Siemens looks to digital platform to tackle automation downturn
Technology
Siemens looks to digital platform to tackle automation downturn
MUNICH (Reuters) - Siemens is looking to its online digital platform Xcelerator to support future growth, including at its factory automation business which has been hit by weakening demand in China and Europe, managing board member Peter Koerte said.
The German engineering group last month warned its full-year sales growth would be slower than expected, with revenues at its flagship digital industries division likely to fall around 8%.
Still, the company's industrial software business is doing well, with sales leaping 82% during the three months to the end of June, mainly due to software sold by Xcelerator, said Koerte, chief technology and strategy officer at Siemens.
He declined to comment on July-September performance, which the company is due to announce on Nov. 14.
Siemens has long-term hopes for Xcelerator, a cloud-based platform set up in 2022 to provide hardware and digital services to customers of all sizes.
All of Siemens's businesses are fully on board in offering the service to customers, said Koerte, with more than a million customers using it worldwide every month.
"And of course, we can play on that wonderfully because we can see exactly what is in demand," he said at an event in Munich.
Koerte declined to provide financial figures for Xcelerator, which works with 400 partner companies on the platform, offering more than 900 products and services.
But Siemens's divisions - mobility, smart infrastructure, and digital industries – benefit from orders and applications related to Xcelerator.
"One of the markets that are growing the fastest and furthest is China," Koerte said, adding Xcelerator had also been well-received in India, Germany, and the United States.
Xcelerator is also helping to win orders with big customers, like Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL), which ordered 90 new regional trains for Munich in August.
An Xcelerator service that analysed operating data transmitted by trains helped win the order because the information could be used to improve maintenance, energy consumption, and punctuality.
"Xcelerator brings together the strengths of Siemens by bringing the digital and real worlds together," Koerte said.
