“It’s fascinating to see where the devices I build every day are actually used,” says Claudia, a production employee at Syslogic. She’s standing in the driver’s cab of a Stadler train that’s just receiving its finishing touches. The Stadler team is completing the final electronic installations. Soon, this FLIRT trainset will be moved from Bussnang to nearby Erlen for commissioning.
Syslogic invited its employees from Germany and Switzerland to a multi-day team event in Eastern Switzerland. Alongside sports and cultural activities, the agenda included a special highlight: a visit to Stadler Rail. At its headquarters in Bussnang, Stadler develops and manufactures a wide range of rail vehicles, including trains, trams, narrow-gauge railcars, and rack-and-pinion trains.
Stadler and Syslogic have been partners for many years. “We’re delighted to give the whole team the chance to see Stadler’s production up close,” says Raphael, CEO of Syslogic. Stadler is an important customer, and everyone at Syslogic knows the company well, he adds.
The group is greeted by Rolf Waldvogel. At seventy, he knows Stadler inside out – he joined the company back in 2000. “I started in the bogie department and was employee number 154,” he explains. Today, he’s one of 16,600 colleagues. Although he could have retired long ago, his passion for the company keeps him coming back once or twice a week to give tours.
After coffee and croissants, Rolf gives a brief overview of Stadler’s impressive growth. Under the leadership of Peter Spuhler, now Chairman of the Board, the company has grown over the last 25 years from a Swiss mid-sized firm into a global rolling-stock specialist. Since 2019, Stadler has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. To date, the company has delivered more than 12,400 vehicles to 49 countries and serves 270 customers worldwide. Rolf is visibly proud to be part of this success story.
The tour begins. Rolf explains how aluminum car bodies are produced and painted, how the drive systems work, and how wheels are manufactured. It’s impressive to see the breadth of expertise concentrated in one place. Equally striking is the diversity of Stadler’s product portfolio. In addition to well-known multiple-unit trains, the company also manufactures electric and diesel locomotives, battery-powered vehicles, trams, and rack-and-pinion trains. Rolf also points out a hydrogen-powered trainset—another Stadler development that has gained international attention. The unit will soon be operating in Sicily, and Stadler already has hydrogen trains running in the United States. One of them even set a world record: 2,803 kilometers without refueling.
For the Syslogic team, the real highlight awaits inside an almost finished FLIRT train. In the driver’s cab, technicians are currently connecting the Syslogic embedded computer. Many Syslogic employees work daily in electronics production but have never seen where the devices end up. Naturally, nobody wants to miss the chance to take a look inside the cab.
Stadler uses Syslogic systems as RCUs (Rail Communication Units). These form the hardware basis for Stadler’s own RDS (Rail Data Service), which collects diagnostic, operational, and process data and transmits it to the fleet database. This information allows precise monitoring of vehicle condition and early detection of potential issues. Maintenance can be planned more effectively, downtime is reduced, and Stadler gains valuable insights to continuously improve its vehicles.
The visit was absolutely worthwhile, the team agrees. “It’s impressive to see how our devices become part of such a complex system,” says Benjamin, Product Manager at Syslogic. It’s a strong source of motivation, he adds.
After bidding farewell to Rolf, the Syslogic group moves on – by train, of course, thanks to the factory’s own rail stop. Over lunch by Lake Constance, the team looks back on the day’s many impressions.
