Bombardier has over 300 people working in design and engineering at Derby’s only remaining UK train building site, where 3,000 employees are based. These highly skilled individuals are not only designing trains but their considerable expertise is used to support world-wide products with an anticipated 30-year life.
Jon Shaw is the new Engineering Director there and is responsible for managing one of the world’s largest rolling stock design teams. He joined Bombardier following successful engineering roles at the company’s joint-venture partner for the Italian high speed trains, Ansaldo, where he was global Vice President for Engineering; he has also worked for Hitachi Rail.
Clear talent
The engineering talent at Derby was obvious from the outset. “We have the best core of rolling stock design knowledge, not just in the UK but probably the world” insists Jon. “Our engineers here are recognised across Bombardier globally as being a centre of excellence for many areas, particularly high technology aluminium car body design, cab and interior industrial design and human factors, product safety and material fire performance. They are not just working on UK projects – which range from the new London Underground metro vehicles (including the first LU trains to have air-conditioning) – to main line diesel and electric trains. But our team of engineers are also undertaking a full package of design for the new Swiss SBB double-decker trains and are approving the designs for the Zefiro high speed rolling stock for Italy and China, as well as locomotives in Madrid and light rail vehicles in Melbourne. Our engineers also represent the UK and European rail industry on European standards development and, in some areas, lead those developments.”
Bombardier Derby’s international reputation has been demonstrated through the Gautrain rolling stock in South Africa. This was successfully delivered ahead of the contracted schedule and in time for football’s World Cup, proving an immediate success with reliability in excess of 100,000 miles mean distance between failures.
Simon Cran, Bombardier Transportation’s Industrial Design Manager, retold how South African government officials were able to play a key role in the interior design. “With our state-of-the-art 3D industrial design facility, they were able to come to Derby and experiment with different passenger environment concepts, including leopard-print finishes! This early and timely involvement enabled the decision-making of the officials to be undertaken up-front whilst the design concept was fluid, enabling on-time delivery and high customer satisfaction.”
Functional organisation structure
So how has all this been harnessed on a global stage? Jon explained the core principle. “Firstly, we moved to a functional rather than project-based engineering organisational structure. This enabled our specialists to be co-located to ensure that best practice is standardised across all projects.”
Richard Hill, the company’s Head of Vehicle Systems Engineering added, “We have been quick to implement a systems engineering approach, as championed by the organisation INCOSE (International Council on Systems Engineering). This reinforces the need for robust requirements, planning and management at the start of the project, working closely with our customer and approvals stakeholders to ensure the needs are agreed and understood before starting the detailed design. A further foundation is the focus on systems integration. We moved away from the traditional approach of sub-system work packages because rolling stock is now extremely complex. For example, the brakes consist of both electric (dynamic) braking and traditional friction braking, all driven and blended by software. The constituent elements of the braking function may be produced by different suppliers across the world. The integration of all these elements without duplication or gaps in performance and scope is therefore critical and, in our opinion, requires the implementation of a structured and systematic process.”
Integration is a common theme at Derby, not just with customers, approvals, stakeholders, suppliers and internal engineering functions, but also across the project lifecycle. An example is provided by David Gilbert, Head of Physical Integration & Installation. “We recognised that the manufacturing and engineering operations need to be integrated as one, instead of working as separate entities. We have introduced a new Design for Manufacture concept with joined-up engineering and production teams, and our engineers even undertake shifts on the production line.” Naturally, the first one there was the Director – Jon himself, quickly followed by his management team. This gave the engineers a greater understanding and appreciation of some of the difficulties faced on the line as a result of design decisions and will help to ensure that manufacture is considered in the design requirements going forward.
Strong project governance
The latest success for Derby has been the new Stansted Express Class 379 ELECTROSTAR trains for National Express East Anglia which entered passenger service last month. “We were set a very challenging timescale for this project, achieving delivery of the trains within two years from Notice to Proceed” recalls Niall Simmons, head of the engineering project management office. “They were not just a repeat order as they offer an enhanced customer environment including a First Class area, electronic seat reservations and wi-fi. To ensure we delivered on time, we implemented a new strong engineering project governance process which, through the success on the Class 379s, is now being rolled out across all Derby projects. The core principles of this process were short interval control, harmonised planning across all functions – such as procurement and production – and ensuring all the team understood and delivered on their commitments.”
With the highest levels of engineering competence and best-practice delivery tools and processes, Derby’s team has drawn on new technology from Bombardier’s global portfolio to help design the company’s next generation electric commuter train, AVENTRA. This EMU is based on proven systems that have been uniquely customised for the UK market. It has significantly reduced mass and lower energy consumption whilst the maintenance requirements and cleaning costs have been minimised. Passengers can expect new levels of comfort and security.
AVENTRA is 21% lighter than the lightest train in passenger service on the network today. This weight has been saved in several key areas. For example, Bombardier’s current UK products are built using a bolted construction method that speeds up the manufacturing process. However, to reduce weight and the need for bolts and flanges, AVENTRA uses a fully-welded bodyshell, similar to that used on other trains including Voyagers and Meridians. The company has also saved approximately five tonnes per car by using its FLEXX Eco bogie, a version of which is already in passenger service on Voyagers and Meridians. It is not only lightweight but also has a very low lateral track force, resulting in a longer wheel life and improved servicing costs.
Bombardier is looking forward to the challenges ahead and is naturally hoping for the opportunity to once again demonstrate its high level engineering capability at Derby.
Article courtesy of the rail engineer magazine.
