Expand our service business
To get closer to our customers – for us, this means providing outstanding services that increase customer value. With our comprehensive service offerings, we want to achieve the kind of long-lasting customer satisfaction that makes us the first choice for follow-up investment. It’s not only our sales organization that nurtures close relationships with our customers and fosters their loyalty; above all, it’s our local service employees, who – in some instances building on relationships that go back decades – have detailed knowledge of our customers’ needs and requirements. This knowledge, which is indispensable for providing excellent service, sets us apart from many of our competitors. And with product standardization increasing, services will be an important strategic factor that gives us an edge over our competitors.
For these reasons, services are a key component of our growth strategy, making major contributions to our profitability. Leveraging our worldwide installed base, they’re a reliable source of high-margin revenue – and they’re less capital-intensive than other types of business. What’s more, because long-term agreements are the rule, services are less vulnerable to fluctuating business cycles. As part of our One Siemens framework, we’re aiming to rigorously expand our service business in order to tap additional potential for sustainable growth.
Recent organizational measures underscore the importance we attach to our service business. We’ve already set up dedicated units to bundle the solutions-oriented services provided by our Energy and Healthcare Sectors. At the beginning of fiscal 2012, we’ll go a step further and establish a new unit combining the entire service portfolio of our Industry Sector.
And that’s not all. We’re also driving knowledge transfer throughout our organization. Our service experts are in constant communication with one another, exchanging information across Sector and regional borders. We’ve set up a worldwide Siemens service network and conduct regular service conferences to help ensure that service issues are jointly investigated, thoroughly discussed and successfully resolved.
Looking ahead, our service business will rest increasingly on two main pillars. The first pillar comprises our conventional, already very successful product services. It’s closely linked to our worldwide installed base and reflects the close relationships we maintain with our customers. Our service contracts with wind turbine operators are typical of this type of service business. For the Danish energy company DONG, 40 Siemens employees are currently servicing 48 wind turbines at the Gunfleet Sands wind farm off the English coast – one example of how service contracts can be expected to increase in the thriving renewables market.
The second pillar comprises value-added services. Going beyond conventional product services, these services aim to convert the knowledge that we’ve gained in our diversified product and solutions business into added value for our customers. Our SOMATOM Definition Flash computed tomography (CT) scanner is a good example. More than ten central sensors continuously monitor the key parameters of the scanner’s X-ray tube assembly. Using complex algorithms and customer-specific system utilization data, specialized software calculates the tube’s remaining service life to within a few days – a decisive advantage, since early warning significantly reduces the risk of unforeseen failure. Tube changes can now be proactively planned and integrated into everyday clinical workflows, increasing system uptime and enhancing customer and patient satisfaction.
Last but not least, our traffic information center in Berlin proves that services can both increase customer value and create new business models. Gathering and evaluating a wide range of traffic data and other relevant information from across the entire metropolitan area, the center generates comprehensive reports for road users to help improve traffic flows across the vast conurbation.
Clearly, services are a decisive success factor. That’s why we’re intensifying efforts across our entire organization to seize opportunities in the service business – and thus get closer to our customers.