Vol.10, No 1, 2012 pp. 41 - 54
UDC 658.286
COMPETIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN RAILWAY INDUSTRY AND THE PARTNERSHIP INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA: A MUST
Daniel L. Cadet
Alstom Transport, Saint Ouen, France
E-mail: daniel-l.cadet@transport.alstom
The Railway Industry can be separated between the Supply Industry offering products and the Operating Industry (Operators and Infrastructure Managers) maintaining the Railway System at nominal operating conditions and offering services for the transport of persons and goods. The Railway Manufacturing Industry is a world leader supplying more than 50% of the world production with a large part of the production located in Europe, but this position is being jeopardized by the entrance of new players, mainly from Asia. Concerning the Service dimension, Rail transport is also vital for the European economy. For the sustainable development of the European economy for the next years and decades, railway transport must play a key role with a drastic increase of the % of freight and passengers transported by that mode as it is stated in the European Commission's 2011Transport White Paper. To keep its world leading role as a manufacturing industry with a large number of jobs in Europe, the Rail Supply Industry must increase its competitiveness through innovation. To support the growth of the rail mode in Europe i.e. to meet the users' needs, operators and infrastructure managers must be able to provide high level of services i.e. reliable, affordable and sustainable, and being able to meet the demand for a massive increase in capacity, whilst providing increasingly seamless mobility keeping the very high level of safety of that mode. During the last decades, the Rail Sector has demonstrated its capacity to innovate. Suffice to mention the Very High Speed Trains, the Tilting Trains, the ERTMS signaling System, the catenary-free tramways, etc…However, in that Industrial Sector which is "project oriented", there are limitations preventing long-term R&D investment for different reasons: low operating margins, short series with high level of customization, long cycles ( a rolling stock product can be operated for more than 50 years), conservatism favorable to proven technologies and leading to a slow penetration of innovation, cost pressure, etc… To take up the challenges that the European Rail Sector is facing, there is no other issue than a step-change investment in R&D to exploit all the potential of innovation taking place in Academia labs as well as the Research and Technology development in other sectors through adaptation of solutions to the railway needs. In that endeavor, Academia has an important role to play because Industry which is not the place where new ideas can emerge, be explored and be nurtured, does not have the resources to perform that task and all the necessary expertise. Thus, Partnership between Industry and Academia is a MUST.
Key words: Railway, Competitiveness, Academia, Research & Development (R&D)
KONKURENTNOST EVROPSKE ŽELEZNIČKE INDUSTRIJE I PARTNERSKIH INDUSTRIJA: ONO ŠTO SE MORA JE PARTNERSTVO SA UNIVERZITETOM
Železnička industrija se može podeliti na industriju dobavljača nabavke koja nudi proizvode i operativnu industriju (operatori i upravljači infrastrukture) koja održava železnički sistem na nominalnim radnim uslovima i nudi usluge za transport lica i dobara. Industrija železničke proizvodnje je svetski lider u snabdevanju sa više od 50% svetske proizvodnje sa velikim delom proizvodnje lociranim u Evropi ali njen položaj sada ugružava ulazak novih igrača, uglavnom iz Azije. Što se tiče uslužnog domena, železnički transport je takođe vitalan za evropsku privredu. Radi održivog razvoja evropske ekonomije u narednim godinama i decenijama, železnički transport mora igrati vodeću ulogu sa drastičnim povećanjem procenta robe i putnika koji su na taj način prevoženi onako kako to navodi Bela knjiga Evropske komisije za transport iz 2011. Da bi zadržala svoju vodeću ulogu proizvodne industrije sa velikim brojem poslova u Evropi, železnička indutrija nabavke mora povećati svoju konkurentnost putem inovacija. Kako bi podržala rast železnice u Evropi, to jest, da bi zadovoljila potrebe korisnika, operatori i upravljači infrastrukture moraju biti sposobni da pruže visok nivo usluge, tj. onaj koji znači pouzdanost, realne mogućnosti i održivost, kao i što moraju biti u stanju da zadovolje potražnju za vrlo visokim stepenom sigurnosti tog načina transporta. Tokom prošle decenije, železnički sektor je ispoljio svoju sposobnost za inovacije. Dovoljno je da pomenemo veoma brze vozove, vozove sa naginjanjem, sistem za signalizaciju ERTMS, tramvaje bez trole, itd. Međutim, u tom industrijskom sektoru koji je "usmeren na projekat" postoje ograničenja koja sprečavaju dugotrajna ulaganja u istraživanje i razvoj iz brojnih razloga: zbog niskih operacionih margina, kratkih serija sa visokim nivoom prilagođavanja kupcu, dugim ciklusima (proizvodena vozna sredstva mogu se koristiti više od 50 godina), konzervativizmom koji ide u prilog dokazanim tehnologijama i koji znači veoma spor prodor inovacija, opterećenje troškovima, itd. Evropski železnički sektor, ako želi da odgovori na izazove sa kojima se suočava, mora da shvati da nema drugog puta sem stepenastog ulaganja u istraživanje i razvoj kako bi se iskoristio sav potencijal inovacija do kojih dolazi u univerzitetskim laboratorijama kao i u razvoju istraživanja i razvoja u drugim sektorima preko prilagođavanja njihovih rešenja za potrebe železnice. Univerzitet ima važnu ulogu u svemu tome jer industrija koja nije na mestu na kome se mogu razvijati nove ideje, gde se one istražuju i podhranjuju, nema resurse sa kojima bi ostvarila taj zadatak i svu drugu neophodnu ekspertizu. Otud je partnerstvo između industrije i univerziteta ONO ŠTO SE MORA USPOSTAVITI.
Ključne reči: železnica, konkurentnost, univerzitet, istraživanje i razvoj