Siemens Mobility Tour
It was great to kick off our “Meet the Neighbours” tour series with a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of the Siemens Mobility engineering and manufacturing site in Douglas Street, Port Melbourne. It really is where old and new technology meet, showcasing how local manufacturing successfully achieves global reach.
As part of the Siemens global powerhouse and it’s 175 year history of technological innovation, Siemens Mobility builds on a 150 year legacy in Australia. With around 70 people working on site at any one time, you’ll find student interns, recent graduates, experienced engineers, technical and fabrication staff. Several have been with Siemens for over 40 years, and in fact Siemens Mobility has such long lasting contracts with their clients that you could spend an entire 40+ year career with Siemens working with the same client!
Their flagship product, the points machine (to operate the shifting of rail tracks), is a 100 year old design solution that has evolved over time to adapt to advances in technology. Built for precision and longevity, they often remain in the field for 50+ years with maintenance over time to upgrade the electronics. Made in Fishermans Bend, the majority of their products are sold to Australian rail networks, but they are continuing to grow their export markets in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Siemens Mobility products are built to last, but the team are constantly working on R&D in response to client needs as well as emerging technologies, risks and opportunities - like cyber security, AI and IoT. With critical skills and talent shortages for rail maintenance crew and of course the impacts of downtime, remote condition monitoring using sensors is a key component of ensuring problems are fixed before they cause downtime in the network.
It’s also impressive to hear about their supply chain management and the direct spend to the Australian, and Victorian economy. The procurement team work with a network of 500 suppliers, who supply the 2500+ different components they purchase annually. Two-thirds of their suppliers are from Australia, the rest from Siemens global partners, which represents around $20 million a year spend with Australian suppliers - and some 60% of that is Victoria! On their procurement list are machined parts, castings, steel structures and sheeting, electronic modules, PCBs, relays, plugboards, communication devices, cables, looms and level crossing equipment.
As Michael O’Sullivan, Head Of Sales (Products) at Siemens Mobility Australia, said ‘Whilst primarily perceived to be a product supply business, our customer who have the choice to procure anywhere in a shrinking world chose to remain loyal to Siemens Mobility Port Melbourne as the comprehensive Australian based presales and post sales support are vital factors to ensure the smooth running of essential rail operations. Our customers are also increasingly conscious of the circular economy and decarbonisation which has seen an increased interest in the comprehensive refurbishment service available in Port Melbourne which can transform a weather beaten and well used point machine into an effectively 'new' machine with full warranty and no operational restrictions which also contributes to significantly reduced point machine carbon footprint.’
Special thanks to the team at Siemens for hosting the tour, and for everyone that came along. It was great to see representatives from local businesses, City of Port Phillip, City of Melbourne, a few former Siemens employees and a mix of people interested in rail infrastructure and Fishermans Bend.
