Mike Bradford, DELMIA Strategic Business Development and Marketing Director, Dassault Systèmes & Prashanth Mysore, DELMIA Senior Offer Marketing & Strategic Business Director, Dassault Systèmes
The rail industry is at a crucial juncture, facing increasing pressure to improve efficiency and ensure sustainability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. Key challenges — such as the demands of a digitally native workforce, knowledge transfer, aging infrastructure, and skills gaps — are converging to create complex challenges for rail operators. In fact, survey feedback from a recent industry webinar led by Dassault Systèmes’ highlighted that cost efficiency and skill gaps remain the top concerns across the global railway sector. Addressing these requires not just incremental changes, but a strategic transformation in how assets are managed and operations are executed. In this context, maximizing rolling stock availability is more crucial than ever. Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers a transformative solution to address these industry-wide challenges.
By providing a unified digital environment, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enables rail operators to optimize asset performance, streamline maintenance operations, and foster collaboration across the value chain.
It serves as a bridge between engineering, operations, and maintenance, supporting a predictive, data-driven approach to rolling stock management.
Enhancing Asset Performance Through Digitalization
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform helps create a comprehensive virtual twin of the rolling stock, capturing all relevant data throughout the asset’s lifecycle. This virtual twin serves as a dynamic replica, enabling operators to monitor performance in real time, anticipate potential failures, and optimize maintenance schedules.
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides more than just a static model; the “live virtual twin” evolves over time with real operational data.
This dynamic virtual twin enables continuous performance assessment and diagnostics, making it easier to pinpoint anomalies and proactively address issues before they escalate into costly failures.
Furthermore, having access to contextualized data enables operators to move away from reactive maintenance toward a more proactive, predictive model. Operators can simulate various scenarios, such as brake system degradation or electrical anomalies, and test solutions virtually before applying them in the field.
The platform facilitates access to the right data at the right time to support informed decisions. It offers a single source of truth for all asset-related information, ensuring that stakeholders across departments — from field technicians to executive decision-makers — have access to the same accurate, real-time data.
Streamlining Maintenance Operations
Efficient maintenance is essential for maximizing rolling stock availability. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform streamlines maintenance operations by enabling predictive maintenance, optimizing resource allocation, and improving collaboration between maintenance teams.
Through AI and machine learning, the platform helps operators anticipate potential failures, reducing both planned and unplanned downtime. Maintenance schedules can be based on actual asset conditions, rather than fixed intervals, improving efficiency while extending equipment life.
The platform also integrates with IoT-enabled sensors installed on rolling stock, feeding real-time data on vibration, temperature, and speed. This enables engineers to detect early signs of wear and tear.
The feedback loop allows for real-time asset health monitoring and the generation of maintenance alerts, preventing potential breakdowns.
Moreover, the inclusion of 3D maintenance manuals, virtual guides, and simulation tools supports hands-on training for technicians — proving especially valuable when onboarding new staff or reskilling the workforce.
Fostering Collaboration Across The Value Chain
Collaboration is key to maximizing rolling stock availability. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform connects rail operators, OEMs, suppliers, and maintenance providers in a shared digital space, improving communications and reducing errors.
A connected ecosystem enables seamless knowledge transfer between engineering and field operations. For example, a design engineer can communicate directly with a field technician using annotated 3D models and digital work instructions, reducing ambiguity and resolution time.
Secure data-sharing frameworks ensure that all stakeholders work with validated, up-to-date information. The platform also helps preserve institutional knowledge by capturing it within the system — supporting workforce continuity and enabling digitally native teams to onboard more effectively.
Case Studies: Real-World Impact
Three case studies demonstrate the 3DEXPERIENCE platform’s impact on rolling stock availability.
- A European high-speed rail operator reduced train failures by 50 percent and maintenance costs by 15 percent after deploying the platform. The company also boosted workforce efficiency by 20 percent by consolidating asset data and maintenance history into a single interface.
- A North American freight rail operator improved on-time performance by 10 percent and increased asset utilization by 12 percent, while reducing maintenance costs by 20 percent through advanced simulation and workforce optimization tools.
- In Asia, A metro operator digitized its entire maintenance chain using the platform, achieving a 30 percent reduction in unscheduled service interruptions.
Addressing Cost And Skill Challenges
Cost efficiency and skill gaps are critical concerns for the rail industry. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform directly addresses these challenges by optimizing maintenance costs, improving resource allocation, and helping organizations better support and retain their workforce.
The platform reduces the cost of quality through early error detection by enabling collaboration across design, manufacturing, and service teams.
The platform’s knowledge capture capabilities help reduce the impact of workforce turnover by preserving institutional knowledge in digital form and supporting seamless transfer to newer, digitally native teams.
Analytics and simulation tools further reinforce a culture of continuous improvement.
3DEXPERIENCE Platform Key To Operational Excellence
The Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers a powerful solution for rail operators seeking to maximize rolling stock availability. By enhancing asset performance, streamlining maintenance operations, and fostering collaboration across the value chain, the platform enables operators to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance reliability.
As the rail industry continues to evolve amid workforce changes and infrastructure challenges, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will play a crucial role in helping operators to optimize uptime, efficiently navigate disruptions, and target operational excellence.