Siemens

Siemens AG is a German company headquartered in Munich, and the largest engineering company in Europe with branch offices abroad.

The principal divisions of the company are Industry, Energy, Healthineers, and Infrastructure & Cities, which represent the main activities of the company. The company is a prominent maker of medical diagnostics equipment and its medical health-care division, which generates about 12 percent of the company's total sales, is its second-most profitable unit, after the industrial automation division. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.Siemens and its subsidiaries employ approximately 362,000 people worldwide and reported global revenue of around €71.9 billion in 2014 according to their annual report.

1847 to 1901
Siemens & Halske was founded by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske on 12 October 1847. Based on the telegraph, his invention used a needle to point to the sequence of letters, instead of using Morse code. The company, then called Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske, opened its first workshop on 12 October.

In 1848, the company built the first long-distance telegraph line in Europe; 500 km from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. In 1850, the founder's younger brother, Carl Wilhelm Siemens later Sir William Siemens started to represent the company in London. The London agency became a branch office in 1858. In the 1850s, the company was involved in building long distance telegraph networks in Russia. In 1855, a company branch headed by another brother, Carl Heinrich von Siemens, opened in St Petersburg, Russia. In 1867, Siemens completed the monumental Indo-European (Calcutta to London) telegraph line.

In 1867, Werner von Siemens described a dynamo without permanent magnets. A similar system was also independently invented by Charles Wheatstone, but Siemens became the first company to build such devices. In 1881, a Siemens AC Alternator driven by a watermillwas used to power the world's first electric street lighting in the town of Godalming, United Kingdom. The company continued to grow and diversified into electric trains and light bulbs. In 1890, the founder retired and left running the company to his brother Carl and sons Arnold and Wilhelm. In 1887 it opened its first office in Japan.

1901-1933
Siemens & Halske (S & H) was incorporated in 1897, and then merged parts of its activities with Schuckert & Co., Nuremberg in 1903 to become Siemens-Schuckert. In 1907, Siemens (Siemens & Halske and Siemens-Schuckert) had 34,324 employees and was the seventh-largest company in the German empire by number of employees.

In 1919, S & H and two other companies jointly formed the Osram lightbulb company.

During the 1920s and 1930s, S & H started to manufacture radios, television sets, and electron microscopes.

In 1932, Reiniger, Gebbert & Schall (Erlangen), Phönix AG (Rudolstadt) and Siemens-Reiniger-Veifa mbH (Berlin) merged to form the Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG (SRW), the third of the so-called parent companies that merged in 1966 to form the present-day Siemens AG.

In the 1920s, Siemens constructed the Ardnacrusha Hydro Power station on the River Shannon in the then Irish Free State, and it was a world first for its design. The company is remembered for its desire to raise the wages of its under-paid workers only to be overruled by the Cumann na nGaedheal government.

1933-1945
Siemens (at the time: Siemens-Schuckert) exploited the forced labour of deported people in extermination camps. The company owned a plant in Auschwitz concentration camp.

During the final years of World War II, numerous plants and factories in Berlin and other major cities were destroyed by Allied air raids. To prevent further losses, manufacturing was therefore moved to alternative places and regions not affected by the air war. The goal was to secure continued production of important war-related and everyday goods. According to records, Siemens was operating almost 400 alternative or relocated manufacturing plants at the end of 1944 and in early 1945.

In 1972, Siemens sued German satirist F.C. Delius for his satirical history of the company, Unsere Siemenswelt, and it was determined much of the book contained false claims although the trial itself publicized Siemens' history in Nazi Germany.[16] The company supplied electrical parts to Nazi concentration camps and death camps. The factories had poor working conditions, where malnutrition and death were common. Also, the scholarship has shown that the camp factories were created, run, and supplied by the SS, in conjunction with company officials, sometimes high-level officials.

Siemens businessman and Nazi Party member John Rabe is, however, credited with saving many Chinese lives during the infamous Nanking Massacre. He later toured Germany lecturing on the atrocities committed by Japanese forces in Nanking.

1945-2001
In the 1950s, and from their new base in Bavaria, S&H started to manufacture computers, semiconductor devices, washing machines, and pacemakers. In 1966, Siemens & Halske (S&H, founded in 1847), Siemens-Schuckertwerke (SSW, founded in 1903) and Siemens-Reiniger-Werke(SRW, founded in 1932) merged to form Siemens AG. In 1969, Siemens formed Kraftwerk Union with AEG by pooling their nuclear power businesses.

The company's first digital telephone exchange was produced in 1980. In 1988 Siemens and GEC acquired the UK defence and technology company Plessey. Plessey's holdings were split, and Siemens took over the avionics, radar and traffic control businesses — as Siemens Plessey.

In 1985, Siemens bought Allis-Chalmers' interest in the partnership company Siemens-Allis (formed 1978) which supplied electrical control equipment. It was incorporated into Siemens' Energy and Automation division.

In 1987, Siemens reintegrated Kraftwerk Union, the unit overseeing nuclear power business.

In 1991, Siemens acquired Nixdorf Computer AG and renamed it Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG, in order to produce personal computers.

In October 1991, Siemens acquired the Industrial Systems Division of Texas Instruments, Inc, based in Johnson City, Tennessee. This division was organized as Siemens Industrial Automation, Inc., and was later absorbed by Siemens Energy and Automation, Inc.

In 1992, Siemens bought out IBM's half of ROLM (Siemens had bought into ROLM 5 years earlier), thus creating SiemensROLM Communications; eventually dropping ROLM from the name later in the 1990s.

In 1997, Siemens agreed to sell the defence arm of Siemens Plessey to British Aerospace (BAe) and a German aerospace company, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. BAe and DASA acquired the British and German divisions of the operation respectively.

In October 1997, Siemens Financial Services (SFS) was founded to act as competence center for financing issues and as a manager of financial risks within Siemens.

In 1998, Siemens acquired Westinghouse Power Generation for more than $1.5 billion from CBS corp and moving Siemens from third to second the world power generation market.

In 1999, Siemens' semiconductor operations were spun off into a new company called Infineon Technologies. In the same year, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG became part of Fujitsu Siemens Computers AG, with its retail banking technology group becoming Wincor Nixdorf.

In 2000, Shared Medical Systems Corporation was acquired by the Siemens' Medical Engineering Group, eventually becoming part of Siemens Medical Solutions.

Also in 2000, Atecs-Mannesman was acquired by Siemens, The sale was finalised in April 2001 with 50% of the shares acquired, acquisition, Mannesmann VDO AG merged into Siemens Automotive forming Siemens VDO Automotive AG, Atecs Mannesmann Dematic Systems merged into Siemens Production and Logistics forming Siemens Dematic AG, Mannesmann Demag Delaval merged into the Power Generation division of Siemens AG.[29] Other parts of the company were acquired by Robert Bosch GmbH at the same time.

2001 to 2011
In 2001, Chemtech Group of Brazil was incorporated into the Siemens Group; it provides industrial process optimisation, consultancy and other engineering services.

Also in 2001, Siemens formed joint venture Framatome with Areva SA of France by merging much of the companies' nuclear businesses.

In 2002, Siemens sold some of its business activities to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), with its metering business included in the sale package.

2011 to present
In March 2011, it was decided to list Osram on the stock market in the autumn, but CEO Peter Löscher said Siemens intended to retain a long-term interest in the company, which was already independent from the technological and managerial viewpoints.

In September 2011, Siemens, which had been responsible for constructing all 17 of Germany's existing nuclear power plants, announced that it would exit the nuclear sector following the Fukushima disaster and the subsequent changes to German energy policy. Chief executive Peter Löscher has supported the German government's planned Energiewende, its transition to renewable energy technologies, calling it a "project of the century" and saying Berlin's target of reaching 35% renewable energy sources by 2020 was feasible.

In November 2012, Siemens acquired the Rail division of Invensys for £1.7 billion. In the same month, Siemens made the announcement of acquiring a privately held company, LMS International NV.

In August 2013, Nokia acquired 100% of the company Nokia Siemens Networks, with a buy-out of Siemens AG, ending Siemens role in telecommunication.

In September 2014, Siemens said it would buy U.S. oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand Group Inc for $7.6 billion.

Products, services, and contribution
Siemens offers a wide range of electrical engineering- and electronics-related products and services. Its products can be broadly divided into the following categories: buildings-related products; drives, automation and industrial plant-related products; energy-related products; lighting; medical products; and transportation and logistics-related products.

Siemens buildings-related products include building-automation equipment and systems; building-operations equipment and systems; building fire-safety equipment and systems; building-security equipment and systems; and low-voltage switchgear including circuit protection and distribution products.

Siemens drives, automation and industrial plant-related products include motors and drives for conveyor belts; pumps and compressors; heavy duty motors and drives for rolling steel mills; compressors for oil and gas pipelines; mechanical components including gears for wind turbines and cement mills; automation equipment and systems and controls for production machinery and machine tools; and industrial plant for water processing and raw material processing.

Siemens energy-related products include gas and steam turbines; generators; compressors; on- and offshore wind turbines; high-voltage transmission products; power transformers; high-voltage switching products and systems; alternating and direct current transmission systems; medium-voltage components and systems; and power automation products.

Siemens OSRAM subsidiary produces lighting products including incandescent, halogen, compact fluorescent, fluorescent, high-intensity discharge and Xenon lamps; opto-electronic semiconductor light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs, high power laser diodes, LED systems and LED luminaires; electronic equipment including electronic ballasts; lighting control and management systems; and related precision components.

Siemens medical products include clinical information technology systems; hearing instruments; in-vitro diagnostics equipment; imaging equipment including angiography, computed tomography, fluoroscopy, magnetic resonance, mammography, molecular imaging ultrasound, and x-ray equipment; and radiation oncology and particle therapy equipment. As of 2015, Siemens finalized the sale of its hearing-aid (hearing instruments) business to Sivantos.

Siemens transportation and logistics-related products include equipment and systems for rail transportation including rail vehicles for mass transit, regional and long-distance transportation, locomotives, equipment and systems for rail electrification, central control systems, interlockings, and automated train controls; equipment and systems for road traffic including traffic detection, information and guidance; equipment and systems for airport logistics including cargo tracking and baggage handling; and equipment and systems for postal automation including letter parcel sorting.

Operations
Siemens is incorporated in Germany and has its corporate headquarters in Munich.[88] It has operations in around 190 countries and approximately 285 production and manufacturing facilities. Siemens had around 360,000 employees as of 30 September 2011.

Electrification, automation and digitalization are the long-term growth fields of Siemens. In order to take full advantage of the market potential in these fields, Siemens businesses are bundled into nine divisions and healthcare as a separately managed business.

Power and Gas

Wind Power and Renewables

Power Generation Services

Energy Management

Building Technologies

Mobility

Digital Factory

Process Industries and Drives

Financial Services

Healthcare

Research and development
In 2011, Siemens invested a total of €3.925 billion in research and development, equivalent to 5.3% of revenues. As of 30 September 2011, Siemens had approximately 11,800 Germany-based employees engaged in research and development and approximately 16,000 in the rest of the world, of whom the majority were based in one of Austria, China, Croatia, Denmark, France, India, Mexico, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. As of 30 September 2011, Siemens held approximately 53,300 patents worldwide.

Joint ventures
Siemens' current joint ventures include: Silcar was a joint venture between Siemens Ltd and Thiess Services Pty Ltd until 2013. Silcar is a 3,000 person Australian organisation providing productivity and reliability for large scale and technically complex plant assets. Services include asset management, design, construction, operations and maintenance. Silcar operates across a range of industries and essential services including power generation, electrical distribution, manufacturing, mining and telecommunications. In July 2013, Thiess took full control. In 2014, Siemens and Accenture formed a joint venture company called OMNETRIC Group.
 * Siemens Traction Equipment Ltd. (STEZ), Zhuzhou China, is a joint venture between Siemens, Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co., Ltd. (TEC) and CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd. (ZELC). which produces AC drive electric locomotives and AC locomotive traction components.
 * OMNETRIC Group, A Siemens & Accenture Company

Shareholders
The company has issued 881.000.000 shares of common stock. The largest single shareholder continues to be the founding shareholder, the Siemens family, with a stake of 6%. 62% are held by institutional asset managers, the largest being two divisions of the world's largest asset manager BlackRock. 83.97% of the shares are considered public float, however including such strategic investors as the State of Qatar (DIC Company Ltd.) with 3,04%, the Government Pension Fund of Norway with 2,5% and the Siemens AG itself with 3,04%. 19% are held by private investors, 13% by investors that are considered unidentifiable. 26% are owned by German investors, 21% by US investors, followed by the UK (11%), France (8%), Switzerland (8%) and a number of others (26%).

Senior management
Chairmen of the Siemens-Schuckertwerke Managing Board (1903 to 1966)[94] Chairmen of the Siemens & Halske / Siemens-Schuckertwerke Supervisory Board (1918 to 1966)[94]
 * Alfred Berliner (1903 to 1912)
 * Carl Friedrich von Siemens (1912 to 1919)
 * Otto Heinrich (1919 to 1920)
 * Carl Köttgen (1920 to 1939)
 * Rudolf Bingel (1939 to 1945)
 * Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben (1945 to 1949)
 * Günther Scharowsky (1949 to 1951)
 * Friedrich Bauer (1951 to 1962)
 * Bernhard Plettner (1962 to 1966)
 * Wilhelm von Siemens (1918 to 1919)
 * Carl Friedrich von Siemens (1919 to 1941)
 * Hermann von Siemens (1941 to 1946)
 * Friedrich Carl Siemens (1946 to 1948)
 * Hermann von Siemens (1948 to 1956)
 * Ernst von Siemens (1956 to 1966)