Siemens 2010 Annual Report Download - page 130

6 To our shareholders 21 Corporate Governance 49 Combined management’s discussion and analysis
50 Business and operating environment
78 Fiscal  – Financial summary
81 Results of operations
98 Financial position
110 Net assets position
113 Overall assessment of the economic position
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By now, the SPS has already been introduced in over  pro-
duction and manufacturing plants around the world. Our long-
term aim is to ensure that all our production facilities are
benefiting from the philosophy of lean production. For this
purpose, Siemens is conducting specific activities, particularly
in China and in the U.S. Starting in fiscal , Siemens has
introduced a “SPS-Expert”-Program which aims to achieve sys-
tematic skills development and to train certified experts. Since
its launch, nearly  employees have joined this program.
In addition, Siemens is currently optimizing the environmental
performance and energy efficiency of its most important sites
worldwide and intends to continue investing in further optimi-
zation in coming periods. The goal is to reduce energy and
carbon dioxide emissions. Siemens is also offering the envi-
ronmental and energy test to its suppliers. For further informa-
tion, see “– Supply chain management.”
We believe that Siemens is associated with a quality culture
focused on customers and their needs. Outstanding quality of
our products and solutions is a key success factor for our Com-
pany. We aim to maintain a culture of continuous improvement
and transparency at the highest level. In this context Siemens
has developed a comprehensive quality approach throughout
the Company to increase the quality of its products and pro-
cesses. Siemens has defined mandatory elements as the qual-
ity standard for all Siemens units worldwide. These elements
comprise binding standards in the areas of quality responsibil-
ity, quality controlling, process quality and quality awareness.
The Quality Management Organization is well-established at
all levels of our business, with some , employees operat-
ing actively for Quality Management and quality assurance
within our Sectors, Divisions, Business Units, and Regional
Clusters. In particular, it is important to ensure that quality is
measurable and transparent. We use the Net Promoter Score to
measure customer satisfaction, our main quality objective. For
further information on the Net Promoter Score, please refer to
“– Distribution and customer relations.” Internal audits and
assessments, together with regular benchmarking, help us to
ensure the effectiveness and further development of our Qual-
ity Management. The Siemens Quality Management meets –
and in many respects exceeds – the requirements of relevant
recognized international standards.
The quality of our products and processes critically depends on
the capabilities of our employees. Training on quality is an in-
tegral part of our corporate culture. Siemens provides a com-
prehensive range of opportunities for Quality Managers,
managers and employees to develop their skills. The profes-
sional development options include web-based solutions,
training plans specific to particular target groups, and on-the-
job training. The tailor-made portfolio of training courses is
regularly expanded to complement the traditional areas of
“Integrated management systems,” “Audit,” and “Quality tools.”
Training courses are developed in cooperation with experi-
enced internal personnel and experts from universities and
partner institutions. In this way, we ensure that there is a high
degree of transfer of expertise.
Product safety is an essential quality feature and for this reason
also a comprehensive objective of the entire value-added pro-
cess. Safe product design encompasses the safety of all prod-
ucts and services developed, manufactured and sold by
Siemens, involves and defines requirements for just about ev-
ery function in the Company und addresses the entire lifecycle
from development, production and maintenance / repair to en-
hancement / modification until final disposal. Accordingly, we
not only consider legal requirements and relevant standards,
but also take into account the current state of science and
technology.
Distribution and customer relations
Our Sectors, Divisions, Business Units and Cross-Sector Busi-
nesses have global responsibility for their business, sales and
results. They are able to support customers around the world
directly from their respective headquarters, especially for large
contracts and projects. However, most of the Siemens custom-
ers are small and medium sized companies and organizations,
which require local support. To address the local business with
them, Siemens is able to build upon a large global sales force
which is steered by our Regional Clusters and Regional Compa-
nies. The Regional Companies are responsible for the distribu-
tion of the Siemens portfolio across our Sectors and Divisions
in the different countries. Siemens aims to be close to its cus-
tomers around the world and to offer them local partnerships
that provide fast and tailor-made solutions to their business
needs. We believe that our presence in around  countries
gives us an important competitive edge in our markets.
Through our long-lasting local history in many of these coun-
tries we are often seen as local citizens. Taking the fast-grow-
ing BRIC countries as an example, we founded our first subsid-
iary in Russia in , opened our first permanent office in
China in , founded our Brazilian subsidiary Siemens do
Brasil in  and our first Indian subsidiary in . An ele-
mentary component of all our global marketing and selling