.Renfe continues to promote its industrial potential by making important strategic investments in its subsidiary, Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento. The company expects to end 2023 with a total investment of around 30.5 million euros assigned to improvement works at different facilities; to the renewal and acquisition of different machinery; to the robotisation of processes to improve information systems; and to actions to improve environmental management and enhance sustainability.
Having accumulated decades of experience and combining tradition and innovation, Renfe sets the benchmark in the provision of comprehensive transportation maintenance services and the transformation of railway vehicles, in addition to many other industrial activities such as the repair of railway components, engineering consulting services, facility management and workshop design.
This is combined with the company's unwavering commitment to sustainability, quality, innovation and safety, which are the core pillars around which Renfe's activity is structured.
Job creation
Renfe's industrial division directly employs more than 3,000 people and handles purchases and outsourcing services worth 137 million euros each year; this makes it an engine for generating direct and indirect employment, thus helping economic and technological development at a national level as well as promoting growth in local communities.
These employees are specialists in fleet maintenance, engineering, logistics and warehouses and industrial facilities.
In addition, Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento holds investments in maintenance companies including the main material manufacturers that employ more than 2,000 people. These companies, managed on a joint basis by Renfe Mantenimiento and each of the manufacturers, provide the Renfe group with knowledge of different technologies and help it to remain up to date with the latest technological progress in the sector.
Renfe's Maintenance company
Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento is the Maintenance Company (MC) that serves the Renfe group, employing specialist engineering to develop its Maintenance Management System, which is applied to Renfe trains with a view to making them safe after performing maintenance on them.
It also oversees and ensures that the security processes and procedures are adhered to, with risk management and surveillance of the maintenance work performed. It holds Quality and Environmental Certifications that guarantee the quality of the work performed.
A network of first and second tier railway maintenance workshops
Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento is made up of 98 activity centres distributed across Spain: these include both first-tier workshops, which perform simpler and faster operations; and second-tier workshops, which perform more complex tasks that require the train to be immobilised, as well as other types of centres specialising in component repair. Against the new backdrop involving the deprivatisation of passenger transport, these facilities also provide services to new railway operators.
With this in mind, one thousand trains pass through these centres each year for first-tier and second-tier maintenance activities, including passenger vehicles and freight engine equipment.
Work is also performed to repair components: including air-conditioning elements; gearboxes; mechanical inverters or components involved in the rolling of passenger trains such as turbo chargers, valves, brake platforms, etc. Other components repaired include electric motors, axles, heat engines, compressors, vacuum pumps, locomotive wheels and other train components.
Finally, transformation works are undertaken to extend the life cycle of the train, involving the reconstruction, updating and replacement of the vehicle's system components.
Technological innovation
Renfe's vision for the future involves a technological, operational and cultural transformation that enhances the agility and efficiency of all processes, using data to generate greater value and facilitating the performance of interventions. The company has adopted and continues to implement cutting-edge technologies to optimise all manufacturing and maintenance processes, thus guaranteeing the quality and reliability of its fleet.
In recent months, the company's asset management system has been renewed; this process has represented a huge step forwards in the digital transformation of the entire asset maintenance cycle. This is the new version of the Máximo system. This renewal offers major advantages both from a technological and functional perspective, helping the company to ensure the complete traceability of all phases of the manufacturing and maintenance process, from the moment that engineering designs the plans until they are executed, carrying out exhaustive controls, thus ensuring that security is guaranteed.
Another advantage of this new version has a direct impact on the logistics and supply phase, improving the inventory process and expiry of materials, as well as optimising the monitoring and traceability of assets in warehouses.
Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento is also due to develop the IMANT+ platform, which will see the main railway complexes in Fuencarral and Santa Catalina to be transformed into Smart Workshops, through the installation of cameras and sensors, making it possible to monitor and locate vehicles via GPS, as well as facilitating the use of critical equipment. The budget forecast for this work is one million euros.
Commitment to sustainability
Renfe has implemented sustainable practices in its manufacturing and maintenance processes, reducing its environmental footprint and pursuing greener public transportation. This is reflected in the installation of solar panels in 14 of its main maintenance bases with a view to these facilities covering 41% of its energy needs. This project will reduce both the energy consumption demanded by the Network and the emission of greenhouse gases.