UdZ 3-2011

31 Unternehmen der Zukunft 3/2011 UdZ Aktuelle Forschungsvorhaben INESS: Integrated European Signalling Systems A Business model for the European signalling market The European Commission, the European Railway Associations and the Railway Supply Industry jointly agreed to develop and define a feasible migration strategy for ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System). Consequently, ERTMS must become a standard technology all over Europe. To reach this goal, standardisation activities in the European signalling market have to realize benefits for both the railways and their supplier. Thus, in the INESS project a market-oriented business model has been deve- loped that helps to analyse the benefits and costs for both market sides caused by the ERTMS roll-out. The development process of the INESS business model will be described in the present article. Business model development process within INESS Since 1990 the EU has promoted the refor- mation of parts of interlocking systems under the ERTMS programme. The ERTMS initiative aims to create a European standard for railway signalling in order to advance cross-border interoperability. The INESS project will define and develop specifications for a new gene- ration of interlocking systems, and will thus extend and enhance the standardisation pro- cess according to a current European policy. One main objective of INESS is the deve- lopment of a business model, which helps to identify and evaluate cost reduction po- tentials in the entire life cycle of signalling systems caused by the implementation of ERTMS as a standard technology. These cost reduction potentials have to provide a benefit both for the European railways and their supplying industry and finally lead to a win-win-situation in the signalling market. Therefore, the INESS business model has to reflect the present market situation by considering the perspective of the European Railway Associations and the supplying in- dustry of this sector. To build up such a business model, a method has to be identified that allows both a detailed description of the European signalling market and a data based simulation of the effects standardisation activities might have. Based on these requirements, System Dynamics as an acknowledged method has been chosen for the business model development design within the INESS project. This approach was originally developed to help corporate managers improve their understanding of industrial processes. It also leads to a durable understanding of complex systems’ behaviour. System Dynamics integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches and paves the way for a simulation of complex business processes. Figure 1 illustrates three steps of the System Dynamics methodology. Based on the qualitative approach, it was possible to identify relevant parameters of the European signalling market and to determine detailed definitions of these parameters. In a further step, the interrelationships between the business model parameters have been illustrated and afterwards visualized within a causal-loop diagram. A causal-loop diagram is a causal diagram that aids in visualizing how interrelated parameters affect one another. Projekttitel INESS Projekt-/ Forschungsträger Europäische Union Förderkennzeichen SCP7-GA-2008-218575 Projektpartner Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR); DB Netz AG, Thales Rail Signalling Solutions GmbH ADIF; Ansaldo STS, Piossasco (TO), AZD; Banverket; Bombardier Transportation RCS, Invensys; Network Rail; ProRail B.V.; RFI; Siemens AG Transportation Systems, Union International des Chemins De Fer (UIC) Ansprechpartner Thomas Hirsch, M.A. Internet www.iness.eu Figure 1: Three steps of the System Dynamics approach