Hyundai Rotem Accelerates Development of Railway Vehicle Maintenance Technology in Partnership with Naver

Kim Jong-nyeon, Head of Hyundai Rotem Railroad Technology Research Institute (left), and Kim Tae-chang, Head of Business Division at NBP (right), are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the NBP Gangnam Business Center on the 13th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Hyundai Rotem announced on the 14th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the previous day with Naver's subsidiary, Naver Business Platform (NBP), to cooperate in developing a big data analysis platform (SMART Train 4.0) necessary for building a condition-based maintenance (CBM) system for railway vehicles.

Condition-based maintenance technology, which utilizes various sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) technology, analyzes big data such as the real-time status of key train components, operation information, and failure history to optimize vehicle maintenance cycles.

Hyundai Rotem plans to complete the development of the condition-based maintenance system by the end of this year to establish a modernized maintenance system. Through this agreement, NBP intends to provide technical support to ensure that the cloud-based big data analysis platform developed by Hyundai Rotem operates stably and efficiently on the Naver Cloud Platform.

The big data analysis platform Hyundai Rotem is developing is an algorithm that converts information on key train components into a database (DB) to predict failures. Hyundai Rotem explained that this allows users to receive comprehensive real-time information on vehicle status, such as failure locations and parts replacement timing, thereby reducing maintenance costs and improving train availability and safety. In particular, applying this technology to high-speed trains can reduce maintenance costs by up to 30% compared to existing methods, decrease spare parts inventory by about 20-30%, and extend component lifespan by 20-40%. Additionally, a platform based on physical servers will also be developed to allow users to use the platform in their preferred environment.

Hyundai Rotem's strategy is to advance its existing maintenance business by building a condition-based maintenance system through the development of the big data platform and to actively target the global market. It also plans to secure sales channels for the cloud-based big data analysis platform by utilizing the marketplace, a dedicated sales channel of the Naver Cloud Platform. Hyundai Rotem has a track record of various vehicle maintenance projects worth a total of 700 billion KRW, including Seoul Subway Line 9 trains in 2009, Turkey's Marmaray trains in 2010, Ukraine trains in 2015, New Zealand Wellington trains in 2016, Egypt Cairo trains in 2017, and Brazil CPTM trains in 2018.

Kim Jong-nyeon, head of Hyundai Rotem's Railway Technology Research Institute, said, "We expect to take a step forward in the railway vehicle maintenance market through this agreement with NBP," adding, "We will accelerate our efforts to target domestic and international maintenance markets based on an optimized and modernized maintenance system and various business achievements."

Kim Tae-chang, head of NBP's Business Division, said, "This is the first time we have collaborated with a comprehensive heavy industry company, and supporting the development of Hyundai Rotem's big data analysis platform, SMART Train 4.0, is significant for diversifying NBP's cloud business portfolio," adding, "We plan to actively cooperate to strengthen Hyundai Rotem's market competitiveness."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.