INNOVATOR
NEXALA TECHNOLOGIES, 35-36 Lower George’s Street, Dun
Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Tel: 01 4800519. www.nexala.com
Smooth
operators
Nowfocusingexclusivelyonthe
transportsector,Nexalasuppliesthe
assetandmaintenancemanagement
softwaretokeeptrainsrunning
efficientlyandontime
‘The reason for focusing on
transport is we firmly believe
it is a high-growth sector and
is perceived to be green’
Karl O’Connell
I
F you’ve ever wondered how the big British railway vehicles;whatsafetyexamsneedtobedone;andwhatparts thisismirroredacrossEuropeandtheUS,”O’Connellnotes.
companies such as Northern Rail, Merseyrail or are used,” O’Connell explains. Lookingattheprojected16pcgrowthinfreightintheUS
London Midland run so smoothly, it is worth taking Nexalalinksupmasstransitsystems,sotheyworkinan forthenextyear,headdsthatmasstransportisagoodplace
a closer look at their asset and maintenance man- efficient way, which is expressed in the name of the com- to be right now when considering growth opportunities.
agement software — the magic ingredient that can detect pany:Nexala’soriginisfromtheLatin‘nexus’,meaning‘to WhereNexalahasreallyshowninnovationintransport-
and prevent possible faults or other issues in real-time. bring together’. maintenance software is the fact that it is real-time:
This essential software is supplied by Dublin-based The idea behind this, O’Connell says, is that the 400 or “Trainsandbusesaremonitoredwithreal-world,real-time
company Nexala Technologies, which also lists the high- 500peoplestandingonaplatforminthemiddleoftheUK reactionsbecausetheendresulthastobethatthemanor
speed channel-tunnel link Hitachi and Siemens Trans- somewhere get into work on time. How Nexala does this woman on the street gets to work on time.
portation in the UK as part of its clientele. isbyusingsoftwaretomaintainthetrains,sotheydon’thave “The concept of looking at the problem the day after or
Nexalabeganin2002,followingthebuyoutofasmalldivi- faultsor,iftheydo,todetectthisinreal-timeandgettothe even hours afterwards when fixing a broken-down bus or
sionofalargeJapaneseandKoreanorganisationthatmade rootoftheproblem.Therefore,thereactiontimeisoptimal train does not apply,” he adds.
DVDplayers,andfromtheregrewfromstrengthtostrength. and a crew is dispatched immediately. O’Connellsaysthereneedstobereliabilityandefficiency
Thefirmboughtoutthe‘Just-In-Time’technologyaspect Thesoftwareisnotonlyquitecomplexandadvanced, if we want to get people out of cars and onto mass transit
ofthesoftwareandsincethenhasfocusedprimarilyonthe butalsoverymuchconformingtothesafetystandardsfor systems.“Wespendallofourtimeinnovatingaroundthis
transport sector. rail and bus systems, which explains how successful Nex- area,andweworkwithaseriesofpartnerstoachievethis,
“The reason for focusing on transport is we firmly ala is in obtaining such a valuable share of the market. such as the associated train operating companies and
believe it is a high-growth sector and is perceived to be “Wewouldhave70pcto80pcofthetransportcompanies leasingcompaniessothattheycanpre-emptanyproblems.”
green—gettingpeopleoutoftheircarsandontomasstrans- in the UK, including Southeastern Rail and the National AlthoughNexalaacquireditsinitialtechnologythrough
portisahugegovernmentpolicyacrossnotjusttheWest- Express Group Bus,” O’Connell says. acquisitionsandbuyouts,constantinnovationanddevel-
ern hemisphere, but worldwide,” says Karl O’Connell, Before this, about 40pc of the company’s business was opment happens at its Dublin office.
Nexala CEO. focusedontransport,whiletherestwasinenergyutilities “Itisquitecomplex,soapartfromagraduateprogramme
In 2006, Nexala acquired a piece of technology from a andwatercompanies.AftertheEquinoxacquisition,Nex- we seek out highly skilled specialists in the fields of engi-
UK company. Called the Equinox product, this is a main- ala’sgrowthstrategychangedwithastrongfocusoninno- neeringanddiagnostics.Theresearchanddevelopmenthap-
tenance and engineering management system for trains, vation around its new technology. pens here in Dublin and will stay here,” adds O’Connell.
buses, trams and metro systems. “If you take a look at the capital investment worldwide As far as the current economy is concerned, Nexala still
“Itallowsourclientstomaintainthevehicles—ithasall intransport,forexampleintheUK,withthelaunchofthe seesgrowthopportunitiesandisworkingontendersinScan-
the workshop side of things: what needs to be fitted to the IntercityExpressProgramme,thereisgreatpotentialand dinavia, as well as reselling its solutions into China.
WWW.SFA.IE/AWARDS
SFA NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS 33
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40