Siemens’ Exider train rolls on three continents

Chicago, IL—Siemens Energy & Automation reports that its 14-railcar Exider Technology Train exhibit is now visiting its third continent and continuing to demonstrate that integrated automation can help manufacturing.

April 21, 2004

Chicago, IL— Siemens Energy & Automation reports that its 14-railcar Exider Technology Train exhibit is now visiting its third continent and continuing to demonstrate that integrated automation can help manufacturing. Siemens invested $16 million to buy and outfit the train, and send it on a tour of Europe, China, and the U.S.

Besides shipping and staffing the train, Siemens paid “rush charges” to airlift it from a ship that had left China, but was delayed by a typhoon while en route to the U.S. This allowed the train to arrive on time at its first “station” in North America at National Manufacturing Week (NMW) 2004, Feb. 23-26, in Chicago, according to Aubert Martin, Siemens E&A’s president and CEO. More than 100,000 people in Europe and Asia have seen the Exider exhibit during the past two years. More than 16,000 visitors are expected to tour the train during its stops in 21 cities in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

“We’re here to share experiences and ideas,” said Martin to the crowd when Exider opened at NMW. “There’s a positive future for U.S. manufacturing, and Siemens can provide the resources to be more competitive. Exider’s installation at NMW covered 7,000 square feet at Chicago’s McCormick Place, and was the only time it was moved from the tracks to be displayed.

Believed to be the first train to travel from Europe to China and the U.S., Exider has visited Greer, S.C., Atlanta, New York, Boston, Detroit, and Houston. Between its Houston stop in early April and Los Angeles in May, the train will be on loan to Grupo Siemens S.A. de C.V. in Mexico, with stops in Monterrey, Irapuato, Mexico City, Puebla, and Guadalajara. Remaining U.S. stops are Los Angeles (May 13), San Francisco (May 18), and Seattle (May 25). After Seattle, it will continue north for a tour with Siemens Canada Ltd., and will visit Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto in June 2004.

Exider showcases more than 40,000 Siemens products, systems, and solutions. On-board examples include sensors, transmitters, vision systems, and even drives used in train locomotives. Applications are shown for pharmaceutical and chemical industries, automobile manufacturing, commercial power distribution, and other sectors. In the process automation section, visitors pass through a tube showing video of process industry planning steps. A simulated control room oversees the entire production process in detail.

In total, the Siemens Exider train toured 10 countries in Europe and 43 cities in 2002, nine coun-tries and 46 cities in Asia in 2003, and will complete visits to nations and 21 cities in 2004.

For more information about Exider and NMW, see previous Control Engineering coverage at https://www.controleng.com/article/CA379360.

Control Engineering Daily News DeskMark T. Hoske, editor-in-chiefMHoske@cfemedia.com