Interview with Birgit Wirth, CEO of DB Scandinavia
Liselott Lading
Director Business Consultancy Qinshift
Driving the Future of Sustainable Freight
Can you tell us how you see the future of DB Scandinavia?
- Cargo on rail gets a new tailwind due to the environmental challenges we are facing. A cargo train fully loaded replaces around 52 trucks on road. The CO2 emissions of a truck are 96 grams per ton per kilometer compared with 18 grams per ton per kilometer on a train. Hence DB Cargo Scandinavia plans to grow, and we want to do it in two ways: one is by new upcoming market segments e.g., battery logistics and hydrogen transports. The other one is by expanding into new geographical regions like Northern Sweden. We also see cooperation with partners within our ecosystem as beneficial to make rail freight more attractive to customers.
Which technological innovations are you working on?
- DB Cargo AG has deployed “camera bridges” that detect if freight wagons are functional or if maintenance is needed. In case it is needed the information is transferred to the workshop to be planned and to ensure high efficiency in maintenance. The system is constantly learning as it is AI-supported.
- Another innovation we are working on at DB Cargo is the Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC). With DAC freight wagons including the power-, data- and compressed air lines can be coupled together automatically instead of being handled manually with physical labour. Especially for the Single Wagon Network this has a huge impact.
With Qinshift you have been working on an MVP for resource utilization optimization. In this partnership between DB Cargo and Qinshift, what did you learn?
We started basically from scratch with an idea of how an ideal tool would work to simulate and optimize time schedules and the resource consumption of locomotives and driver shifts. What we first learned was how complex it is to combine all the different elements with their specific rules and constraints. The more we delved into the details, the bigger and more complex the task became.
We also experienced it was learning by doing on both sides and that it is important and required to have a joint team of experts being on-site to be able to manage such a challenge. We met unforeseen obstacles but also discovered new opportunities during the project.
What difference do you think automation and smart solutions make to your business?
- Currently we are still doing a lot of manual processes. Automation and smart solutions are providing us with a huge potential to make our business more efficient and increase quality. A key factor is data management and data quality.
How do you envision digitalization improving the overall customer experience, from booking and tracking to real-time communication?
- For example digital solutions can provide customers access to self-management-portals where bookings can be managed, real-time information and estimated time of arrival can be tracked, and other relevant transport information can be checked. This supports customers with planning and organizing their businesses.
We look forward to our continuous partnership!