200,000,000 km
are traveled each year by trains that use Stadler Service
On trackforagility
Global SD-WAN for Stadler
Stadler
Our customer
The rapid ascent of Swiss train manufacturer Stadler in recent years is an impressive success story. With only 18 employees in 1989, the company has now grown to a workforce of 13,000 people working around the globe to deliver first-class mobility solutions. You can see Stadler trains all over the world now, even in the Arctic Circle. What makes them so popular? A unique combination of cutting-edge technology, sustainability, efficient operation, and amenities for passengers. The broad portfolio of mass-produced and custom Stadler railway vehicles ranges from high-speed rail like the SMILE trains used by Swiss Federal Railways to the TRAMLINK trams operating in the Baixada Santista metropolitan region of Brazil.
Trains that use alternative drive technologies are currently in high demand. For Stadler, this trend is bringing it back to its roots. Founded in 1942, the engineering firm converted streetcars and light rail lines to run on batteries during World War II. Today, Stadler offers all kinds of green options including electric motors, batteries, and hydrogen, which it can combine to deliver hybrid solutions. In addition to building trains, solutions for service and signaling have become increasingly important. The company has a broad understanding of service which includes delivering parts, vehicle repairs, modernization, overhauls, and comprehensive full-service solutions it provides to customers.
1942
founded
> 13,000
employees
33,292
registered shareholders (2021)
CHF 3.6
billion annual sales in 2021
> 8,500 Stadler trains
operate around the globe every day
TheSituation
Extremely high network latency
What do you do when your main internet connection goes down and the network provider can’t find the source of the problem for months on end? Stadler was in a particularly difficult situation. The newly opened development department in Salt Lake City, Utah was virtually unable to get work done due to extremely high network latency. The CAD applications the development engineers were using to create and simulate their 3D models were running through the company’s data center in Switzerland. The employees in the US were supposed to access the Switzerland-based applications via Citrix Virtual Desktop. With the existing internet connection, however, this turned out to be impossible. Building a separate data center in America was out of the question for Stadler. It had been a conscious decision to keep intellectual property inside Swiss borders.
TheSolution
Telekom SD-WAN based on Aryaka
To solve the networking problem, Deutsche Telekom proposed an SD-WAN solution based on Aryaka. A proof of concept (PoC) was conducted first to test the solution. The performance of the SD-WAN was impressive from the very start of the PoC — the latency problems had disappeared. Stadler quickly decided to move forward with implementation. The US-based engineers were finally able to get down to work and dedicate their time to creating new trains.
After the engineering site in Salt Lake City migrated to Aryaka, 17 additional locations followed. “Once we had migrated the first three locations, switching to SD-WAN only took about 10 minutes,” said Georg Friedrichkeit, team lead on the Stadler side. All that needed to be done was send SD-WAN boxes to the locations around the globe. Rollout and connection to the company network was then performed remotely.
"Deutsche Telekom gave us great advice. With the new SD-WAN solution, we can rapidly connect new locations anywhere in the world."
TheResult
SD-WAN gives Stadler Rail AG a transparent view of the traffic across its enterprise network. The company has also gained greater agility. Connecting new locations is now a quick, seamless process. All branches can immediately comply with a unified set of security standards that the company manages and monitors centrally.
The solution is even capable of handling unexpected challenges like the one that arose in the recently connected Algerian subsidiary. A firewall there that lacked approval from local authorities had caused considerable down- time. With SD-WAN from Aryaka, the problem was solved in mere minutes. The security the firewall had provided is now handled by the software-defined network.
The increase in performance has been particularly noticeable. At the Minsk location in Belarus, latency is now 10 milliseconds lower than with the previously used VPN connection. The Swiss train maker is particularly impressed by Aryaka’s support. With a stable network and reliable support, Stadler is now able to concentrate exclusively on operating and growing its core business. “Services are becoming an more essential part of what we do,” said George Friedrichkeit. “In the future, we’re going to be selling not just trains, but also train services.”
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