#Hannovermesse Efficient production solutions from Siemens support the energy turnaround and strengthen competitiveness

Increased energy and resource efficiency for producing industries are in the focus of the Siemens exhibit at this year’s Hannover Messe. “Greater efficiency does not have to mean less productivity. The two goals are compatible,” said Siegfried Russwurm, CEO of the Industry Sector, at the Siemens press conference in Hanover. The savings achieved by modern, sustainable production make an important contribution to the energy turnaround for sustainability while simultaneously boosting a company’s competitiveness, he said. As the globally leading industrial supplier, Siemens plays a key role in this context. Particularly the use of industrial software for more comprehensive networking of individual production steps still offers considerable potential for the optimization of production processes. “We are steadily expanding our portfolio with the addition of technologies necessary for that purpose. In the last six months alone, we reinforced our capabilities by acquiring five suppliers of industrial IT and software,” noted Russwurm.

In industrialized countries such as Germany, almost 30 percent of energy consumption is accounted for by industrial facilities. Due to the rising prices for energy and raw materials, resource efficiency is increasingly becoming a determining factor in competition. For that reason, Russwurm continued, besides expanding the use of renewable energy, it is also vital to establish clear conditions for the development of and support for efficiency and storage technologies. “What is still needed to make more from less is better integration of industrial consumers and intelligent storage possibilities in energy and environmental policy.”

The key here is to identify and realize savings potential through the entire lifecycle of products. “Our customers want to achieve greater output with fewer resources. In Hanover we are showing how we serve this need in a holistic approach along the entire value chain,” said Russwurm. To that end, Siemens is presenting integrated technologies that cover the entire process of value creation, from product design to planning, production engineering and production execution, including related services.

For example, the use of PLM software and virtual prototypes not only cuts time to market by up to 50 percent – it also saves resources and energy costs. In the operation of industrial plants, integrated drive systems make it possible to reduce energy consumption by as much as 70 percent. At Hannover, Siemens is presenting its new line of geared motors, Simogear, which achieve efficiencies of up to 96 percent. In addition, the efficiency of industrial plants can also be boosted by services based on integrated production data. With Siemens services, a beverage manufacturer in China has reduced its energy consumption by almost a fourth and its water use by about 100 million liters per year.

A central role in sustainable production is played by the intelligent networking of individual production steps with the help of industrial IT and software, said Russwurm. Companies want to interlink information along their entire value chain to become more productive and more efficient. To meet this need, Siemens has strengthened its portfolio in recent months, particularly in the area of industrial software. Since September 2011 the company has acquired Active SA (pharmaceutical and biotech production), Vistagy Inc. (composite material design), RuggedCom Inc. (industrial communications), IBS AG (quality and production management) and Innotec do Brasil (holistic plant management) to selectively expand its expertise in industrial IT and software solutions.