Siemens: Where today meets tomorrow

By: Kathryn Gerardino-Elagio

Thus, Siemens gathered over 100 industry experts, analysts, software enthusiasts and members of the media from all over the world in Brooklyn, New York for the 12^th annual Siemens Media /Analyst Conference 2019. It brought with it an enthusiasm unique to this event, as Siemens PLM Software officially became Siemens Digital Industries Software. The announcement from Siemens reflects the depth of its software offerings across a broad spectrum of industry domains.

International Metalworking News for Asia is one of the privileged media from Asia Pacific region invited to hear first-hand about Siemens vision of the future, which presents an up-to-date interpretation of today in planning for tomorrow; an outlook of the forces and ideas that triumph, as well as the tools and technologies that will take us there.

In relation to this year’s conference theme: “Where Today Meets Tomorrow,” Tony Hemmelgarn, President and CEO, discussed the explosion of product and systems complexity, and emphasised that the ability to manage complexity can provide companies a competitive advantage. He also noted that the data explosion is not always a positive—too much information acts like very little information. Tony went on to describe three keys to using complexity as competitive advantage: Comprehensive Digital Twin Personalised Adaptable / Modern, and Flexible Open Ecosystem.

At the core of the three keys is the Xcelerator—an integrated portfolio of software, services, and application platform that comprises electronic design automation and product lifecycle management (including design, simulation and manufacturing), application lifecycle management, manufacturing operations management, embedded software, a multi-experience platform, and predictive and prescriptive analytics that can accelerate the adoption of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) in Internet of Things (IoT) environments. Xcelerator is intended to enable everyone, from individual developers and engineers to the largest companies, to deliver continuous ingenuity in product performance, product development, production operations, and lifecycle support.

Another topic of importance: Accelerating Innovation in the Cloud by Ray Kok, VP Technology Office. He mentioned that Siemens is offering a mix of cloud ready solutions (e.g., Teamcenter and Simcenter), application platform solutions, and cloud-based applications. Ray noted that Siemens is also developing some cloud-native solutions. According to him, Siemens currently has over 1,000 cloud customers, 650+ partners, and their cloud business is delivering 40%+ annual rate of return. Joining Ray was Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix. He explained how the Mendix technology and solutions are used to deliver the Build-Integrate-Extend element of Siemens’ cloud strategy.

Derek noted that companies are using Mendix to build apps that extend any of their systems, not just product development or PLM-specific applications. He stated Mendix applications are designed to sit on top of the platform and support multiple experiences, running on any device both online and offline. Derek detailed that Mendix applications can connect to any data source and any system, including structured and real-time data.

Generally, this year’s Siemens Media /Analyst Conference experience was a good one, and as always most interesting for learning new things and follow ups discussed during the past year. One of the best values of attending knowledge-driven conferences is it brings together digital transformation visionaries. This event is a real must-attend, as Siemens gives context to the announcements and news of the day. After all, it’s the people who make the technology who make the news.