The rail industry is future-oriented with rolling stock and passenger comfort and safety as its priority. This creates technological requirements that Böllhoff, as a specialist in fastening technology, takes into account.
Ever shorter product cycles, the use of new, lightweight and environment-friendly materials and changing divisions of labour require innovation and a high degree of flexibility. Apart from that, an increasing market internationalisation is causing changes in all fields of the railway industry.
As a provider of complete solutions and systems, Böllhoff offers products and services for all areas of the railway value-added chain. Customer orientation begins with research and development. With its procurement and delivery systems, Böllhoff delivers products and fasteners to the heart of the production process. There, customised equipment and machines designed according to Böllhoff’s portfolio, ensure high efficiency. Optimised processes avoid downstream costs. Bollhoff’s partnerships are based on an uncompromisingly high quality standard and a corporate culture imbued with the spirit of a family business. Be it screws, rivets, clinches or procurement and delivery systems for fasteners – the Böllhoff name stands for innovative and reliable solutions.
Rolling stock and railcar manufacturers and suppliers benefit from industry specific technical advice from Böllhoff engineers. Their industrial know-how and advice covers all areas of fastener technology, corrosion protection and screw retention. The simultaneous standardisation and optimisation of fasteners in the development stage simplifies assembly and reduces tooling costs. In view of the ever speedier technological development and increased competitive pressure, this service is a crucial advantage in the railway industry.
Bombardier Transportation uses RIVSET® self-piercing rivets for a joining process for mechanical high-strength joining of equal or combined materials. Investment and operating costs are reduced, reworking costs are reduced to zero and cycle times are considerably reduced as well. Bombardier Transportation benefits from these advantages in the manufacture of the new TRAXX DE locomotive. For example, the new locomotive roof construction of aluminium materials is joined with the Böllhoff RIVSET® self-pierce riveting technology.
At Neue Bahntechnik Paderborn the RailCab combines the conventional track system with the modern traction system using frictionless linear motor technology and could thus revolutionise rail transport. Böllhoff supports this highly innovative research project by offering application-based advice for 1:1 realisation.
At Siemens Transportation Systems there is a strong demand for advice on alternative products with Cr(VI)-free surfaces. The company therefore relies on Böllhoff‘s experience and competence. Böllhoff is helping its partner switch to Cr(VI)-free alternatives by providing individual application based advice and corrosion tests in its accredited in-house laboratory.
Together with engineers from the railcar manufacturer Alstom LHB, Böllhoff has successfully optimised a component in the underfloor of the new urban train series. One of the production stages has been eliminated and the assembly time has been reduced which has led to lower production costs and increased process reliability.
Böllhoff supplies HELICOIL® plus screwlock for thread reinforcement in aluminium components in electronic assemblies for the large-scale Transrapid project. Advantages of the thread insert used include a precision formed, rhombic section and a pull out protection system.
Attitudes towards aging railcars are radically changing: there is a trend to modernisation instead of scrapping. Deutsche Bahn AG is also following this development. Well tried older railcars for regional lines are being modernised with the help of highly flexible service providers, including Böllhoff as a Q1 supplier.
Flexible response to changing market conditions is one of the greatest challenges for the railway industry. The growing range of customer-specific requirements and the ever more sophisticated equipment in new and modernised railcars, increase the individuality of production, modernisation and maintenance. This requires optimised material and information flows. Procurement and delivery systems simplify processes, minimise stocks, prevent supply bottlenecks and reduce costs. There must, of course, be an uninterrupted supply to the assembly and maintenance lines. Even just a missing or faulty fastener risks bringing production to a standstill.
Despite high technological and, for the most part, individual customer requirements, systems manufacturers are trying to increase flexibility by developing more and more platform and modular concepts. One-time parts suppliers are now establishing themselves as specialists in partnerships or are going on to become systems suppliers. The complexity of railcars today means that companies have to work together. Efficient and effective cooperation between manufacturers, system and component suppliers is constantly under review.
The railway industry is a market with the highest technical demands based on high safety specifications and complex regulations. As a result, rail transport is also one of the safest modes of transport there is. For example, the European railway industry has developed IRIS (International Railway Industry Standard), an international “rail-specific” quality standard to assess suppliers in carrying-traffic. The Böllhoff Group adopted these challenging guidelines early on and was one of the first companies in the world to be IRIS-certified. This distinction represented another major milestone for Böllhoff in its systematic quality management programme.
