The railway industry is one of the most demanding manufacturing environments in industrial production. Components and assemblies used in railway vehicles must meet stringent requirements regarding safety, special process quality, durability, repeatability, and full traceability of materials and processes. At the same time, railway products must maintain reliability over a long product lifecycle and withstand demanding operating conditions.
Addit supports railway manufacturers as a partner responsible not only for manufacturing individual parts, but also for delivering complete assemblies and modules ready for further integration at the customer’s site. We combine detailed engineering development, sheet metal and profile manufacturing, certified welding processes, certified bonding processes, advanced surface treatments, mechanical and electrical assembly, and comprehensive supply chain management.
Railway Industry Requirements Addressed by Addit:
Complex Supply Chain and Change Management
Railway projects are development- and revision-driven and often involve long product lifecycles. Suppliers must not only manufacture components, but also support new product implementation, manage documentation changes, coordinate long lead-time components, and ensure logistics aligned with customer assembly lines.
Suppliers must provide:
- technical documentation change management
- management of long lead-time components
- logistics tailored to customer schedules
- delivery stability for demanding OEM programs
- readiness to support NPI projects and revision changes
Operational Durability and Reliability
Railway components must meet requirements related to sealing, stiffness, fire resistance, coating durability, and resistance to environmental conditions. In practice, this means designing and manufacturing components capable of withstanding operational loads while maintaining stable performance over a long product lifecycle.
Key requirements include:
- resistance to environmental conditions and corrosion
- IP 65/67
- structural tightness and stiffness
- fire resistance
- durability of protective coatings
- resistance to operational loads
Full Traceability and Regulatory Compliance
In railway projects, the ability to fully reconstruct material and production process history is critical. The industry requires strict traceability of materials and processes at every production stage. Compliance with stringent standards and regulations, as well as complete quality and material documentation, is essential.
Requirements include:
- full traceability of materials, processes, and products
- audit-ready quality documentation
- process parameter tracking at the individual part level
- traceability of painting and surface preparation process parameters
- archiving of quality control and laboratory test results
Safety and Certified Special Processes
Components for railway vehicles are often directly responsible for passenger safety, vehicle reliability, or proper operation of onboard systems.
The industry requires:
- certified special processes
- complete quality documentation for materials, welds, bonded joints, and special processes
- compliance with customer requirements and industry standards
- audit-ready processes and documentation
- qualified welding supervision
Advanced Surface Treatment and Corrosion Protection Requirements
In the railway industry, the durability of protective coatings and the stability of surface preparation processes directly impact operational safety, component durability, and vehicle lifecycle maintenance costs.
The industry requires:
- compliance of painting processes with OEM requirements and industry standards
- controlled and repeatable surface preparation processes
- high corrosion resistance of coating systems
- full control of chemical and painting process parameters
- stable coating adhesion and operational durability
- capability to validate coating quality and process parameters
Control of Special Processes
The railway industry requires full control over special processes that directly impact safety, durability, and compliance of the final product.
Requirements include:
- controlled welding and bonding processes
- monitoring of special process parameters
- validation and documentation of critical production operations
- repeatability of manufacturing processes
- stable quality parameters regardless of production volume
Added Value Delivered to Railway Customers:
Comprehensive Project Responsibility
Addit takes responsibility for the entire project in a one-stop-shop model:
• engineering development
• documentation preparation
• supplier and logistics coordination
• prototyping
• industrialization
• serial production of sheet metal components
• tube and profile processing
• machining
• special processes
• preparation and validation of painting processes
• quality control of protective coatings
• corrosion resistance testing
• mechanical and electrical assembly
• testing
Ensuring 100% Material and Process Traceability
• full traceability of materials and products at every process stage
• material marking transfer (restamping) while maintaining identification continuity
• material certificates compliant with customer requirements and industry standards
• certificates for materials and special processes
• dedicated certified suppliers qualified according to quality requirements
Certified Special Processes
Addit holds:
• EN 15085-2 certification, class CL1
• EN 17460 certification covering classes A1–A3
• EN ISO 3834-2 certification
These certifications confirm compliance of special processes with railway industry requirements regarding welding, bonding, and quality supervision.
We maintain in-house welding supervision competencies including IWE / IWT / IWS qualifications in accordance with EN ISO 14731, as well as personnel qualified for industrial non-destructive testing according to EN ISO 9712. This enables us to deliver products with elevated quality and safety requirements.
Additionally, we employ more than 80 certified welders qualified according to EN ISO 9606-1 and EN ISO 9606-2, ensuring high production flexibility and stable execution of railway projects.
Advanced Surface Treatments and Corrosion Resistance
Addit performs advanced surface preparation and coating processes for railway components, ensuring high operational durability, environmental resistance, and full process quality control.
We operate fully automated wet paint and powder coating lines with buffer zones, enabling systematic management of multilayer coating processes and full traceability of process parameters.
Our surface preparation technologies include:
• degreasing and surface activation
• surface preparation before painting
• passivation increasing corrosion resistance
• processes improving coating adhesion
These solutions enable effective preparation of steel, aluminum, and mixed-material components while maintaining high process stability and chemical parameter control.
We provide:
• protective systems up to corrosion class C5-M
• corrosion resistance testing according to EN ISO 9227
• monitoring of painting and chemical process parameters
• surface preparation for wet and powder coating systems
• coating validation based on laboratory and operational testing
• process parameter traceability at individual part level
• salt spray chamber testing
Coating Quality Control and Process Validation
One of Addit’s differentiators is the capability not only to perform painting processes, but also to internally validate and confirm coating quality through extensive laboratory testing and process parameter control.
We perform:
• cross-cut adhesion testing according to ISO 2409
• coating thickness and gloss measurement
• color control according to customer specifications
• surface structure and visual quality inspection
• pencil hardness testing according to ASTM D3363
• pull-off and peel testing
• wet tape testing
• spectrophotometer testing
• corrosion resistance testing in salt spray chambers
Solutions and Product Types We Deliver
Components Responsible for Passenger Safety
• Sanding Systems
• Aluminum Load-Bearing Frames
• Steel Load-Bearing Frames
• Crash Energy Absorbers
• Snow Plows / Scrapers
• Driver Exterior Doors
Cooling Systems
• Roof-Mounted Cooling Systems
• Underframe-Mounted Cooling Systems
• Welded Air Ducts
• Riveted Air Ducts
• Traction Cooling Systems
• Air Intakes
• Ceiling Systems with Integrated Air Ducts
Roof-Mounted Train Components
• Roof Fairings
• Aluminum Support Frames
• Oil Tanks
• Air Intakes
• Converter Boxes
• Antenna Mounting Tables
• Battery Boxes
Train Body Components
• Roof Fairings
• Underframe Side Covers
Battery Systems for E-Mobility
• Roof-Mounted Battery Boxes
• Underframe Battery Boxes
Train Interior Solutions
• Ceiling Systems with Integrated Air Ducts
• Gangway Systems
• Rear Wall Frames
• Rear Wall Covers
• Inspection Doors
• Front Wall Covers
