Siemens 2008 Annual Report Download - page 89

Fit42010 – Operational Excellence 83
alone, we led some 5,000 patent applications, making us a world leader in the international pat-
ent statistics. Why this focus on innovation? Because we know from experience that only by offer-
ing cutting-edge technologies will we occupy leading market positions and reach the above-aver-
age protability required to increase our Company’s value.
Our global setup – Broad market presence and efficient cost structures
International focus and worldwide commitment have always been a hallmark of our Company.
At home in some 190 countries, we generate more than 80 percent of our revenue from sales
outside Germany. Contributing revenue of over €14.8 billion, the U.S. is our largest single market.
Asia and the Middle East are also key growth drivers. With the help of our global supply chain
management system, we’re expanding our market presence and market penetration, for example,
by moving production close to our customers – an approach guaranteed to increase the efciency
of our cost structures worldwide.
Our targeted SMART (simple, maintenance-friendly, affordable, reliable, timely-to-market) initia-
tive will sharpen our focus on lower and mid-level market segments, where countries like China
and India offer tremendous growth potential.
In these segments, a competitive cost structure is vital for success. That’s why we’re continuing to
rigorously localize our entire value chain – everything from R&D, purchasing and manufacturing
to efcient sales and distribution.
In a further step to maximize customer proximity, we’ve set up 20 Regional Clusters worldwide to
bundle administrative functions previously performed at the national level, enabling our Regional
Companies to focus more intensively on their local customers and sales activities. This reorganiza-
tion is also optimizing our regional structures, improving the cost efciency of our processes and
helping us reach the cost-reduction targets set by our sales, general and administrative (SG&A)
program.
Targeted initiatives round out top+
As part of our top+ program, we’re launching targeted initiatives on topics of crucial importance to
our Company’s future. The rst of these Company-wide initiatives – SMART – will further expand
our global presence and help us identify and systematically exploit the potential of high-growth
markets. Under the initiative – which also aims to enhance our competitive advantages and drive
market penetration in lower and mid-level market segments in particular – we’re establishing R&D
centers and production facilities in future-oriented markets, tailoring our innovative products and
solutions to the unique requirements of the customers in those markets and optimizing every link
in our value chain.