Siemens strives for synthesis between hardware and software companies

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Brandes: For many of our customers it is the basis for surviving in the long run. In general, we can achieve this customer promise only through stronger digitalization. In view of the dramatic price trends today they question which technologies will be available for tomorrow to boost the productivity even in the oil/gas industry ? This question was rarely asked till date in the oil/gas industry. However, there is no One-Solution-fits-all. We believe that we must deal with it specifically for every industry. But in the end we understand the customers so well because we are in a similar situation and mainly: We use our systems ourselves. In this way we are the perfect users of our Plant Engineering Software of Comos.

? For Integrated Engineering a supplier like Siemens naturally has a wider horizon than its customers. In which areas can you convince your customers?

Brandes: We can explain it very well with the example of the paper and fiber industry. This industry was facing a serious upheaval because the consumption of paper and paper tissues has reduced drastically. This industry had to transform itself and lookout for new business areas. In the meantime this industry has become one of the biggest renewable energy producers and construction materials are produced from fibre material. What is my point? Industries that are facing a change need speed and innovation. Here our holistic concept can be applied. But it’s not just about engineering. It’s not just about uniform data storage. It’s about deriving optimization from this data to raise the company to the next level of productivity. That is the goal.

? With who do you speak at the customer side to implement this strategy and this way of thinking. Top Down or Bottom up?

Brandes: The questions of productivity and the long-term strategic Value-Proposition questions are discussed on the C-Level. For different industries we have identified key customers with whom we are in contact even on the executive level. But at the same time they also have to speak the language of engineers and technicians and work out the Easy to Use on the operational level. Finally, it is essential to convince contact persons at all levels, from workers to executives.

? Your market competitors Yokogawa and Honeywell Process Solutions have recently set up their own units for Smart Data to develop new business models. Where is Siemens?

Brandes: It is not enough to just reorganize internally to provide more value to the customers. Our main message is that we are building the industry competence again, that we are not just thinking about products but even about solutions. A challenge here is that the customer must not know how we organize internally. But he should be able to rely on the fact that we can actually address all the levels in the company. We are open to cooperation and we also have the technical background to create the promised added value and we are also in the position to get the best in a team with open interfaces to offer these advantages to the customer.

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