Obsolescence management for rail systems

Checking the obsolescence schedule for electronic railway components

Spare part supply for

30 years

  • and longer

For questions about our railway obsolescence management:

Contact us

Easy obsolescence solutions

The right obsolescence management strategy for the entire service lifecycle

Rail systems are long-lasting investments with planned service lives of 30 to 40 years. The supply of spare parts for railways needs to be guaranteed over the long term in order to ensure continuous operability and efficient maintenance. With easy obsolescence solutions, Siemens Mobility Rail Services offers railway operators a comprehensive portfolio for obsolescence management according to IEC standard 62402 to ensure the availability of spare parts over the entire lifecycle of their vehicles and infrastructure systems.

Protect your investments with a reliable railway spare part supply

Rail vehicles and systems have long supply chains with many part suppliers and have to undergo complex, time-consuming approval processes. Obsolescence can’t be prevented – but with the right planning, the consequences can be manageable. To prevent obsolescence-related downtime, interruptions to operations, and unnecessary costs, we offer railway operators three different connected products:

  • Obsolescene notice
  • Obsolescence solution
  • Obsolescence management & monitoring
Overview of Obsolescence notice, solution, and management & monitoring

Benefit from coordinated railway obsolescence management tools

Our coordinated obsolescence products enable the long-term operation of your vehicle fleet and rail infrastructure and reduce lifecycle costs.

Reduced obsolescence follow-up costs with the right obsolescence management plan

Reduced obsolescence followup costs thanks to early obsolescence detection

Minimized downtime risk with connected obsolescence management tools

Minimization of the risk of downtime

Assessment of component requirements as part of the obsolescence management strategy

Optimal assessment of component requirements when obsolescence occurs

Finding solutions as part of the obsolescence management strategy

Bundled solution identification for required development services

Portfolio

100% system availability with obsolescence management for railways

To guarantee the availability of your rail systems over the long term, you need an efficient and customized obsolescence management strategy. With our obsolescence solution and obsolescence management & monitoring, we ensure that obsolescence risks and maintenance challenges are reduced by forward planning and targeted measures. This will increase your system availability and cut your overall lifecycle costs.

Obsolescence solution for your rail systems

Initial situation for the railway obsolescence management strategy called obsolescence solution

Initial situation

  • Siemens Mobility receives an increasing number of discontinuations every year, because product lifecycles – for example, electronics – are becoming shorter and shorter.
  • The installed percentage of electronic components is constantly increasing.
  • Incoming discontinuations can create a risk to the spare part supply – and ever-longer contract periods increase the possibility of obsolescence.
Services of the railway obsolescence management strategy called obsolescence solution

Services

  • Project managers in obsolescence management develop ready-to-use solutions involving all interfaces, including engineering, software, hardware, commissioning, and release managers.
  • Followup solutions are also developed for complex products and systems like displays and auxiliary converters.
  • By commissioning, we assure a fast and professional project management.
Added value with the railway obsolescence management strategy called obsolescence solution

Added value

  • All obsolescence management project managers have strong technical expertise.
  • With more than 1,000 successful cases of obsolescence management, our experts have acquired very high expertise at deriving solutions.
  • All previous solutions are documented – which means that similar solutions can be developed fast.

Obsolescence management and monitoring for your rail systems

Initial situation

  • The lifecycles of vehicle fleets are becoming longer – and the risk of availability is shifting more to the manufacturer of the trains and infrastructure.
  • Many operators require obsolescence management in accordance with IEC standard 62402.
  • Increasing complexity of trains makes it difficult to maintain spare part availability over decades.
  • Each rolling stock contract needs to be evaluated individually and requires its own strategies for meeting contractual obligations.

Services

  • We identify the obsolescence-critical parts, systematically analyze the vehicle fleet (per IEC standard 62402) for potential obsolescence, and create an obsolescence management plan.
  • Findings from other cases of obsolescence management monitoring are incorporated into the evaluation – and recurring supplier queries prevent unexpected shortfalls.
  • Each operator contract requires an individual evaluation – through various service packages (gold, silver, bronze) the most different characteristics can be served.

Added value

  • Obsolescence management boards are installed to facilitate an ongoing information and communication exchange, to discuss strategies for finding solutions and make obsolescence management decisions.
  • The highest possible availability of the vehicle fleet is realizedrealized, and lifecycle costs are reduced.
  • A fleet-based early warning system is developed.
References

Easy obsolescence management: Best-practice cases

A number of railway operators are already tackling the risk of product discontinuation in the rail industry with smart obsolescence management strategies from Siemens Mobility Rail Services. Re-engineering, migration solutions for outdated components, and the purchase of residual stockpiles for final stocking: Our easy obsolescence solutions are proven problem-solvers, as shown in the following obsolescence management best-practice cases.
Railway service employees from Siemens Mobility Rail Services discuss obsolescence management at an interlocking
Major customer
diesel locomotives

Re-engineering of outdated components

  • New development of central drive components; assistance provided during their production 

  • Reason: The need for ten of the components that the subcontractor had discontinued with no substitutes

  • Successful test series performed in passenger operations and certified by the Federal Railway Authority in a very short time

Obsolescence management the migration of obsolete modules for rail vehicle
City of Basel
Switzerland

Migration solution for Switzerland

  • Development of an appropriate rail vehicle migration package for the City of Basel

  • Reason: Ordering controls for computer modules using outdated 386 and 486 technology

  • Replaced the obsolete modules and checked the hardware, software, and corresponding vehicle functions

Residual stock as a method of obsolescence management required due to product discontinuations
Various customers
Module discontinuations

Safeguarding availability with last call

  • Immediate identification of customer requirements and offer to purchase residual stock of hardware components 

  • Reason: Discontinuation of the AS 318 module for vehicle control used, for example, in regional trains

  • Automatically informed the customer about future non-availability and the option to announce and cover future needs

Contact

Ask us about our obsolescence management plans

Do you want to know more about how to prepare for the discontinuation of railway components and how to improve your maintenance efficiency? Or do you need specific information on the obsolescence management process flow and railway obsolescence management tools? Contact our specialists, they’ll be happy to assist you in any way with our obsolescence management strategy and our spare part services for railways and rail systems.

Would you like to learn more about our solutions for obsolescence management?

Contact us

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