Case Study: New York Air Brake
CCB II, NYAB's computer controlled brake, was a railroad industry breakthrough when introduced.
In the 1990s, New York Air Brake Corporation (NYAB) wanted to differentiate itself from competitors and began an evolution from selling freight train air brakes to delivering systems that improve the performance of the entire train.
Goal: to change railroad industry perceptions of NYAB from a brake component supplier to a train handling systems company and to get the world's largest railroads to buy new technology that would improve their efficiency and profitability.
Solution: re-position NYAB as the innovative Breakthrough Brake Company by raising industry awareness of the company's focus on R&D, product testing and design-in engineering as well as bring four revolutionary new products to market by co-coordinating sales training, sales collateral and sales presentations targeted to the hi-tech selling environment. Advertising, trade shows and PR supported sales engineers by building confidence in the company's ability to develop, test, build and service train-handling systems that reduced costs, increased reliability and improved safety.
Results: two years after introduction, NYAB achieved a 95% market share of the computer controlled brakes on freight trains. The company is now the world's leading supplier of electrically controlled pneumatic brake systems and GPS-guided locomotive driver assist technology. NYAB's products are sold around the world in China, Australia, Africa, India and North and South America.
