Growing together

Privatbahn Magazin: Mr. Kürschner, the PRS was founded around two years ago. What are the results of these first few years?

Christoph Kürschner: Positive throughout, we have grown together well in the two years. There were sometimes very big differences in the individual processes in the predecessor companies, but also in the mentality. So it’s clear that you have to explore the middle ground at the beginning. However, we have succeeded in doing this well, as evidenced by employee satisfaction on the one hand and our figures on the other. We have expanded our range of services and most of our six business areas have grown. Turnover has also remained on a growth trajectory over the past two years. Customers also give us a high level of satisfaction.

What advantage do you see for your customers in the merger of the companies?

On the one hand, we now offer comprehensive services from a single source. We employ around 20 service technicians who have excellent knowledge of Plasser machines and another ten who are familiar with ROBEL technology. They are now getting to know each other’s machines, sometimes by visiting each other’s sites, and are receiving extensive training. In Freilassing, for example, all ballast plows are serviced. This know-how then also flows to Opladen and Munich. The management team also consists of members from all three locations, ensuring a good exchange of information. Especially for customers who have machines from both Plasser and ROBEL, this offers a great advantage: only one service provider needs to be commissioned. Of course, our colleagues are also very familiar with vehicles from other manufacturers.

Secondly, we now have a very high capacity. With over 260 employees at our three locations in Munich, Opladen and Freilassing, we are also the largest service provider within the Plasser Group. Customers notice this in short downtimes and fast order processing.

And where is the advantage over the competition?

We are the only service provider that can rely exclusively on OEM parts. Our expertise in Plasser and ROBEL machines is almost a matter of course. But our specialists can also handle other yellow fleets. Due to our size and capacities, we offer a broad range of services with our six business areas. Not every company can offer spare parts service, customer service, tamping unit service, machine service, wheelset and bogie service as well as uptime service and ECM. We now also have a bogie test stand in Freilassing.

One of PRS’s advertising slogans is “Accessible – always and everywhere”. How do you guarantee this?

Partly due to our three locations, which are easily accessible in the west and south of the country in the traditional sense. Our telephone service is always available around the clock as the first point of contact for customers. This includes the emergency service, where at least two of our service technicians are always available, even at weekends. Of course, they can’t drive to every construction site, but many problems can be solved by talking to the machine operators. In more stubborn cases, colleagues are called out so that a broken-down machine, for example, can be used again quickly.

What role does digitalization play in your range of services?

Quite a big one. In the example just mentioned, sensors and software help to detect faults. Machine owners and our employees can read out data and carry out technical remote diagnostics. Together with modern communication channels, PRS makes full service possible in the first place. Newer machines have such digital solutions installed ex works and deliver data to the cloud.

We want to expand this type of service even further. It is conceivable that a customer could use smart glasses to send information and a live image to our experts, who in turn provide precise instructions. This would give us a state-of-the-art service for self-service, if you like. Digital solutions also offer fast, loss-free communication between our locations. This enabled us to harmonize processes and establish a constant exchange of information.

You mentioned the so-called “Uptime Service”. Can you explain what this is all about?

This is a relatively new service that we offer to help our customers remain operational. Many of our customers are under pressure due to the high level of orders placed with Deutsche Bahn. Machine availability is a critical issue here. This is why we offer the Uptime Service, which allows you to rent machines to temporarily replace units that have broken down. This means that customers can receive machines from us both in the event of planned downtime for retrofitting or maintenance and in the event of unplanned accidents, as well as simply in the event of order peaks. We have built up a differentiated machine pool for this purpose, which is also in high demand.

In addition, Uptime Service also deals with the purchase and sale of used machines. The challenge is to meet the high demand with the existing machines on the market. These are often very expensive or already outdated.

Is this or another service particularly used, so that you can identify a trend?

The uptime service is in high demand, simply because of the pressing order situation. Another trend we are seeing is the increasing importance of retrofits. There are some old machines that are now gradually being modernized. The SSP110 ballast plough, for example, is a tried and tested machine that is compact and can be operated by a small number of personnel. We have already brought many of these back up to the state of the art. To do this, we completely dismantle the 15 to 20-year-old machines and rebuild them – including lower-emission engines, air conditioning systems, new controls, improved ergonomics and so on. This enables us to double the service life for our customers at only around 60 percent of the new price. And: The tried-and-tested machine retains its approval.

What role does sustainability play in PRS and your business model?

This is also a big issue. To stay with the retrofit: We are now also installing electric tamping units, which are already in good use in England and the Netherlands and have shown that they only produce around 30 to 40 percent of the CO2 of conventional units. In general, a retrofit process is more sustainable than new buildings. For other repairs, too, we only replace old components if we have to. Not least because the topic is also becoming increasingly important for our customers, we are also striving for various sustainability certifications. Overall, the trend in our workshop equipment is also clearly moving towards electric and hybrid. We are also currently developing concepts to make work processes more environmentally friendly. As the halls in Freilassing and Opladen consume a lot of energy, we are planning photovoltaic systems here.

Where do you see challenges in maintaining the yellow fleet in the coming years?

We are currently experiencing difficulties with approval. As part of the fourth railroad package, a lot has changed in this area, which makes the whole process much more complicated for us. Finished machines are now standing on the siding. They are then missing on the market. However, this is a problem that the EBA may solve in the near future. We are also rethinking and want to work on a modular basis, which can help. However, the increasing pressure on the market will be a major challenge: The general refurbishment of large routes will tie up a lot of capacity, so we will have to keep our customers’ backs free and ensure the shortest possible downtimes. But we need capable employees for this. Demographic change is presenting us with new challenges in this area: Our most experienced colleagues will soon be going into well-deserved retirement. If no one moves up, a lot of knowledge is lost.

How are you tackling the issue of skills shortages?

We focus on visibility. In addition to a large-scale poster campaign, we are also entering the digital space in which young people are active. Our website has been redesigned and the career opportunities are now much more visible. We are also becoming increasingly active on social media. From September 2024, two apprenticeships will start at the Opladen site. We also do our utmost to ensure that our employees stay with us and receive ongoing training and further education.

Thank you very much for the interview, Mr. Kürschner.