The European railway industry is increasingly opening up to suppliers from India and China.
At recent meetings I had the chance to talk with several manufacturers who want to supply more of their products to Europe as well. And this, in my view, is where an important question begins.
Not where a product comes from, but how we are able to verify its real quality.
A drawing, a TSI certificate or a declared standard are important. For us it is also important to verify whether the components meet the requirements and recommendations of the VPI (Verband der Güterwagenhalter in Deutschland e. V.). But for railway components, in my view, they cannot be the only basis for a decision. If we really want to bring a new product or a new supplier into the European supply chain, further checks must follow.
Dimensional inspection, verification of the manufacturing process, material traceability and above all material tests confirming that the real properties match what is declared.
For safety-critical parts, I consider independent material testing absolutely essential.
This is not about distrust of any particular market. It is about the fact that responsibility for quality does not end with signing an order or delivering a certificate. If we want to use a global supply chain, we need equally global ambitions for quality control.
From my own experience I can see that this is where it will be decided which new suppliers succeed on the European market in the long run.
How do you approach validating new suppliers and components?