WHITE PAPER

Railway Maintenance

Reducing replacement times from weeks to hours

Introduction

In the railway sector, rolling stock availability and service continuity increasingly depend on the speed at which critical components can be replaced or repaired.

Long procurement lead times, inconsistent spare part supply, and the complexity of global supply chains directly impact total operating costs and fleet reliability.

Industrial additive manufacturing today offers a tangible response to these challenges.

Through the Roboze ARGO 500 HYPERSPEED technology and the use of high-performance materials such as Carbon PEEK, certified according to UNI EN 45545-2, railway operators can autonomouslyproduce certified, ready-to-use components in timeframes reduced from weeks to just a few hours.

This document illustrates how the digitalization of the railway supply chain enables operators to minimize downtime, increase operational resilience, and improve the overall sustainability of maintenance systems.

1.   Current landscape of Railway maintenance

Railway maintenance has become a strategic lever to ensure efficiency, safety, and sustainability on a global scale.

In a context of growing urbanization and increasing mobility demand, railway infrastructures are required tomaintain high levels of reliability and fleet availability while simultaneously controlling operational and environmental costs.

According to the World Rail Market Study 2024 by UNIFE, the global railway market is projected to reach €241 billion by 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 3%.

However, a significant portion of rolling stock in service is more than 20 years old. A condition that exacerbates spare part procurement challenges and increases maintenance complexity.

In many regions, delays in spare part availability result in prolonged downtime and higher

operating costs.

These issues are further aggravated by the vulnerability of international supply chains, which in recent years have been tested by logistical and geopolitical crises.

As a result, average lead times for specific components can exceed 6–8 weeks.

A study published in Electronics MDPI (2024) highlights how the complexity of spare parts management forhigh-speed trains directly affects railway system reliability, making it necessary to adopt more flexible anddigitized production strategies (MDPI – Spare Parts Management Strategy of High-Speed Railway Running).

In this scenario, theability to produce certified spare parts on demand through industrial additive manufacturing represents aconcrete step toward more responsive, resilient, and sustainable maintenance practices.

2.      The digital revolution of the Railway Supply Chain

The railway sector is undergoing a profound transformation of its supply chain, driven by process digitalization and the growing demand for efficiency.

From maintenance hubs to large international operators, the paradigm is shifting, from preventive stockpiling to a digital and distributed model, where each component is stored as a certified digital file and produced only when needed.

From physical to digital warehousing

In the traditional model, spare part inventories entail high management costs and the risk of obsolescence.

Through industrial additive manufacturing, components are digitized, certified, and securely archived, ready to be produced locally according to demand.

This approach, known as the Digital Spare Parts Warehouse, enables companies to reduce physical inventory, replacement times, and dependency on centralized suppliers.

The Boston Consulting Group report “3D Printing Can Help Achieve Distributed Manufacturing” analyzeshow additive manufacturing can significantly shorten production lead times and reduce logistical complexity, enabling a distributed production model that enhances supply chain responsiveness and resilience.

Applied to the railway sector, this vision allows operators to reduce dependence on centralized suppliers, accelerate spare part availability, and optimize maintenance costs through a localized and digital production network.

Global challenges and emerging models

Supply chain challenges are not confined to Europe or America. They are global in nature.

A study published in the Singaporean Journal of Business Economics and Management (2025), focusing onthe Iranian railway industry, highlights how lack of visibility in spare part supply processes leads to extendeddowntimes and significant inefficiencies (SJBEM – Supply Chain Management and Spare Parts Issues inIranian Railway Industry).

This evidence confirms the global nature of the challenge and the urgency of adopting more agile

and digitalized models.

Local-for-Local production

Roboze promotes a local-for-local model, where spare parts are produced directly where they are needed, drastically reducing emissions and ensuring operational continuity.

The Roboze Advanced Manufacturing (RAM) model connects railway companies, maintenance centers, and certified partners, enabling distributed production of qualified parts using high-performance materials.

3.      Roboze and Industrial Additive Manufacturing

The Roboze ARGO 500 HYPERSPEED platform is designed for the production of high-performancefunctional components, ensuring repeatability, traceability, and regulatory compliance.

Based on FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) technology optimized for engineering polymers, it

integrates hardware, materials, and software into a single controlled production ecosystem.

Distinctive Technical Features

Unlike conventional additive systems, Roboze employs a beltless direct-drive mechanical motion system, whichguarantees accuracy up to 10 microns and consistent dimensional stability even for complex geometries.

The heated chamber (up to 180 °C) and active humidity control of the material ensure uniform interlayer adhesion and high density in the finished part.

Thanks to this combination of advanced materials and controlled process, Roboze Carbon PEEK (a composite material with short carbon fiber reinforcement on a PEEK matrix) has achieved full HL3 compliance, in accordance with both the 2020 and 2023 revisions of the standard.

Tests performed by accredited third-party laboratories verified fire behavior, smoke toxicity, and thermal resistance, meeting the requirements for R1, R2, R7, R22, and R23 applications.

Component of the sandblasting system printed in Carbon PEEK.

The high-performance material ensures robustness, thermal resistance, and operational reliability even in scenarios of heavy mechanical stress.

End-to-End certification and traceability

Every component produced on the Roboze platform is digitally traceable, with all process parameters recorded and verifiable.

This end-to-end approach ensures certified compliance and guarantees that every part meets

the highest railway safety standards. Learn more:

Explore the fire reaction test results and the validation process that enabled Roboze Carbon PEEK

to achieve HL3 certification:

Download the official Roboze Carbon PEEK UNI EN 45545-2 white paper.

Component of the oil pumping systemproduced on-demand in Carbon PEEK.

Additive manufacturing enables rapid spare-part availability, reduced downtime, and greater efficiency in railway maintenance processes.

4.       Tangible benefits for Railway operators

Adopting Roboze industrial additive manufacturing radically transforms railway maintenance processes, delivering measurable benefits across the entire operational cycle.

The elimination of molds and on-demand production dramatically shortens replacement times, while file digitalization and process traceability ensure compliance with the industry’s most stringent regulations.

Beyond the operational impact, the advantages extend to sustainability and working capital optimization: reducing physical inventories and international transport contributes to lower emissions and cost reduction across the entire value chain.

5.       Hitachi Rail case study: adopting Roboze technology

A leading example of additive manufacturing adoption in railway maintenance is the

collaboration between Hitachi Rail and Roboze.

In 2024, Hitachi Rail announced the integration of Roboze solutions into its maintenance and

component production processes.

The goal of the partnership is to enhance operational flexibility and reduce procurement lead times, leveraging additive manufacturing to produce on-demand spare parts using high-performance materials such as Carbon PEEK.

According to the official statement (“Hitachi Rail chooses Roboze for its cutting-edge additive technology for railway spare part production”), the collaboration aims to:

•          introduce a digital and decentralized production model,

•          reduce dependence on external suppliers,

•          improve spare part availability through local production,

•          integrate additive manufacturing into qualified maintenance processes.

The Hitachi Rail case demonstrates the industrial maturity of Roboze technology and its suitability for real-world railway applications that require compliance, process traceability, and production repeatability.

Inauguration of the new Hitachi Rail Lighthouse Digital Factory inHagerstown, Maryland (USA).

A symbolic milestone in theevolution of the railway industry toward increasingly digital, sustainable, and efficient models.

6.       Sustainability and Supply Chain resilience

The transition toward more sustainable production models is now a shared priority across the entire railway sector.

According to the ITF Transport Outlook 2023, rail transport will continue to play a key role in reducing overall emissions in the mobility sector, thanks to the adoption of more efficient technologies and the optimization of maintenance and fleet management processes.

The report highlights the need to combine technological innovation, digitalization, and more agile operational models to improve the overall sustainability of the railway system.

Similarly, the UIC Global Rail Sustainability Report 2023 emphasizes that energy efficiency and

supply chain optimization are decisive factors in achieving decarbonization goals.

Although it does not explicitly mention “production localization,” the document acknowledges that digitalization and supply chain resilience are key enablers for reducing waste and environmental costs.

In this context, Roboze additive manufacturing strengthens the sustainability of the railway value chain through:

•          local production, reducing long-distance transport and logistics;

•          material waste reduction, inherent to the additive process;

•          digital traceability, ensuring process transparency and control.

7.      Beyond maintenance: towards a digital Railway

The evolution of railway maintenance depends not only on the speed of spare part production, but also on the quality and reliability of data.

With Roboze solutions, every produced component is accompanied by a complete set of process

data, including temperature, humidity, speed, and chamber conditions, all recorded in real time.

This approach enables the transition from reactive maintenance to intelligent, data-driven management, where every spare part can be:

•          uniquely identified through a Digital Part ID;

•          reproduced consistently on any qualified Roboze system;

•          integrated seamlessly into maintenance workflows with pre-validated compliance to railway

standards.

The ability to store and recall certified parts on demand enhances fleet resilience and enables operators toplan maintenance more precisely, reducing the operational impact of downtime and improving overall service efficiency.

8.       Conclusions

The combination of additive manufacturing, advanced materials, and digital supply chain models

represents one of the most significant innovations in the modern railway industry.

With the ARGO 500 HYPERSPEED platform and HL3-certified Carbon PEEK, Roboze offers railway

operators a tangible solution to:

•          reduce replacement times from weeks to hours;

•          ensure safety and regulatory compliance according to UNI EN 45545-2;

•          increase fleet availability and operational resilience;

•          lower emissions and logistics costs through localized production.

The experience gained with international customers such as Hitachi Rail demonstrates that the

digitalization of railway maintenance is already an industrial reality.

It is time to accelerate this transformation, bringing agility, sustainability, and control to the global railway supply chain.

Contact our Roboze experts today to discover how to digitize your railway supply chain and integratecertified additive manufacturing into your maintenance processes.

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Roboze SpA

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