Establishing standards means defining markets
For globally operating companies like Siemens, it is important to ensure that the same norms and standards are accepted throughout the world. That’s why specialists from Siemens work in international committees on the development of global norms and standards.
Universal standards are a major benefit, whether they apply to industrial automation systems or energy network infrastructures
Norms and standards are a prerequisite for today’s global trade. Without internationally-recognized norms and standards, trade barriers would arise and technological progress would be stalled. In particular, companies that operate around the world, such as Siemens, would find it unprofitable to adapt their developments for small sub-markets. Technologies that could not be operated according to the same norms and standards in different countries would spread much more slowly. And incompatible solutions from different manufacturers would prove to be a hindrance.
For Siemens as a trendsetter for innovative technologies, norms and standards therefore play a crucial role. To guarantee efficient interaction with the standardization process at all of its divisions, Corporate Technology’s Standardization & Regulation (CT IP SR) team uses highly specialized methods and tools that have been mastered by more than 20 experts who are familiar with international standardization activities. They ensure that Siemens can maintain and expand its strong position in competitive international markets. The general rule is, “Those who make the standards make the markets.”
One of the most familiar standards with major practical benefits worldwide is DIN ISO 688. It regulates the modular structure as well as the dimensions and weights of containers, which have revolutionized logistics processes throughout the world. This would not have been possible if many different norms and standards had been in effect. This example also demonstrates that uniform international norms and standards ensure equal opportunity in the marketplace by making it easier for even small national economies to gain access to markets and innovative technology. For Germany, for example, the economic benefit of standardization is valued at over €30 billion per year.
Other examples of internationally-accepted standards whose value for Siemens is obvious from a business management perspective are the IEC standards for industrial field bus systems like Profibus and the IEC norm for the standardized communications protocol for energy network infrastructures. Once they were published, these norms and standards made customers more willing to invest; they enlarged the market and thereby spurred business for all the manufacturers involved. As a company that does business in more than 190 countries, Siemens pursues a proactive standardization strategy and is represented in the committees of all the important standardization organizations, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For Siemens, this entails the advantage of being able to help formulate the technical content of standards at an early stage in the standardization process – and to incorporate it into its own product development process. Standardization organizations, in turn, ensure that norms and standards are of a high level of quality when they collaborate with major developers of new technologies.
By participating in standardization committees, specialists from Corporate Technology’s Standardization & Regulation team help not only to shape standards but also to strengthen the bonds between innovation, patents, and norms and standards. Particularly in the case of relatively new fields such as RFID and nanotechnology, it is essential to coordinate patent and standardization work.
Another focus of standardization experts’ work is on making sure that regional Siemens companies are thoroughly integrated into the international standardization process. For example, CT IP SR advises Siemens standardization specialists in all relevant countries regarding the committees on which Siemens specialists must be represented in order to help shape standardization processes. Here too, Siemens strives to advance international standardization in order to avoid the possibility of having to manufacture according to many different norms and standards. Siemens is thus helping to define the technical and economic requirements for market access. Nevertheless, in spite of efforts to achieve international norms and standards, different requirements for access to the markets of various countries continue to exist. Knowing these different requirements – and informing the Siemens divisions about them early on during a new product’s development phase – is thus the top priority. Ultimately, everyone profits from norms and standards because these norms and standards include the best technologies and help to ensure that users worldwide can rely on a high level of safety. Products from different manufactures are then mutually compatible as well, and products can be used in the same way in many different countries.