Annual Report 2010 - Knorr-Bremse AG.

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Service
Every vehicle builder and train operator has a unique customer profile – and therefore also has
unique needs when it comes to aftermarket service for brakes and on-board systems. Knorr-
Bremse Rail Services brings together the company’s full range of aftermarket activities for rail
vehicles into a single, flexible program designed to offer efficiency, ease of use, delivery effectiveness
and high availability of spare parts. In 2010 the company’s aftermarket logistics concepts
were further developed in the form of “Original Spare Parts Kits” and the “FastMover Spare
Parts Concept”, and the e-business system for spare parts ordering was also further expanded.
The aim of all these measures was to maximize efficiency of spare parts management for the
customer.
Original spare parts kits
The success of Knorr-Bremse’s original spare parts kits continued in 2010, with kits being supplied to
more than 50 customers. Each consists of a complete set of the spare parts required for maintaining and
overhauling a specific Knorr-Bremse system.
The kits are a crucial factor in increasing efficiency. They simplify disposition, ordering and delivery
monitoring, as well as receipt of goods and invoicing. They also help improve warehousing, commissioning
and inventory processes.
The kits mean Knorr-Bremse can automatically supply service staff with the correct original parts required
for their work, enabling them to concentrate on the job at hand. The composition of the kits
enables the repair shop to operate more economically at each stage of the process. Standardization
ensures a consistent quality of overhaul work, repair shops benefit from reduced day-to-day pressure
and vehicle operators welcome the improvement in terms of quality, safety and cost.
FastMover spare parts concept
It is difficult to plan for the precise moment when a product component will require replacement on
account of wear and tear. This makes efficient spare parts management all the more important to
ensure the overhauled components are in the right place at the right time. It was with this in mind that
Knorr-Bremse developed a program entitled “FastMover Spare Parts Concept”.
Under the program Knorr-Bremse undertakes contractually to hold in inventory a certain range of socalled
“fast movers” – components with a fast turnover that cover the majority of spare part requirements.
This reduces capital tie-up for the customer, minimizes delivery times and increases parts availability.