ROLLING STOCK & TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
A tailor made service
RTM hears from Mark Prockter, general manager of Wilcomatic Rail Division, about the successful growth of the addition to the Wilcomatic family of businesses.
W
ilcomatic Rail Division was set up in 2010 as a division of Wilcomatic Limited.
In this relatively short time the division has sold 12 wash plants, both within the UK and to selected key markets and turnkey providers; helped by the German manufacturing expertise of Christ, which has sold over 130 train wash systems in the past 15 years.
Wilcomatic, founded in 1967, has partnered Christ in the distribution of high quality, innovative wash systems for over 12 years, employing 70 fi eld engineers to look after more than 1,300 pieces of wash equipment throughout the UK. The size of its in-house engineering base and sophistication of its service management systems enables it to offer an unprecedented level of support to UK rail operators.
The focus of Wilcomatic Rail Division is not limited to the UK. Its strategy is to select key countries and work with turnkey providers of rail systems. So successful has this been that it is now in the process of opening an overseas offi ce in one of its key markets to develop a number of opportunities. Wilcomatic is globally accredited by Bombardier and is supplying a number of systems to Siemens and Scomi.
The extensive product range does not just cover trains and trams, but monorails and APM systems as well.
Unlike many of its overseas installations, Wilcomatic Rail Division has found that UK mainline companies are reluctant to adopt front and rear washing.
Mark Prockter, general manager of Wilcomatic Rail Division, said: “This is a shame since the front of the vehicle is what passengers see fi rst. The issues have traditionally been the time it takes to wash and the reliability of the systems. We believe we have a system that can address both these issues.”
The travel speed of the brushes on Wilcomatic systems can be varied by an inverter drive to provide a light or intensive wash programme to refl ect the time available to wash. Also, because train fronts and rears have become more tapered, the angle of the brushes can be changed to undertake a number of passes, ensuring all areas are covered.
At the recent InnoTrans exhibition in Berlin, three innovations were introduced through the Wilcomatic/Christ partnership, which will improve the quality of train washing.
1) The vertical angle of the side brush can be changed to suit the profi le of the train, so no need to compromise on the brush profi le when washing multiple train types.
2) A programmable special spoiler brush to tackle diffi cult shapes on the front of trains.
3) A new split brush for overhead line equipment has the ability to vary height, horizontal and vertical angles.
Prockter said: “At Wilcomatic, it’s not just about selling systems, but providing outstanding support to our wide variety of customers. Given the scale of Wilcomatic’s service and technical expertise, we believe we can offer a tailored support package for any customer’s needs.
“We have a unique product range and the size and fl exibility to develop new systems to meet the future needs of the industry, including innovative payment options.”
Within the UK, Wilcomatic can supply its machines with a patented remote diagnostic and monitoring system. Connected via the internet to its control centre, the units can be monitored remotely to enable fault conditions or problems to be identifi ed, often, says the company, before the customer is even aware there may be an issue. In some cases faults can be corrected from the control centre without the need to send a fi eld engineer.
If a visit is required all its engineers are linked via a data call logging system, so the fault is sent to the nearest engineer to resolve the problem.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
T: 020 8649 5760 E:
railwash@wilcomatic.co.uk W:
www.wilcomaticrailwash.co.uk
rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12 | 37
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