"Management with 'quality gates' proves its worth".

Prof. Max W. Twerenbold spoke with Urs Sturzenegger, Head of QEHS-Mgmt. Stadler Altenrhein AG & CH locations, Member of the Executive Board

Mr Sturzenegger, what is actually so special about the train business?
On the customer side, there are the most diverse wishes for product design and the long contract periods. From a technical point of view, the main characteristics in rail vehicle construction are the durability of the products, the complexity of the vehicles and, linked to this, the close cooperation of the project teams involved and thus also the different intercultural conditions.

Stadler is successful on the road...
Stadler's strength lies not only in its product, but also in the way it serves its customers. Flexibility, customer proximity and the fulfilment of special customer requirements are Stadler's competitive trump cards. In order to optimally exploit the market advantages for us, targeted investments are made in product development.

What quality milestones does a Stadler train pass from development to rail?
The quality validations, also in the form of type tests, are only completed when the vehicle is delivered to the customer. To ensure that the requirements are met, the vehicles are subjected to a wide range of tests beforehand. These include climate tests with - depending on the country - extreme fluctuation ranges from -50 to +70 degrees Celsius. Humidity tests are a further criterion, especially for trains that operate near the sea in salty air.

After delivery, the product support process follows in the warranty phase. Here, the vehicle is monitored and improvements are also incorporated. The entire process is currently being refined with the concept of so-called "quality gates". The aim is to identify errors at an early stage in the development and production phases. This saves money. If it is also possible to identify any need for change at an early stage, there is further potential for savings, because production and vehicle use are no longer affected. The Stadler concept with the "Quality Gates" has been well established and is constantly being further developed.

Stadler can show a bundle of certificates....
The certifications according to DIN EN 15085-2 Welding and DIN 6701-2 Bonding are internationally prescribed railway-specific standards; they are therefore "musts" for approval as a player in the railway business. We obtained the SQS certifications according to ISO 9001, 14001, OHSAS18001 and 3834-2 because these certificates are indispensable for the client. The 14001 (environment) and OHSAS18001 (safety) standards are also in line with our corporate responsibility for the environment and for occupational health and safety.

What do you do in terms of occupational safety?
"Safe on the Train" is the name of our integrated safety project, which we launched in collaboration with SUVA at all our Swiss locations. This was prompted by a careful analysis of accident figures, which showed that the figures were too high, particularly for eye injuries, cuts and injuries caused by tripping. With this SUVA initiative, we can better communicate safety awareness to every employee. Seminars and inspections with safety analyses in the plants support this objective. The results of our joint efforts are encouraging: the accident figures are stabilising at a lower level. A further step was taken in 2014 when we joined SUVA's Safety Charter ("Protecting 250 lives" http://www.sicherheits-charta.ch). This involves, for example, immediately comprehensible appeals such as "STOP in case of danger - eliminate danger - continue working". To ensure that this spirit permeates the entire company, the charter has been signed and visibly posted by team leaders all the way up to management. The introduction of such programs requires determination, persistence and patience at all levels. The anchors for this are the safety officers at each site. SUVA has really excellent programs and campaigns that support. The topic of "occupational health management" will be a next target to strive for, together with HR.

How do you see the connection between quality and safety?
The topics of safety and quality are very closely intertwined. Correctly interpreted, it is not just about technical safety, but about safety in the workplace. Experience shows that people who feel safe at work and can work safely at work perform better. This is very important to us. And we find that people who work on a Stadler train like to identify with their product.

How is Q management organized?
The Head of QEHS is a member of the Management Board and is responsible for various agenda items. Quality assurance is the responsibility of the individual departments and is assigned to the Head of QEHS. For the past year, we have also been working with so-called KoPAS (contact persons for occupational safety). The Bussnang and Winterthur sites have a similar structure with their own Q specialists.

What's going on in Q training?
The intercultural character of most of Stadler's major projects calls for special measures. The Minsk assignment made this clear. The project staff from Minsk came to Switzerland, were trained with the help of interpreters and returned well-trained. And Stadler also sent employees to Minsk, who instructed them on site and carried out the type tests. Intercultural understanding is very important in such projects.

People/Environment/Sustainability - Where are the priorities?
The perspective for the continuous improvement of the company's environmental performance is wide open at Stadler. Systematically and regularly collected environmental and safety key figures are evidence of this and provide a clear factual basis. Examples of this: Consumption of fossil fuels and natural resources (electricity, natural gas, drinking water), waste (residual waste, scrap metal, hazardous waste, etc.), environmental indicators (number of incidents, complaints, etc.), safety indicators (number of BUs, NBUs, etc.). The topic of sustainability and quality naturally also affects the suppliers in the value chain. Stadler therefore does not evaluate potential suppliers on the Internet, but on site. Only in this way can the ability to deliver and the quality of delivery be accurately assessed. Careful environmental management manifests itself on the one hand in the production of the trains, but on the other hand in the everyday traffic of the composition. And here the balance for Stadler vehicles is convincing, as stated in a report of the Eisenbahnrevue (Number 2/2015) about the EVU-Westbahn in Austria: "With the lower speed, the EVU-Westbahn results in significantly more favourable energy consumption values. An RJ single set with 481 t empty weight needs between 3400 and 4000 kWh between Vienna and Salzburg, depending on the driving style. A Stadler Westernbahn train (350 t) gets by with 2500 KWh. Since a megawatt hour costs between 100 and 127 euros, this results in a noticeable saving. The track load is also lower for these double-deck trains with a wheelset load of 19t empty weight than for the RJ locomotive with 22.5 tons".