Wabtec Global Services


	Equiptment Repair Services

Wabtec Global Services currently maintains over 260 various locomotive and communications electronic products for all class one railroads as well as various short lines. Our expertise throughout our service centers vary based on skill level. All Technicians are required to have an electronics degree or military training with a minimum or 2 years of experience working on communications products, satellite equipment, or various other RF and communications products. All Technicians are fluent in interpretation of schematics and have excellent through-hole and surface mount soldering skills. Prior to hiring, all technicians are required to take an electronics test which consists of analog and digital questions, troubleshooting skills, soldering questions, schematic symbols, etc. Technicians are trained to repair various RF equipment including VHF/UHF/ Spread Spectrum radios, pagers, cell phones along with the locomotive telemetry equipment.

In addition to providing problem repair assistance, Wabtec engineering provides product test procedures, technician training, identification and procurement of required test equipment, rework instructions, and software upgrades.

What happens when a unit breaks in the field?
When a unit experiences either a software or hardware problem, the field user places a call to Wabtec support team. Through a series of troubleshooting questions, the Wabtec either fixes the problem over the phone or determines that the unit needs to be sent in for service. If the unit needs to be sent in for service, the field user is directed to fill out a repair form with basic information that describes the problem. The Wabtec Service Center ships a replacement handheld specific to that location, within 24 hours, the broken handheld is sent to the Wabtec Service Center for repair.

What happens when a broken unit arrives at the Wabtec Service Center?
When a device arrives at the Wabtec Service Center, the unit goes through a full series of diagnostic tests to determine the cause of the failure. If the problem is a hardware failure (Broken Screen, hard drive failure, or other physical damage), the unit is sent in to the manufacturer for component replacement. (Wabtec is currently seeking certification from certified manufacturers in order to repair the devices in house. Wabtec currently services thousands of Mobile and Wireless devices.) If the unit has a software problem or does not conform to the latest Customer standard hard drive image, Wabtec will load the user with the standard Customer specific hard drive image and undergo an array of testing procedures. Wabtec typically works with the Customer's IS Engineering team to build an image that meets the Customer's requirements standard for these handhelds. This image typically includes all software such virus protection, Cisco encryption parameters, wireless configuration information, PERL Scripts, Adobe reader, customer applications, Java runtime, Oracle Lite, etc. These units are then inventoried and placed on the shelf labeled "Customer Inventory." The unit is ready for re-deployment.

What happens when a Manufacturer "End of Life's" a product?
Sometimes a manufacturer decides to no longer build and/or support a product. With Wabtec's network of electronic service and repair centers, we can bridge the gap to find ways to continue supporting and servicing these legacy products.

Where are the Wabtec Service Centers Located?