Siemens Mobility announced a EUR 12 million investment for further modernisation of the Vienna-Simmering plant, where passenger coaches and metros are manufactured. The foundation stone ceremony for the new hall was held on March 1, 2021. The modification of the plant will be executed during standard operation.
“The enlargement of the Siemens manufacturing site in Vienna is an important signal and especially good news, which is absolutely important in these trying times. Investing into Vienna translates into value creation and jobs for the business location Vienna. It also stands for international renown,” Peter Hanke, Executive City Councilor of Business, City of Vienna, said.
The project covers the erection of a new commissioning hall which will be built by the construction company Leyrer+Graf, selected as the prime contractor for vehicle commissioning hall and the track system. The erection of the hall is scheduled for completion in one year.
The investment will also be used for the enhancement of digitalised production as well for the optimisation of manufacturing processes. This will further increase the competitiveness of the business location as well as safeguard local workplaces and value creation. Siemens Mobility employs a staff of around 1,300 at Vienna-Simmering plant, manufactures around 450 railway vehicles per year and currently trains a total of 88 apprentices. 35 additional apprentices are being sought to begin their training in autumn 2021.
Siemens Mobility will invest into digital progress with the erection of a state-of-the art railway vehicle commissioning hall as well as the introduction of new continuous production lines at their core. Two new robot units will be also constructed, and the IT production network expanded. The machinery in operation will in future be digitally networked. This will be enabled by means of a strongly enlarged IT production network, which will cover the entire business location, thus simplifying the interplay between computer simulations and the actual production of vehicles. The digitalisation will increase the production efficiency, as machine states will be permanently monitored on the central server and faults remedied by means of remote access on short notice. An additional welding robot for the front-end welding process will be put into operation during the course of the year. A MIG welding process will be used, thus further increasing the grade of automation. The robots are programmed offline.
A friction stir welding facility has been in operation since last year. Thanks to its dimensions and technology, it is the first of its kind to be operated in the railway vehicle manufacturing sector. Friction stir welding allows for the execution of very specific vehicle designs. The already existing state of the art surface engineering center will be complemented by a sanding robot, which will take over sanding of the car bodies prior to finishing in a fully automated manner. Working together, the two systems will handle previously very physically demanding activities and will free up skilled labor, which will in future increasingly focus on managing and monitoring the machines.
To improve the production for international metros, Siemens Mobility will erect a functional vehicle commissioning hall with a connection to the railway network of ÖBB. This is where individual cars will in future be combined to trains and will undergo static testing, prior to being transported to other locations via the railway network for dynamic testing purposes. Transport by track avoids a significant amount of deliveries by truck and thus helps to minimize the CO2 footprint.
Railway vehicle maintenance at the Vienna-Simmering business location will in future be further optimised by the erection of a second track harp. It will simplify plant-internal logistics by allowing for faster vehicle shunting from one work section to the next. The performance of the connection to the public railway system will be significantly enhanced. The maintenance hall will also be directly connected to the vehicle commissioning hall.
At Vienna-Simmering plant, Siemens Mobility manufacturers the new night trains for ÖBB, the metros for Vienna, Munich, Riyadh or Bangkok.
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