InnoTrans 2014: “What are your largest cost drivers?”

7 October 2014

InnoTrans, the world's largest rail industry trade fair, was held at the end of September. Over 2,700 exhibitors from 51 countries attended this gigantic arena for train manufacturers, suppliers, clients, and others interested in the rail industry.

InnoTrans, the world's largest rail industry trade fair, was held at the end of September. Over 2,700 exhibitors from 51 countries attended this gigantic arena for train manufacturers, suppliers, clients, and others interested in the rail industry.

Systecon was the only company to display a type of software specifically aimed at increasing cost efficiency in the rail industry. The Systecon booth featured questions such as, “What are your largest cost drivers?” and “What will maintenance of your new vehicle fleet cost?” which attracted much interest and generated great discussions about streamlining and optimization within the rail industry.

InnoTrans is held in Berlin every other year and has been growing steadily. Bombardier displayed its new high-speed train. Deutsche Bahn, Russian Railways, and the other heavyweights had their own exhibit hall, a new addition for this year.

– The industry is clearly enjoying a strong tailwind, unlike last time when we could still feel the impact of the economic downturn. The atmosphere was positive and people were upbeat, said Pär Sandin, Vice President of Systecon.

Systecon's booth was visited by the Swedish ambassador to Germany, Staffan Carlsson, who displayed a deep interest in Systecon's structure and the company's origins in the rail industry and energy, but mainly in the defense industry.

– The ambassador was excited to see that the defense sector makes up such a large part of our exports. The rail market and our focus on growth in that market were also of interest to him, Mr. Sandin explained.


Staffan Carlsson, the Swedish
ambassador to Germany, with
Pär Sandin, vice President Systecon

In its booth, Systecon shared case studies to better explain how Opus Suite works, for instance how a fictitious customer wants to test a proposed spare parts list that they have received from a supplier. Systecon imports the list into the software and examines the resulting relationship between availability and cost. Then, the result is compared to the optimal proposals calculated by the software, affording the customer an opportunity to select that spare parts list which best meets their needs.

– Using Opus Suite, the customer can make decisions with greater certainty and confidence. We show how Systecon finds the point where the customer's budget and availability requirements intersect with their inventory and service capacity, says Kristina Abelin, modeling expert at Systecon.