Quality control team voestalpine does more than ticking boxes

Our colleagues from voestalpine Turnout Technology Netherlands are engaged in the prefabrication of turnouts on a daily basis. After the pre-assembly, the quality assessor get to work. They perform a last check before the turnout leaves our premises. The turnout is then transported in parts to its destination. This can be done on trucks or, if the location can be reached by train, on wagons. The inspectors and the client form a team as soon as the turnout has reached the construction site. This is the part where the team starts rolling up their sleeves to begin their inspection. It is a tricky, precise, and responsible task. As Jos explains:

In collaboration with the contractor, we make sure that all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed.

Each part of the switch is subjected to a comprehensive inspection. Several aspects of the installation quality are assessed. One such example is to make sure that the straight rails are in fact placed in a straight line in the switch and the curved rails are nice and smooth. The quality assessors also check around the insulated rail joints to make sure the sleepers are still in the right position. The final check is to make sure the switch was not damaged during transport or placement.

In addition, any possible damage caused during transport or installation is checked. The focus lies on determining whether all disconnected fastening components have been correctly repositioned and are properly fixed. And last but certainly not least, the quality team also checks the calibration of the tongue-roll system and whether the point machine automatically switches to the control or end mode. If this is not the case, the turnout is not able to function and the trains cannot run.

The quality control team currently consists of seven permanent members. These are staff members of both voestalpine Turnout Technology Netherlands and of voestalpine Railpro, which is why the cooperation is very close. Throughout the years, many of these colleagues managed to expand their career within voestalpine. Jos van Eldijk, for example, worked for more than 15 years at one of the company’s production units, before moving on to the Mobile Trajectory Service department. 

The nice thing about our job is that there is so much variation. We work closely together with all departments of the companies that we have dealings with, such as Turnout Technology Netherlands Hilversum, Broek op Langedijk, and Railpro, as well as with our German colleagues in Brandenburg and Butzbach and suppliers and railway contractors.

Thanks to the expertise of our quality control team, we can do more for our clients than prolonging the warranty periods of the installed turnouts. We also do everything in our power to prevent the dynamic load on the rails, with the aim of reducing the occurrence of malfunctions to a minimum.

After the tasks and activities described above have been executed, the results are thoroughly documented digitally and directly sent to the client. In the early days, the team had to prepare loads of paperwork for finalizing the documentation, however, these days it is done via a specially developed app. This app registers all shortcomings, including photo material. In this way, the contractor is timely provided with concrete action points. These are immediately carried out to make sure that the installation of the turnout is absolutely flawless. And then the final moment has come: the turnout is perfect and can start fulfilling its purpose: safely guiding trains and passengers through the Dutch railway network.

Would you like to know more about our turnouts and our quality control team? Do not hesitate to contact the voestalpine Turnout Technology Netherlands and voestalpine Railpro quality assessors Jos van Eldijk and Richard den Uijl.