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DB Cargo has launched its new customer portal: link2rail is now the centralized platform for all digital services, bringing speed and simplicity to the tasks of processing orders, managing empty cars, tracking and tracing shipments, and organizing invoice data.

APIs make it possible for customers to integrate tracking and empty car management into their own data processing systems. And an app lets users tap into some of this functionality from handheld devices. link2rail is the next-generation evolution of myRailportal. Key features were implemented in collaboration with Siemens Digital Logistics.

“link2rail is the key to green rail transport. It makes it easier for our customers to connect and lets us offer additional services,” notes Pierre Timmermans, Member of the Management Board for Sales and Marketing at DB Cargo. “The future of rail cargo is digital. Our new solutions make it even easier for customers to integrate rail into their supply chains.”

The link2rail platform also allows customers to benefit from the digital integration of their freight car fleet, which DB Cargo has equipped with state-of-the-art sensor technology under its “Wagon Intelligence” project. This makes it easy to plug GPS data and sensor feedback into the digital processes.

In this way, link2rail gives customers access to a constantly growing portfolio. By providing cloud-based services and enabling the smart integration of additional data, link2rail can leverage track-and-trace data to optimize its logistics chain and provide easy access to invoices – anytime, anywhere.

AX4 from Siemens Digital Logistics now listed as unique instance

The foundation for the easy, end-to-end integration of DB Cargo’s internal systems and the flexible integration of customers to link2rail is the cloud-based logistics platform AX4 from Siemens Digital Logistics. The company teamed up with DB Systel, the digital partner of Deutsche Bahn, to fulfill the key prerequisites for implementation of the new system architecture and, for the first time, establish AX4 as a dedicated customer instance in DB Enterprise Cloud, the AWS cloud of Deutsche Bahn.

“We are very pleased to makes such an important contribution to DB Cargo’s digital service portfolio with our AX4 cloud solution,” says Michael Reichle, CEO of Siemens Logistics. “I feel certain that link2rail will make energy-efficient, rail-based freight even more attractive for the European supply chain.”

Image source: DB Cargo

Siemens Digital Logistics, a provider of software and consulting solutions for the digital supply chain, operates the AX4 logistics platform – a multi-client cloud solution that many customers rely on as a key pillar of their business processes. For this reason, Siemens Digital Logistics decided to have the development, operation, and support of the AX4 logistics platform certified under ISO 27001. This certification serves as an unbiased documentation that AX4 meets the highest standards of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

TÜV Rheinland, a neutral and independent authority, confirms that the development, operation, and support of the AX4 logistics platform complies with the latest information security standards. The certification was granted after independent TÜV testers conducted several successful audits at the company’s offices in Frankenthal (Germany) and Wrocław (Poland). The certification process took about 12 months, including internal preparations.

Thomas Köhler was named Information Security Officer, a new position created as part of the certification process. Köhler, an experienced security expert who will serve as the first point of contact for the security questions and concerns of Siemens Digital Logistics customers, shared his thoughts during the certification process: “IT security is not a product – it is an organizational matter. It’s about processes and above all the mindset of every employee. Our success in obtaining this certification means we can now offer objective proof that Siemens Digital Logistics is deeply committed to the utmost security of processes.”

ISO 27001 certification is subject to regular monitoring to ensure long-term compliance.