Pictures of the Future    Fall 2006

Best Factory, Best People

Best Factory 2004" is emblazoned on a large poster above the entrance to Hall 42 at Siemens’ Automation and Drives (A&D) production plant in Erlangen. A&D’s Motion Control Systems division produces electronic controls and drive technologies for machines and production lines at the facility, which a specialized jury selected as Europe’s best factory in 2004. The jury explained that the 1,100 people at the factory do their work in a way that’s described in numerous management books but is seldom put into practice. Everyday reality at the plant is characterized by high quality, delivery reliability and just-in-time logistics.

But things weren't always so good. Back when Josef Röhrle started working there, the factory was in the red and a shutdown appeared unavoidable. Röhrle, however, fought to keep he plant open. Today, the facility has sales of 570 mill. € per year and is one of Siemens’ most profitable production plants. What’s more, with a market share of more than 27 %, Motion Control Systems is now number one in its segment.

All of this was made possible by teamwork and flexible working hours—not exactly anything difficult to understand. Why, then, did Röhrle, 57, succeed where others had failed? Perhaps it has something to do with his wealth of experience. He trained early as a precision mechanic, then as an aircraft instrument mechanic in the German armed forces, and later went on to become a developer of hardware and software at Siemens.

Or maybe it’s Röhrle’s hiring practices. He only picks the best, most motivated applicants. And if someone with great talent applies for a job, Röhrle will hire the applicant even if there’s no position available at the time. When asked about the most important trait a member of his staff should have, he replies: "He or she must be able to disagree with me. What we need are people who think outside the box and have unusual ideas and charisma." Röhrle puts such individuals into teams—and the greater the difference in knowledge and personalities, the better it is for the team. Everyone, from managers to line workers, is given a high degree of personal responsibility and a say in decision-making.

Röhrle believes an optimal innovation process should be a step-by-step procedure that doesn’t just allow for deviations but actually treats them as a productive factor. When a process of change is implemented at the plant, it’s always only the very next step that’s defined; the long-term transformations remain open. When things go well, Röhrle reminds his people to look ahead to the next step, because slowdowns are equivalent to setbacks. That’s why he believes you have to keep pushing forward on your own and not wait for market or management pressures to get you moving.

A father of two, Röhrle is always discovering new role models, including Japanese firms. He says that Siemens is equal to its Japanese counterparts in many areas, although the quality structures in Japan are superior. "But we’ll catch up in a few years," he promises.
                                                                                                                   Bernd Müller