Siemens 2012 Annual Report Download - page 75

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The global Siemens family
Despite all the differences in cultural and educational background,
the members of the extended Siemens family have many things
in common. Helmut Staufer enjoys having a brief personal conversa-
tion with his colleagues before every web conference. And James D.
Palasek has even gotten swept up in European soccer fever: “I root
for the German team, unless they happen to be playing against the
United States.” Close collaboration strengthens the feeling of being
part of the global Siemens family. Amber Sherman from Industry
Sales in Atlanta experienced a sense of community at her interna-
tional posts: “Wherever Siemens takes me today, I find that we
basically speak the same language.” And that language isn’t German,
English or Chinese. Philipp Bierschneider, who is responsible for
implementing Teamcenter at CE, comes from Amberg, Germany,
but has experienced the language of the Siemens family at loca-
tions around the world: “My colleagues are really friendly and very
helpful. We work not so much on an organization-to-organization
basis but more hand-in-hand and person-to-person.”
  – 
Xu Huihui is immediately notified via Teamcenter that the new
material has been granted internal approval. He then requests
that prototypes be manufactured in Suzhou and sent to Tucker.
   – 
The pushbutton prototypes have arrived. James D. Palasek tests them
for UL conformity on the basis of the specifications stored in Teamcenter.
After the prototypes pass muster, Palasek saves the official UL certifica-
tion for the U.S. market in Teamcenter.


After several assignments at Siemens in the
U.S. and Mexico, James D. Palasek currently
heads a team of developers at CE in Tucker,
Georgia. Palasek holds a bachelor’s degree in
industrial technology and engineering from
Iowa State University and has been with
Siemens since . He’s always delighted
when he encounters colleagues in Europe
who’ve read his favorite book, the cult classic
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. A few
years ago, Palasek still had to send data and
blueprints to China manually. Today, Team-
center does the job automatically.
Tucker,
Georgia, U.S.
James D. Palasek, Development and certification (left)