Electric.ie September - October Edition

44 ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • Siemens Digitalisation: making it a real force in Ireland S iemens customers and business partners gathered in the company’s Irish headquarters in DCU Alpha, Glasnevin, Dublin where they heard from a series of industry experts on the potential of digitalisation to transform industry and open up new opportunities for Ireland. Among the topics discussed were the use of data to construct better and smarter buildings, the power of digitalisation in the manufacturing industry, and how the new technology has the potential to transform power generation and distribution. For more information go to https://sie.ag/2CzbvZd In his opening keynote presentation, Siemens CEO Gary O’Callaghan, discussed digitalisation as a growth driver. Using the analogy of an oil tanker, he explained how Siemens is changing as a company to become more agile. This has led to fundamental change at Siemens which is now more like a co-ordinated fleet of smaller, swifter and more nimble vessels as a result of its Vision 2020 strategy. “We implemented the final stage of the strategy on April 1st last”, he said. “The main aim of that strategy is to give businesses within Siemens more entrepreneurial freedom to focus on the markets they serve. We have plans to grow in a range of emerging new areas including the internet of things (IoT), distributed energy, smart campuses, smart businesses, and electric mobility.” Event MC, Siemens Digitalisation Lead Joan Mulvihill, explained that ർ ർ Industry experts met in Dublin recently to discuss the power of digitalisation to transform society and provide opportunities for Ireland. remaining the same is not an option for today’s organisations. “It’s not easy, people don’t want to change, but there really is no choice.” She pointed to former video rental giant Blockbusters to illustrate her point. “Imagine if they had stepped outside themselves, imagine is they had captured the data, had looked at anywhere, anytime on any device, could they have come up with Netflix? Even the ability to be second or third in that market would have been a great outcome. There used to be 9,094 Blockbusters stores in the world. Now there is one!” Digitalisation can not only be used to create smarter buildings but buildings which care as well. That was the message delivered by Thomas Frendo of Siemens who spoke about how Siemens is helping a 140 year old Swiss brewer to improve its fire safety systems. “There are three pillars to create buildings that care”, he said. “You make them comfortable and safe to ensure the wellbeing and protection of people and spaces within them; you make them energy and asset efficient to enhance sustainability; and you make them space and user efficient to create user centric building experiences, and improve space efficiency and equipment utilisation.” On a practical level, he explained that 55 per cent of facilities maintenance programmes are reactive or “fix it when it breaks”. This leads to higher maintenance and downtime costs and unsatisfied customers. “Digitalisation and predictive maintenance analytics are changing the way buildings are managed with up to 30 per cent less maintenance, 45 per cent less downtime and 30 per cent less energy used.” Enlightened is a Californian intelligent buildings start-up which has been acquired by Siemens but retains its identity and autonomy as a separate entity. “If you regard Siemens as a flotilla of boats we are probably the jet-ski coming behind them”, said Northern Europe Vice President Jamie Cameron. Gary O'Callaghan, CEO, Siemens