Q&A: Bombardier MD Wendy McMillan

Boosting rail in SEA and ANZ

In this exclusive Q&A, Rail Express speaks with Bombardier Transportation’s leader in the South East Asia and Australia region, Wendy McMillan.

Rail Express (REX): What was your approach when you took over Bombardier Transportation in the region on February 1? Wendy McMillan (WM): I wanted to focus on building customer and employee satisfaction, sustainable growth, project delivery, and transforming the business into a more effective and efficient model across South East Asia and Australia markets. All of these objectives were underpinned by a complete focus on safety.

REX: And how did you go about that? WM: Engaging with as many of our customers and, equally as important, engaging and travelling to meet with my teams in as many of our locations as quickly as was possible within that six months was very important to me.

Additionally, embedding a culture that values diversity at all times in everything we do was a key objective. As you can appreciate, we already reflect within the region significant diversity within our teams. However, I wanted to highlight the integration and development aspects, particularly for our indigenous and female team members.

The leadership team and I wanted to immediately capitalise on synergies identified throughout the region and I’m happy to confirm that this has occurred. Ensuring that our customers, our employees, our partners and stakeholders understood what we were undertaking, along with our key objectives, was of paramount importance. The implementation of our strategies was and is thereby set up for greater success.

These strategies encompass all of the Bombardier Transportation businesses and products – from rollingstock to our services business, systems integration, train control management system (TCMS) and rail control solutions (RCS).

REX: What were some things you learned about the business that you may not have anticipated? WM: If there was a technical or product aspect to note that I learnt more of since joining, it was the sheer extent of our RCS business – in terms of our offering and the breadth of our markets that we cover globally, our leadership in this field. And in terms of our people – the pure commitment to our business and the way it’s delivered to our end customers never fails to impress me – I’m fortunate to have such a professional and caring team.

REX: What’s your top priority for BT in Australia moving forward? WM: Ensuring we remain our customers’ local partner of choice is critical, and we take great pride in supporting this. We also want to highlight that within the industry we continue to offer the best local expertise and capability, meaning we can deliver a high level of local benefits to our customers and partners.

REX: You spent time at Queensland Rail and, more recently, with the Victorian Government. How has that experience on the customer side of the market enhanced your perspective? WM: 30 years of experience in the government, rail, transport, infrastructure and consulting sectors has provided me with an in-depth understanding of both sides of the industry, an industry that I am incredibly passionate about.

This experience has enabled me to take on new challenges and consider problems from a different perspective. However, some aspects never change – a comprehensive focus on customer, delivery, your people, your business. Also, you must be a good listener, and have the EQ and ability to see things from another perspective.

REX: What are your thoughts on the rail market in South East Asia? WM: With an average annual economic growth rate of more than five per cent and an anticipated increase in population from 648 million today to 698 million by 2025, there is a focus on megacity urban planning and the more effective use of transport corridors. Bombardier has been contributing to the growth of the South East Asian region for 30 years. Our involvement in the expansion of the public transport network continues to Wendy McMillan, President, South East Asia and Australia, Bombardier Transportation.

evolve as the estimated demand for smarter mobility solutions soar.

Bombardier aims to invest in South East Asia with a long-term perspective in developing local talent and supplier base, enhancing engineering capabilities, as well as in new technologies and innovation in the projects which are strategic to our growth regionally.

REX: What are your thoughts on the rail market in Australia and New Zealand? WM: We see that, in the next couple of years, there will be more projects, considering Australia is a vast country and requires connectivity which is safer and faster and supports economic growth. There will be similar opportunities in New Zealand.

There are various projects in Australia and New Zealand that Bombardier is keen to participate and deliver. State and federal governments have set out their respective visions for rail as a key provider of connectivity and social equity, and as an enabler of economic development, with massive investment allocations over the next few years. With our presence and experience in the region, we are well poised to increase our share of the accessible market.

As the world continues to vary and expand, we must listen more carefully to our customers to better deliver on what they require and solve their problems – sometimes before they know they have one.

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