ÖBB Driving the future of rail freight transport
Mobility & Logistics
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group
Digital Use Case Exploration,
Service Design,
UX & UI Design,
Digital Prototyping,
Custom Software Development
Block train transport moves large freight volumes across Europe efficiently, but organizing it requires precise coordination between departments, partners, and customers. Together with Rail Cargo Group, we created a digital solution that structures this complexity and enables a smoother ordering experience. This supports rail transport in becoming a dependable backbone of European logistics.
“End2End digitalisation is one of the Rail Cargo Group’s most important drivers for a networked and green future of rail logistics. sclable has made an important contribution to making block train ordering more attractive for our customers, but also to ensuring a transparent and intuitive internal process for our employees.“
Our Partnership
ÖBB Rail Cargo Group is a key player in European rail logistics, operating in 18 countries with up to 6,000 employees. The company runs more than 1,200 trains daily and transports 88.4 million net tonnes of goods each year.
To support its digital strategy, Rail Cargo Group partnered with sclable to develop solutions that make rail logistics as accessible and dependable as road transport.
The Challenge
Block train transport enables customers to ship large volumes of goods together on a dedicated route. However, ordering these transports requires coordination between multiple departments and partners.
The process faced several challenges:
- Information for planning was spread across multiple internal sources.
- Departments relied on different communication channels.
- Order coordination required significant manual effort.
To understand the workflow in detail, we conducted interviews with employees and customers and facilitated Event Storming workshops with key stakeholders. This helped identify where digital support would deliver the greatest impact.
What we achieved together
Transparency
With one source of truth, employees and customers see the same up-to-date information and communication is streamlined.
Accountability
Recorded order changes and cancellations provide action traceability and serve as basis for invoicing.
Real-time monitoring
Overview of every order allows prompt feedback, as well as proactive action and response.
Standardized workflows
Information once scattered across channels and documents now digitized in one place.
Culture shift
Digitalizing of process requires employees and customers to change ways of working - with better convenience and ease of use.
Our Solution
We developed a digital solution that structures the block train ordering workflow and brings relevant information together in one environment.
Implemented as a module of Rail Cargo Group’s MIKE platform, the application supports the management of block train orders from creation to confirmation.
Built on the principles of Workflow Intelligence, the solution connects people, technology, and processes into one system.
The solution at a glance:
Human-centered: An intuitive interface enables customers and teams to create, edit, or cancel orders quickly.
Technology-driven: A custom MIKE module consolidates relevant data and supports structured order management.
System-wide: Rail Cargo Group employees can review, validate, confirm, and manage orders within one shared workflow.
