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Supply Side: Harsco Rail, Transdev, Alstom, Siemens

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Harsco Rail COO Claus Heuschmid (left) says the company's

Harsco Rail COO Claus Heuschmid (left) says the company's "continued relarionship with the Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern markets is a significant milestone for [Harsco]." (Historic photo to the right courtesy of SAR)

Harsco Rail signs contract with Saudi Railway Company. Also, Transdev pledges to hire refugees through partnership with Tent; Alstom celebrates 70 years in Mexico; and Siemens launches new digital service portfolio for fire safety.

Harsco Rail

Harsco Corporation announced Sept. 29 that its rail division has signed a nearly $31 million contract with Saudi Railway Company (SAR), which manages the country’s national railway network maintenance and renovation, to provide it with a 60-stone rail grinder. Additionally, to “support the immediate needs of the customer,” Harsco Rail will provide two years of grinding services starting in 2022.

In “demonstrating its commitment to SAR,” Harsco says a team of operators and mechanics based in Saudi Arabia will operate a 20-stone machine and handle all customer requests. Additionally, Harsco Rail will establish a local warehouse for spares and consumables for all customers in the region.

Saudi Arabia joins the UK, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and Italy, all of which have been using Harsco Rail grinders for years, the company says.

“Our continued relationship with the Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern markets is a significant milestone for us,” said Harsco Rail COO Claus Heuschmid. “This contract demonstrates Saudi Railway Company’s confidence in Harsco Rail as a valued supplier that delivers innovative and sustainable advanced products. We look forward to a long relationship with SAR, and we are very appreciative of the trust they have placed in us.”

Harsco Rail’s 60-stone grinder, which removes surface defects on rails and re-profiles the railhead on both rails, is one of the most “technologically advanced grinders working today,” Harsco adds.

Transdev

Transdev, a Chicago-based, private-sector provider of multiple modes of transportation in the U.S., recently announced a commitment with Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent)–an organization whose mission is “to mobilize the global business community to improve the lives and livelihoods of more than 36 million refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries.” The initiative, Transdev says, is part of the company’s workforce development strategy and “aligned with its purpose of serving the common good.”

According to Transdev, the company is “among some of the U.S.’s largest employers and best-known brands who, collectively, have made commitments to hire and train tens of thousands of refugees in the U.S. over the next three years, supporting refugees’ economic and social integration across the country.” The U.S. is currently welcoming refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine and other crises-stricken countries.

Transdev Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Salisbury

“We’re excited to bring new talent and people into the Transit industry, while helping improve the lives of refugees from around the world,” said Transdev Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Salisbury. “Transdev is excited to be one of 260 companies to partner with Tent and pledge to hire refugees so they can economically integrate in the U.S. It’s just one more way Transdev is helping serve the common good.”

“The American business community is showing incredible leadership, and I am so proud of the companies, including Transdev standing up for refugees today,” said Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani and founder of Tent. “These companies will benefit from welcoming these hard-working, loyal and resilient individuals–but my hope is that this is only the beginning. As refugee crises start to fade from the headlines, I hope that companies will recognize that hiring refugees is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do.”

Alstom

Alstom is celebrating 70 years of activities in Mexico. During the past seven decades, Alstom says it has “established itself and demonstrated its unrivaled experience in supporting the development of Mexico’s mobility needs, both public transit and freight, through projects, such as the construction of the country’s first metro line in 1968–Line 1 in Mexico City–to maintenance projects for the main national freight operators.”

Throughout these 70 years, Alstom says it has grown with a wide range of mobility solutions that, through the collaborative work with customers, “improves mobility to and from and within cities, and increases the well-being of its passengers.” Throughout the history of the company in Mexico, Alstom adds, “it has and continues to respond to customers’ needs,” from design to engineering, industrial to manufacturing, project management to installation, testing and integration, and commissioning to maintenance of rail equipment and systems related for the safe and fluid movement of people and/or goods.

“Innovation, at the heart of the company’s DNA, is both the key to technological differentiation and a means of creating added value and gaining a competitive edge,” the company said in a release announcing the 70th anniversary. “To lead in green and smart solutions, Alstom has significantly reinforced its research and development (R&D) resources and intends to expand its leadership in rail innovation,” Alstom added.

Since its establishment in Mexico, Alstom says it has been “committed to protecting employees, customers and society, while preserving the environment, and has therefore developed a comprehensive and proactive sustainability and CSR policy.” The Top Employer certification that Alstom has received is “testament to the organization’s dedication to a better world of work and exhibits this through excellent HR policies and people practices,” the company says. In addition, the Alstom Foundation, the company’s philanthropic organization that finances local community-related projects around the world, has supported 17 projects to date in Mexico, ranging from protecting flora and fauna ecosystems to helping communities access electricity from renewable sources to supporting education, development and protecting vulnerable youth.

Alstom Mexico General Director Maite Ramos

“Our partnerships with the passenger system and freight train operators in Mexico, demonstrate our commitment to the progress of the country and to the support of society. We currently have a team of more than 1,700 employees, whom we continuously train to positively impact their personal and professional evolution by providing them with an inclusive work environment and by keeping them healthy, happy, and motivated so that they have a better quality of life,” said Alstom Mexico General Director Maite Ramos.

Ciudad Sahagún Plant and Mexico’s Largest Mobility Project

Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo, is home to Alstom’s largest manufacturing facility in the Americas region and Alstom’s third largest in the world. According to Alstom, the comapny has manufactured more than 2,300 metro and light rail cars at the 500,000 m2 facility, as well as 2,000 diesel-electric locomotives for the transportation systems of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. The plant has manufactured more than 70% of the railway vehicles in Mexico, as well as subassemblies and major assemblies for trains for cities, such as New York City, Edmonton, Toronto and Beijing, and trains for international projects in Minneapolis, Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh and San Francisco.

Currently, Alstom says the Ciudad Sahagún plant is producing trains for the largest mobility project in Mexico: the Mayan Train. The plant will manufacture 42 X´trapolis™ trains of three different types, meeting the goal of being A train for Mexico, made in Mexico.

The Future

Alstom says it “maintains its focus on the future, centered on sustainable growth, green and digital innovation, operational efficiency and an agile, inclusive and responsible corporate culture, anticipating the mobility challenges of tomorrow.”

Alstom Mexico is working to “ensure that its current projects can transform people’s lives, and continue to help them move safely, quickly and sustainably for the next 70 years,” the company says.

“We firmly believe in the progress of the country and just as we did when we arrived in Mexico, we will always work to continue providing the country with the most innovative technologies, that benefit our clients and all the people of our Mexican community with more efficient, faster, cleaner and safer means of transportation to contribute to the consolidation of the nation,” concluded Ramos.

Siemens

Siemens announced on Sept. 29 that it has launched Fire Safety Digital Services, a “first-in-market portfolio of digital and managed services, which connects fire safety systems to the cloud, enabling businesses to move from a reactive, compliance-led approach to total protection through intelligent safety.” By embracing digital services in operation, event-handling and maintenance, Siemens says customers can improve hazard identification and prevention, make better risk-control decisions, protect business continuity, and provide a safe environment for people and assets.

“It’s important to remember that with fire systems, compliance does not necessarily equal safety,” said Brad Haeberle, Senior Vice President, Services, Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “With digital services for fire safety we can go beyond simply meeting fire system regulations, by using data and intelligently applied analytics to fully protect people and assets. Developing smarter protection systems through cloud connectivity reduces the burden on people, eliminates unnecessary interruptions and gives businesses much-needed transparency over their processes, for smoother operation and system availability.”

With a combination of on-site and above-site services, the new portfolio “delivers remote diagnosis and services, which reduce the impact of troubleshooting and inspections on business activities,” Siemens says. “High levels of knowledge, experience and capacity above site and on-site work together to achieve specific customer goals. Interpreting and translating big data into smart data enables customers to proactively ensure system reliability, gain full data transparency for event and incident handling, and create safer, more compliant and efficient buildings,” the company adds.

For more information on the portfolio, click here.

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