What does condition-based maintenance mean?

25. 10. 2022

Rail vehicles are like cars: they have to be taken to the workshop where certain maintenance and repair work is carried out and spare parts are exchanged after a certain number of kilometres.

The Rail Cargo Group relies entirely on condition-based maintenance in order to optimise these steps. What this means in detail and how optimum maintenance actually works is explained in the following article.

Condition-based maintenance means setting the individual rail vehicle maintenance steps in such a way that the operating time of each component is used in the best possible way and the parts are also replaced or maintained in good time.

This requires, however, that all vehicles are equipped with appropriate telematics and sensor technology. This provides us with the necessary data so that we can pinpoint when the rail vehicles have to go to the workshop and what needs to be done in each case. Vehicle data undergoes continuous analysis in order to make this possible.

Only then is it possible to speak of both optimised and optimal maintenance. After all, our goal is to improve the operational readiness and quality of our vehicles and thus avoid rail vehicle failures. This in turn ensures their maximum availability and reliability in the most cost-effective way and increases customer satisfaction.

Decisive competitive advantage

Condition-based maintenance thus enables optimal vehicle implementation. This means that rail vehicle maintenance costs can be kept as low as possible.

And that is crucial in international rail freight transport: in addition to operational and technical know-how, data analysis and optimal utilisation are what will really make the difference for vehicle maintenance in the future. 

This is an advantage that our customers will feel, not least because the vehicles can then be used to their best use and their full capacity.