German engineering conglomerate has set out in detail the structure of its new subsidiary, Siemens Dematic AG, born out of the acquisition of Mannesmann Atecs and the merger of Mannesmann Dematic with Siemens Production & Logistics Systems (PL).
And Siemens Dematic, with head offices in Nuremberg, has now officially opened for business.
The new company’s activities span logistics automation, mail sorting systems and equipment, automation technology for electronics manufacturing as well as the crane business. It has approximately 21,000 employees and sales of Euro 5bn.
Dr. Dietmar Straub, former chairman of the executive committee of Mannesmann Dematic, has been appointed chairman of the executive committee of Siemens Dematic.
The crane manufacturing operations are divided along familiar lines, with – as previously reported – the Wetter-based EOT and hoist business becoming Demag Cranes & Components GmbH, and the Zweibrücken-based mobile and crawler crane business becoming Demag Mobile Cranes GmbH. Each of these companies is kept as a separate legal entity from the other operations, but this is only because of a desire to use the Demag brand name for cranes, Siemens Dematic said. It did not mean that Siemens regarded them as non-core businesses.
The rest of Siemens Dematic is divided into three business units: • Material Handling Automation, based in the USA and Germany, brings together the general logistics automation solutions of Siemens PL and Mannesmann Dematic. Materials Handling Automation, with the former Rapistan Systems, is claimed to be the market leader in logistics automation in the USA. This business unit offers system solutions ranging from distribution centres to airport baggage handling systems.
• Postal Automation consists of the former Siemens ElectroCom companies in the USA and Germany. These two companies have been incorporated into Siemens Dematic as part of the reorganisation.
• Electronics Assembly Systems, based in Munich, Germany, supplies systems and automation solutions, particularly for electronics production.
Material Handling Automation is the largest division, although all business units contribute roughly the same percentage towards the total sales of the new company.
Siemens Dematic’s 21,000 employees have mounted 14,500 mail sorting systems, built half a million motors and gear units and installed 10,000 systems for assembling PCBs in the electronics industry, as well as applied for more than 5,000 patents. “Our knowledge is our biggest asset,” said Straub, “and we are doing our best to consistently increase this potential.”
