Post by Jörg Kortmann

Back to the roots: Supply Chain Management A year ago, I joined #Siemens as Head of SCM at the Medium Voltage Factory in Berlin-Siemensstadt. Our production plant manufactures key components for switching in medium-voltage networks, such as vacuum circuit breakers and vacuum interrupters – products that reliably perform their job invisibly “in the background” for decades. My professional change after 18 years of self-employment was certainly significant, yet it also felt a bit like homecoming. As a consultant, I spent about 8 of my 20 years working with various Siemens business units – including three years with a project base in the magnificent historic headquarters on the same campus as our production site. I’ve known the company culture for a long time, and I can honestly say: Siemens has always treated me well. After trying to change the world (semi-successfully) with my own startup during the seven years before this new chapter, I look with a great humility at the achievements of our founder, Werner von Siemens. 178 years after its foundation, the company is still constantly transforming itself – just like a (very big!) startup. Today, Siemens is “changing its fabric”: it has a fast-growing digital business with an unmatched portfolio of industrial software and digital services. At the same time, it has a strong portfolio in hardware – connected hardware that will increasingly be software-defined and enhanced with Artificial Intelligence. In my own words, I like to describe it as “Apple for industry”: hardware and software designed to work seamlessly together, but with a focus on industrial markets. What I particularly appreciate about Siemens is that a “growth mindset” lies at the heart of its people development strategy. But growth also applies to Siemens as a whole: fiscal year 2025 just ended with a record net income of €10.4 billion – and our Berlin factory contributed its share with its own record revenue and record growth rate. Fun fact: our founder is the only entrepreneur who can claim that an ISO unit – the “siemens”, for electrical conductance, is named after him. It might sound a bit nerdy, but I’d say it’s pretty cool in our industry. Much less common than a Nobel Prize! I’m looking forward to another exciting year – with great growth plans and a very promising long-term outlook!