Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Siemens AG (headquartered in Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering. Operating in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare as well as providing infrastructure solutions, primarily for cities and metropolitan areas, Siemens holds leading market positions in all its business areas. The company has roughly 362,000 employees – of which 118,000 or 33% are based in Germany – working to develop and manufacture products, design and install complex systems and projects, and tailor a wide range of solutions for individual requirements. For almost 170 years, Siemens stands for technological excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality. In fiscal year 2013, Siemens had revenue with business in more than 200 countries of €75.9 billion.
Innovation is Siemens’ most important growth and productivity driver. In fiscal year 2013, the company invested €4.3 billion – 5.6 percent of its total revenue – in research and development (R&D) to stay at the forefront of technological progress. Today the company employs some 29,800 researchers and developers at 229 R&D locations worldwide, who work on innovations that secure existing business and open up new markets.
Around 17,000 of them are software engineers or researchers with a strong expertise in software development. The degree of innovation and the market success is significantly driven by software, being an inherent element of most of our products. This makes Siemens one of the world´s largest software houses. Apart from that Siemens is strongly engaging in sustainable solutions: In fiscal year 2013, Siemens’ revenue from its Environmental Portfolio represented €32.3 billion and well over 40% of total revenue comprising products and solutions that contribute directly to environmental protection and climate change mitigation. Siemens’ patent portfolio consists of 60,000 patents worldwide. According to statistics for patent applications from 2012, Siemens was “European Vice Champion”, ranked third in Germany and 11 in the U.S.
With over 6,900 employees worldwide, Corporate Technology (CT) plays a key role in R&D at Siemens. Corporate Technology works closely with the R&D teams in the Siemens´ Sectors and Divisions. Corporate Technology is networked to facilitate efficient collaboration between its various sites around the world and with the rest of the Company. Its principal research operations are in close proximity to worldwide business activities and technology hotspots: Germany, the U.S., Austria, Russia, India, China, Japan and Singapore are among the most important sites. Establishing own research centers is combined with an intensive cooperation with top universities. This allows responding quickly and precisely to the demands of the customers and to provide solutions that meet local needs.
The CT organization provides expertise regarding strategically important areas to ensure the company’s technological future, and to acquire patent rights that safeguard the company’s business operations. Against the background of megatrends such as climate change, urbanization, globalization, and demographic change, CT focuses on innovations that have the potential to change the rules of the game over the long term in business areas that are of interest to Siemens.
CT covers a wide range of technology fields including the subject areas materials and manufacturing, production methods, security, software and engineering, power engineering, sensors, automation, medical information systems and imaging methods, information and communication technologies, the extraction and processing of raw materials, and off-grid power generation.
Siemens is a large integrated technology company with a leading role in technology development in Europe. Especially Siemens Corporate Technology (CT) with over 6,900 employees worldwide plays a key role in R&D inside Siemens and due to its patent inventions also outside of Siemens. Corporate Technology works closely with the R&D teams in the Siemens´ Sectors and Divisions as well as with external institutes, universities and technology suppliers.
Digitalization and additive manufacturing are in the main focus of technology development of Siemens CT. Especially the high potential of Siemens control devices (SIMATIC, Sinumerik, Simotion) in combination with Siemens software know how should be used for the improvement of reliability of the laser metal deposition technology and should ensure that it will be possible to use additive manufacturing in the future in standardized mass production. These will reduce time to market, make production more efficient and flexible – and help industrial companies retain their competitive edge.
