The SPS/IPC/Drives Electric Automation Systems and Components Exhibit and Conference (SPS/ICP/Drives 2006), held in Nuremberg last November, was host to more than 1,200 vendors representing 33 countries spread out across approximately 76,000 square feet of space in the city's convention center. The show has grown consistently over the last few years, along with the number and percentage of international exhibitors. This year, 213 of the 1,203 exhibitors hailed from countries other than Germany, representing 18% of the total. In 2003, the number was 12%.
The exhibitor occupying the most real estate at SPS/IPC/Drives was Siemens, the German-based automation powerhouse, which emphasized among its exhibits an HMI product that is available in five languages and that can be changed online and on the fly for worldwide access to systems without time- and cost-prohibitive language barriers.
At the conference, Siemens stressed its recent and ongoing efforts to boost its presence in the growing BRIC markets -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- by installing sales entities in close proximity to customers and prospects in key locations. During a press conference held at the Siemens Airport Center in Fuerth, Germany, during SPS/IPC/Drives, Siemens Automation & Drives group President Helmut Gierse described the company's plans to firmly situate itself in these areas, with, for example, new factories and R&D centers in India. Similar efforts are under way in Brazil, where the hot industry is bioethanol, a fuel derived from sugar.
"Analysts argue that the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India, and China is such that they may become among the four most dominant economies by the year 2050. Due to economic stagnation in the industrial nations, the attention of investors has turned to the BRIC states," Gierse said.
Gierse noted that in India, Siemens has experienced growth rates of approximately 40%, supported by large-scale projects such as the automation of Asia's largest powdered milk plant in Gandhinagar. In Russia, Gierse noted, Siemens has doubled its market share and tripled sales within a five-year period. The company operates seven regional offices in Russia, plus various branch offices and repair and training centers.
Gierse stressed Siemens' consistent efforts to standardize its entire product portfolio on a global level and the company's ability to integrate the technology relevant to its markets into an overall architecture at conservative price points while simultaneously allowing customers to capitalize on existing infrastructure.
This article originally appeared in the March 2007 issue of Managing Automation.