Siemens AG Acclaimed by Frost & Sullivan for Combining Organic and Inorganic Growth Strategies to Dominate the Identification and Location Solution Market
Siemens’ acquisitions are aimed at strengthening its digital enterprise portfolio and internal business processes to help it meet the complex demands of Industry 4.0
LONDON, U.K. — October 8, 2018 — Based on its recent analysis of the global market for identification and location solution for Industry 4.0, Frost & Sullivan recognises Siemens AG with the 2018 Global Company of the Year Award. Siemens AG has always stayed ahead of the curve by innovating technologies and matching strides with a rapidly changing technology landscape. Acknowledging the rising relevance of Industry 4.0, it recently launched several future-proof solutions such as the open, cloud-based, open IoT operating system MindSphere, new generations of the Simatic Ident radio frequency identification (RFID) product line, and its new real-time location system Simatic RTLS.
Simatic RTLS (Real-Time Locating System) is based on a technology that was originally developed by Agilion GmbH. By acquiring Agilion in April 2018 Siemens was bundling innovative real-time location system technology with its other digital enterprise offerings. This has helped Siemens enable numerous intelligent applications in large-scale smart environments, e.g. to gain insights into the optimization potential of production processes. This can give customers a whole new view of the way their business processes are performing and prompt them to implement measures to achieve enhanced operational efficiency.
“Siemens’ existing solutions such as the smart SIMATIC Ident RFID tags and readers support different frequency bands (high frequency (HF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF)) for different ranges and application environments,” said Nandini Bhattacharya, Industry Analyst. “With the addition of ultra-wide band (UWB) RTLS technology to its digital enterprise portfolio, Siemens’ customers will be able to pinpoint the location and status of their industrial assets, like machines and tools, containers, product parts, and inventory, within the range of a few centimetres in less than a second. Thus Simatic RTLS will become a key component in the digital infrastructure of future factories with more dynamic production and logistics processes: For intelligent systems like mobile robots or self-navigating transport systems to be able to focus and respond autonomously, they need to know what’s where, and when.”
Siemens has positioned itself as the only company that provides digital twins to address the entire value chain and virtually test hundreds of thousands of prototypes simultaneously. Its commitment to digitisation and the IoT trend is further evident in its introduction of the open, cloud-based MindSphere platform. This is a dynamic platform of integrated hardware, software, and data management assets that aids smooth, real-time data communication and exchange among these components throughout their lifecycle. Siemens is enhancing MindSphere’s capabilities through partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and the Azure cloud platform, Alibaba Cloud, Accenture, Atos, IBM, SAP, and other leading business entities.
The holistic digital solution portfolio that Siemens has acquired through its inorganic growth strategies helps businesses of various sizes alter their business processes in line with evolving user requirements.
“Being linked to the cloud endows Siemens with the capabilities to offer customers in-depth visibility into end-to-end production processes, supply chain operations, and the key performance indicators (KPIs) from any location across the globe at any time,” noted Bhattacharya. “Such transparency empowers even remote customers to make informed business decisions, optimising both time and cost, and, eventually, achieving lower total cost of ownership (TCO).”
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year award to the organisation that demonstrates excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognises a high degree of innovation with products and technologies, and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
