city has to also be adapted to each of these measures - intelligent change management is the order of the day. More far-reaching ideas for the future can be found in modern planned cities such as Masdar City, 30 kilometers east of the capital Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Planned by Foster + Partners from the UK, this "city of science," where Siemens also has its Middle East research center, draws its energy from its own solar power station and wind turbines, maintaining CO2 neutrality. Solar-powered desalination plants ensure the water supply. Furthermore, Masdar is to be the for the residents and the supply of goods - the central transport hub will be the train station. Professor Klaus J. Beckmann is certain: "If plans like these are really implemented, they can create significant momentum. These projects do not simply function as infrastructure laboratories. They are not just being tried out at the research facility of a university. In the end, they really have to work as cities." This allows for a realistic evaluation of the effects on pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, and of how leisure or business transport can be organized, Beckmann adds. "This is an important step toward the sustainable urban infrastructure of tomorrow."

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connect como 07 | October 2011 Airport Airports can expect growing transport requirements for passengers and cargo. What can they do? Perfectly intermodal Port Worldwide, port capacities are limited - yet handling volumes are rising continuously. What solutions are available? Train station Passenger numbers are constantly on the rise. How can train stations deal with the influx?

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If predictions are correct, the world's transport hubs will be pushed to their capacities in the coming decades. How can we avoid a collapse of transport services at these key locations? What elements have to be in place? Siemens experts looked for answers in the framework of the Future of Hubs project. Rail terminal Inland freight handling continues to grow. How will infrastructure be made fit for the future? City consolidation center In cities, goods will have to be distributed more efficiently and environmentally friendly. How can this be accomplished?

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connect como 07 | October 2011 here are many indications that traffic volumes will increase massively over the next two decades. This will certainly be the case for goods transport: the globalized economy with its trade between countries and continents is one of the reasons why the volume of goods transported worldwide could more than double between today and 2020. The result will be a demand for greater capacities - at ports as well as rail freight depots, on freight train paths and for distribution transport in urban areas. The picture is similar for passenger transport. Firstly, demographic and social transitions in many countries around the world will fundamentally alter the demands of passenger transport. Secondly, the urbanization trend is shifting more traffic towards cities and agglomerations, as shown by the constant rise in passenger numbers on public transport systems. Current forecasts in Europe predict 40-45 percent growth in public passenger transport by 2025. Take-up rates of public transport services largely depend on convenience, security and reliability. The major sticking point is that, if the forecasts prove correct, even the current expansion and new construction of railways and infrastructure will not be sufficient to cope with the growing traffic flows. Additional damage to the environment and the climate due to even more fossil-fuelpowered vehicles would be just one of the consequences. But what can be done to continue to ensure convenient door-to-door mobility for people and goods in the future, without putting too great a burden on the environment? Airport Efficiency, customer service, good connections and a wide range of services are key factors. Intermodal links are therefore all the more important for airports' ability to compete as well as their environmentally friendly operation. Areas to address: o Passenger check-in, baggage and freight handling processes o Operational management and process optimization o Building solutions and lighting o Safety and security o Intermodal solutions o Utility solutions o Green and sustainable technologies Search for sustainable solutions Siemens examined the attributes that tomorrow's transportation hubs should have in the project Future of Hubs. An interdisciplinary team of employees from various divisions, working closely with customers, put various future scenarios under the spotlight. This enabled them to come up with new technologies and solutions that could be decisive in the future design of ports, airports, rail freight depots, train stations and inland logistics centers. Take train stations for example. They are normally located in the center of cities and agglomerations, and are the focal point of intermodal passenTrain station As a central element of intermodal passenger transport, train stations have to be hubs of short distances. Changing quickly between the train, tram, subway, bus and private transport therefore has to be made as easy and stress free as possible. Areas to address: o Rail infrastructure and rail automation o Passenger-related service solutions o Strategies for intermodal transport o Safety and security o Building solutions and lighting o Energy efficiency

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como 07 07 | October 2011 como | September connect Port The role of ports as logistics hubs exchanging goods with inland freight depots is going to be more significant than ever. The operations of ports and their inland partners must therefore be integrated better, and resources must be used more efficiently. Areas to address: o Operational management and process optimization o Terminal and gate automation o Rail infrastructure and rail automation o Crane solutions o Passenger, baggage and freight handling processes o External power supply for ships o Safety and security o Traffic and transport management o Consulting services ger transport. Customers change from the train to the tram and vice versa; subways and buses complete the range of public transport on offer. Other passengers complete their journey by bicycle or taxi. But the train station of the future is set to become even more closely entwined with the life of the city: various services, products and technologies in the field of door-to-door connections need to be offered. Changing to a local service to go the last mile of a journey must be seamless - because take-up rates of public transport services largely depend on convenience, security and reliability. People want a stress-free journey - not to be confronted by barriers or different, unconnected systems. This means there is a need for stations of short distances and intelligent connections, where universal mobile payment systems keep things running smoothly while also offering passengers access to mobility sharing services via integrated key functions. A similar approach applies to airports: efficiency, customer service and tailored transport connections are crucial factors in the operation of these international transport hubs. On the one hand, this applies to airport management as a Rail terminal Rail terminals are characteristic of intermodal transport chains; goods are automatically detected and optimally distributed. Areas to address: o Terminal and gate automation o Operation and disposition systems o Rail infrastructure and rail automation o Container handling o Crane solutions o Intermodal logistics o Safety and security o Building solutions and lighting o Rail automation consulting City consolidation center Flows of goods from different transport companies come together at the logistics centers of major cities before being collected by a single logistics company that takes the goods into the city and distributes them over the last mile. Fewer vehicles are on the roads; a smaller burden is placed on the inner-city traffic network and the residents. Areas to address: o Receiving/unloading automation o Identification solutions o Sorting, warehousing, buffering and order-picking solutions o Dock and yard management o Building solutions and lighting o "Last mile" IT solutions

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connect como 07 | October 2011 whole, with seamless interlocking of various processes. On the other hand, intermodality is of great importance when it comes to an airport's ability to compete, because short distances and processes adjusted flexibly to one another allow The hubs of tomorrow: sustainably intermodal Shifting a large proportion of goods and passenger transport from the roads to greener modes of transport is at the core of sustainable transport policy. Although cars will continue to be used for a large share of private journeys in the future, car-sharing models and intelligently expanded public transport systems are desirable alternatives, particularly in cities and their catchment areas. These services will be a feature of tomorrow's transport hubs, experiencing especially high demand at train stations and airports. This means that multimodal, perfectly harmonized transport services, short distances and intelligent guidance and booking systems are essential. Passengers' journeys are made even more convenient by integrating transport hubs geographically and functionally into their urban environment - incorporating trade and commerce as well as places of work, residence and relaxation. New "airport cities" ensure the economic prosperity of the airport as a transport hub. passenger waiting times to be reduced and make visits to the airport more pleasant. Such aspects may be crucial for economic survival in the future. At the same time, convenience is moving to center stage. If the range of services on offer at and around the airport is expanded accordingly, we will see the rise of sustainably designed and operated "airport cities" with direct connections to the city and surrounding area, ensuring the economic prosperity of the airport as a transport hub. Hubs of international trade Seaports, meanwhile, occupy a key position in the global economy, for these are the logistics centers that handle the major flows of international trade. Their container terminals play a particular role in national and international transport chains: not only are they intersections along transport routes, they are also the site of modal changes from seagoing vessels to road and rail networks, and to the feeder ships that navigate inland canals. And since transport times vary widely between ships, trains and trucks, these terminals also function as buffers with appropriate areas for temporary container storage. Due to the constant rise in goods being transported, container traffic is forecast to grow annually by around 8 percent. Of course, the storage area of a sea terminal cannot be expanded indefinitely. Operators must therefore turn their attention to the efficiency of all processes - the loading and unloading of the ships, the exchange with the port terminal and the interfaces with the various other modes of transport. Therefore, as well as quick and efficient handling processes, it is crucial that all participants in the logistics chain can exchange information without having to switch systems. Another increasingly significant factor is having efficient connections to inland terminals, particularly rail terminals. Strengthening these connec- Air cargo (left): along with sea ports, airports are becoming increasingly important for the international flow of goods. Sea ports (right): container ships are getting bigger and handling volumes will continue to rise in the coming years.

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The train station of the future is more than just a transport hub: it is part of urban life. tions is crucial in dealing with the rising volume of freight in global sea transport. They can be made sustainable and more efficient through improved handling plants, CO2-free transport systems and universal terminal management solutions. Integrated dispatching systems help to make the flow of goods transparent throughout the logistics chain. Then there are intelligent planning tools: for instance, if goods are being transferred onto trucks at freight handling stations, it is vital to make the best use of the allocated time slot. Docking times for loading and unloading ships at port rail terminals have to be minimized, and industrial rail terminals have to adapt seamlessly to just-in-time production strategies. Meanwhile, electronic seals and identification systems ensure that the goods remain secure throughout their entire journey. A crucial aspect of designing major transport hubs in the future is improving energy efficiency. Consistently implemented measures to reduce the energy requirement of large buildings and facilities as well as the transportation itself cut costs dramatically for the operators, and at the same time improve their CO2 balance. In major urban areas and megacities, for example, regional logistics centers - so-called consolidation centers - can help to manage goods distribution more efficiently while minimizing their impact on the environment. Automated, flexible storage systems speed up flows of goods and combine them intelligently: instead of many delivery vehicles being sent out by different forwarding agents, now a smaller number of distribution trucks - ideally with electric or hybrid drive systems - can deliver to all customers along a route. The number of kilometers driven, and therefore the burden on the environment and local residents, is reduced considerably. How well a transport hub functions depends on the efficiency of its IT processes. These examples show that the smooth functioning of transport hubs in the future will largely depend on how efficient data and information is delivered, processed and utilized. The good news is that most of the necessary technologies are already available. With the "Complete mobility" strategy, which relies on the intelligent linking of transport flows by road, rail and air, Siemens has appropriate solutions on hand today.

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move como 07 | October 2011 Marathon Trains are expected to operate for at least 30 years and cover many millions of kilometers. Understandably, breakdowns have to be kept to a minimum. For this reason Siemens offers comprehensive maintenance services

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como 07 | October 2011 move fitness for the entire product life cycle, including mobile service teams and predictive maintenance. In this way, faults can be detected and corrected quickly - before they even have an effect.

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move como 07 | October 2011 ail operators are under enormous economic pressure. All over the world a growing number of private competitors are taking on the traditional state rail companies. Train passengers are becoming more demanding too, simply switching to other forms of transport if it makes their journey more comfortable. As a result, the declared objective used to be to keep rail systems in operation at the lowest possible cost; nowadays greater appeal and corresponding technology upgrades are high on the agenda. Naturally, maintenance and modernization carry their price tag, not to forget the precious time during which the vehicles cannot be deployed. "Operators can no longer afford to keep numerous replacement vehicles on standby for acute shortages," explains Johannes Emmelheinz, head of the Integrated Services business segment at Siemens Rail Systems. "There is a need for constant availability, which means that efficient maintenance is a critical factor for running a profitable rail business." This is why private operators, in particular, are increasingly concentrating on their core business of transporting passengers and goods; maintenance and repair services, on the other hand, are outsourced to external service providers such as Siemens. "There are now around 3,500 Siemens Rail Services employees on duty at all hours of the day, all over the world," says Emmelheinz. transmitted to the Siemens Rail Support Center in Erlangen. "There we have experts standing by 24/7 to quickly analyze the received vehicle data, detect faults and work on solutions," explains Emmelheinz. "In eight out of ten cases the train drivers can be assisted already over the phone." This shows that modern IT systems have long since become a crucial factor in how efficiently and therefore how successfully a service team operates. Mobile service These factors come to play particularly with mobile services. The Rail Support Center not only monitors the connected systems using remote data transmission, it also supports the technicians working in the field. Using a headset camera, the socalled Field Support Device, they establish an audio-visual link to their colleagues at the center, thus giving them a direct impression of the situation on site. Communication takes place via a secure Internet connection and the common Remote Service Platform (cRSP), a proven technology from Siemens. For Emmelheinz, collecting and thoroughly analyzing this system data forms the basis for a service that sets new standards of quality: "We are able to carry out trend and pattern analyses of components and units, and derive information about their condition. This allows us to move from conventional maintenance, which reacts to malfunctions, to predictive maintenance, which is entirely geared toward the actual condition of the rail system." In other words, whereas maintenance intervals were previously fixed according to legal or manufacturer requirements, in the future they can be matched to the actual needs of the technology with the help of intelligent sensors and data systems. Remote diagnosis Remote diagnostic plays an important role here: if a vehicle breaks down during a journey, relevant environmental, operating and diagnosis data is Spare parts the very next day If a rail company wishes to manage its own maintenance services, Siemens ensures that parts are in regular supply. Since 2000, Siemens has managed the Rail Mail online spare parts catalog and continuously expanded this digital sales channel for its rail customers. Johannes Emmelheinz: "With our new Express Logistics service we can now react even more quickly to customers' spare parts requirements. Even parts ordered late in the evening are dispatched directly from our World Distribution Center in Neu-Isenburg, Germany. Depending on the location, the new part can be there by the very next morning." Predictive maintenance "On-time monitoring and innovative diagnostic tools allow rail systems and their performance to be continuously monitored. If the indicated values are outside the normal range, we can take action right away - before a malfunction occurs." In this way diagnostic systems can check the condition of wheel sets, drive components and air-conditioning systems. They also monitor energy consumption, for example for the opening and closing of the doors. Values that are outside a defined normal range may indicate a problem. If that is the case, the area in question is put on the top of the checklist for the next maintenance appointment and checked thoroughly. The sensors also provide information on the degree of wear of components relevant to safety, such as brakes. In the future it will be possible to

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como 07 | October 2011 move Data transmission Remote data access Rail support center Mobile service Spare parts supply Depot service Mobile service: on site with a camera. On the lookout with on-time monitoring: system diagnosis during operation. change brake pads precisely when they have worn down to a certain level, rather than after a fixed interval as a matter of routine, when the brakes may still be in very good or already in very poor condition. This process has already proven itself in the automotive industry - and for a rail system, too, predictive maintenance can also improve service lives and guarantee the high availability of a train fleet in the long term. Convinced customers "Several rail customers have already opted for this new, efficient service procedure," says Emmelheinz. "For instance, the locomotives of the Danish company Railion, the high-speed Velaro trains in Spain and the fleets of Desiro UK are already looked after by mobile service technicians as well as depots and maintenance facilities. The level of availability that can be attained is excellent." And this is just the beginning. In the district of Metallostroy, St. Petersburg, Siemens operates one of the world's most advanced train depots where it performs maintenance on the Sapsan. These Velaro trains, named after the peregrine falcon, have connected the Russian capital Moscow with St. Petersburg since December 2009, and with the major city Nizhny Novgorod since July 2010. The diagnosis systems here check the condition of components such as wheel sets and sensors log error reports, even during operation. Detecting the sources of faults using trend and data analysis is also part of the daily routine. The Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is used for central planning, completion and monitoring of maintenance work. When trains come into the depot for servicing, monitors display the relevant instructions at the technicians' workstations. Similarly, the service teams can instantly log completed tasks using the touch-screen monitors or mobile end devices. All in all, this guarantees that operating procedures are optimized, faults are corrected efficiently and worn parts are replaced at the right time thanks to effective obsolescence management. "With our range of services we look after systems throughout the entire product life cycle," says Emmelheinz in summary. "It starts with the tests and commissioning at the Wegberg-Wildenrath Test and Validation Center, includes corrective and preventative maintenance, Rail Life Support and replacement parts logistics, and helps to increase operational lifetimes through technical upgrades and modernization measures. In this way, we make an automatic link between servicing, sustainability und future viability." Five-point program for improved service Siemens' service spectrum secures numerous key benefits for rail operators: o Reduced life-cycle costs o Security of the technical equipment and of the passengers and goods being transported o Improved availability, quality and comfort o Optimized transport across national borders o Sustainability and future viability

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move como 07 | October 2011 Digitally sealed The postal service market is in transition. E-mails are replacing the classic letter, while the number of parcels being sent worldwide is on the rise and competition between postal services is intensifying. Using efficient automation systems, postal logistics experts remain flexible - and can save sending certain letters altogether.

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como 07 | October 2011 move achines that read addresses and rapidly sort letters have been around since the start of the 1960s. On May 31, 1965, the world's first electronic mail-sorting machine went into operation at a post office in the town of Pforzheim, in southwest Germany. Of course, the technology was still in its infancy, and it required postal workers to type in the postcode using a keyboard. The system then translated the figures into a machinereadable fluorescent or black barcode, and sent the mail off in the right direction. Automatic mail sorting was initially limited to postcards and letters in small envelopes. Larger or thicker envelopes were not considered machinable, so they continued to be sorted manually until sorting machines for large envelopes, socalled flats sorters, took over the job. Today hightech solutions using automatic feeders and address readers are the norm - and these systems continue to evolve at great speed: Siemens engineers have developed fundamentally new techniques in many areas of mail sorting and distribution over recent years. The result is that mail - whether flats, newspapers or parcels - can be delivered to its destination with a high degree of automation at every stage. Letter sorting at top speed: automatically and reliably. Big and small, thick and thin The first stage is preprocessing, where the various contents of mailboxes are assessed. This machine, known as the Culler Facer Canceller (CFC), has to meet the greatest variety of customer requirements. It can process mail in envelopes of up to C4 format, weighing up to 300 grams. This means that, depending on the country, up to 90 percent of all flats collected from mailboxes can be processed automatically. Facing, processing, sorting The new CLSC 3004 color scanner facilitates the facing process, where letters are uniformly aligned, by delivering high-resolution scans of the complete front and rear side of all mail as color and grayscale images. The ACR (Advanced Color Recognizer) system also recognizes postage stamps, meter marks and 2D codes with very high precision - a basic requirement for classifying mail and validating stamps. If automatic address readers or video cod- Along with standard letters, modern preprocessing standards can handle mail up to the C4 format and weighing up to 300 grams. ing systems are connected, the system can be expanded to perform additional functions, right up to the automatic forwarding of mail. One provider intending to benefit from these new possibilities is the Danish postal service, Post Danmark, which processes around 11 million pieces of mail per day, sending them to 5.2 million customers in 2.6 million households. According to various analyses, Post Danmark is today Europe's fastest and most efficient postal service. From 2012 onward, seven CFC 3004 preprocessing systems with integrated reading and video coding will process a constant flow of large and small mail, saving time, manpower and space. The weighing modules, calibrated for precision up to two grams, also allow

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move como 07 | October 2011 under-franked letters to be detected automatically. And because Post Danmark opted for the most advanced version, the mail is subsequently sorted into the precise order of the mail carrier's route. And what about parcels? Even for parcels, which vary greatly in format and thickness, there are automatic sorting systems such as the cross-belt sorter Variosort EXB 120. Its interconnected trolleys are fitted with a belt lying crossways to the direction of conveyance. As the parcels move forward, they can be diverted to the left or right at any moment. Whether thick or thin, the Multi Product Sorter processes all mail. dle almost twice this amount. Incoming parcels are first loaded from the truck onto the conveyor system, measured and weighed. An infeed conveyor then funnels them onto the sorter's carrier strip; the barcode is read and the parcels are sorted according to their destinations. If a barcode is damaged or unreadable, an OCR system supports the process - thus attaining an efficiency rate of over 97 percent. Bigger still: the Variosort system at what will be Asia's largest express and logistics center, currently being built in Nanjing in the hinterland of Shanghai, may be the most extensive of its kind in the world. At the end of the project, which sees Siemens acting as integrator of the high-tech parcel hub, the trolleys will be traveling on multiple levels of the cross-belt sorter over a distance of around five kilometers, sorting parcel after parcel. Parcel logistics: more efficiency thanks to fingerprint identification. Different countries, different sorters If postcards, letters and flats arrive mixed up with small packages, bundles and parcels, this is a case for the Multi Product Sorter (MPS). As well as regular items, it processes mail that could not previously be sorted automatically due to its size, thickness, stiffness or irregular shape. It can even cope with parcels weighing up to 20 kilos. In addition to the automatic feeder, it features up to two semiautomatic inductions and up to nine direct feeders to transport mail to the sorter. Items are then ejected in more than 150 directions. This immediately convinced the postal logistics experts in Singapore and India: the MPS is deployed alongside letter sorters in both countries to process the restmail. Romania's FAN Courier relies on this technology for its new logistics hub in Bucharest. Its 324-meterlong conveyor system sorts 9,000 parcels per hour, but it is designed with growth in mind and can han- From barcode to fingerprint Normally a barcode makes it clear where a parcel is headed - but there is a catch: so far no international standard has been adopted by all countries. Numerous different, country-specific barcode variations hinder cross-border deliveries or even make it impossible to feed parcels from one logistics chain into another. An elegant alternative is offered by fingerprint identification for parcel post, a process that is already used to sort flats in the Open Mail Handling System. Here the Siemens engineers have made use of a remarkable phenomenon: no two parcels look exactly the same, even if the addresses were applied by machines. The newly developed ARTid solution therefore works entirely on the basis of a parcel's optical features. Camera systems take pictures of the parcels while the mail is being registered. This means the parcel can be clearly recognized by cameras later in the process - with no need for a barcode. The major advantage is that the costly conversion of barcodes is no longer necessary; the barriers between logistics flows disappear.

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como 07 | October 2011 move The postal service of the future: only have your important mail delivered - on paper or electronically. Letters in route order Automation normally ends with the mail carriers: they sort the letters and flats into the order in which they will visit the streets, houses and mailboxes on their route and pack this mail into their bags. All of this takes time - a lot of time. However, for a while now it has been possible to supply mail carriers with trays packed in route order, where the letters have already been sorted into the sequence of the house mailboxes. This means that carriers standing in for colleagues who are sick or on vacation can quickly find their way around an unfamiliar delivery route. It is even possible to make a dynamic prediction of the carrier's volume of mail. Trust-Ebox: physical and electronic mail merge into one We are used to having mail delivered punctually on a daily basis. But people who are away a lot often come home to a mailbox crammed full of sales letters, brochures and other unwanted post. The Trust-Ebox from Siemens elegantly solves this problem by means of a reverse hybrid mail process. This allows recipients to choose whether to receive their physical mail as normal or in digital form - if they want to receive it at all. Siemens and Swiss Post, which has already experienced good results converting physical letters into electronic post and sending them by e-mail, are putting the process to the test with the Swiss Post Box. Customers who register for the service initially have their mail envelopes scanned and the image e-mailed to them by Swiss Post. The recipients can then decide, with the click of a mouse or the touch of a smartphone, whether to have the letters destroyed unread by the service provider; delivered to their home as usual; or opened by Swiss Post, scanned and e-mailed as PDF files. The benefits for postal companies and postal service providers are clear: using the Siemens solution, they can be up to ten times more cost-effective than when using other comparable methods. What is more, the mail carriers need no longer be weighed down with mail that the recipients do not even want. Company mailrooms, meanwhile, are no longer required to manually sort and distribute the incoming post that has been delivered digitally. And the recipients? Now they only get the physical post they really want - and they can read their electronic post on the screen of a computer or a mobile phone practically anywhere in the world. Because once a letter has been identified, all subsequent steps for its delivery can be foreseen - including when it will be received by a certain mail carrier. This information can be used to draw conclusions about the daily planning and develop optimized sorting strategies. So even in postal logistics we can achieve efficiency right up to the front door - fully automatically. Postal logistics: efficiency right up to the doorstep.

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www.siemens.com como Complete mobility - Facts, Trends, Stories Publisher: Siemens AG · Infrastructure & Cities Sector · Mobility and Logistics Division · 80200 Munich · Rail Systems Division · 13623 Berlin Editor: Stephan Allgöwer Siemens AG · Infrastructure & Cities Sector · Mobility and Logistics Division · Communications Editing: Eberhard Buhl, www.presse-team.de English translation: Paul Sabin Photographs: Corbis pp. 1, 12, 13, 14/15, 16, 30, 31, 32/33, 38 · iStockphoto pp. 8, 10/11, 36, 39 · Getty Images p. 14 · Masdar City p. 17 · Ron Herron Archigram Group p. 18, centerfold · Archigram Archives pp. 18/23 All other photos: Siemens AG Concept & layout: Agentur Feedback, Munich www.agentur-feedback.de Printing: Mediahaus Biering, Munich Printed in Germany Copyright: © Siemens AG 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used without express prior permission. Subject to technical modifications. The information in this document contains general descriptions of the technical possibilities. These may not apply in every case. www.siemens.com/mobility contact.mobility@siemens.com ISSN 2190-0329 FB como e 07|2011 161011 ZS10114.0 Dispo No.: 21700 c4bs 7607 Order No.: A19100-V901-B117-X-7600