History Siemens

1 history

1.1 1847 1901
1.2 1901 1933
1.3 1933 1945
1.4 1945 2001
1.5 2001 2005
1.6 2005 , continuing: worldwide bribery scandal
1.7 2006 2011
1.8 2011 present

history
1847 1901

werner von siemens, co-founder of siemens & halske.

siemens & halske founded werner von siemens , johann georg halske on 12 october 1847. based on telegraph, invention used needle point sequence of letters, instead of using morse code. company, called telegraphen-bauanstalt von siemens & halske, opened first workshop on 12 october.

in 1848, company built first long-distance telegraph line in europe; 500 km berlin frankfurt main. in 1850, founder s younger brother, carl wilhelm siemens, later sir william siemens, started represent company in london. london agency became branch office in 1858. in 1850s, company involved in building long distance telegraph networks in russia. in 1855, company branch headed brother, carl heinrich von siemens, opened in st petersburg, russia. in 1867, siemens completed monumental indo-european (calcutta london) telegraph line.

first electric locomotive, built in 1879 company founder werner von siemens.

in 1867, werner von siemens described dynamo without permanent magnets. similar system independently invented charles wheatstone, siemens became first company build such devices. in 1881, siemens ac alternator driven watermill used power world s first electric street lighting in town of godalming, united kingdom. company continued grow , diversified electric trains , light bulbs. in 1890, founder retired , left running company brother carl , sons arnold , wilhelm. in 1887, opened first office in japan.

1901 1933

the company built airplanes during world war i, example siemens airplane in 1926.

siemens & halske (s & h) incorporated in 1897, , merged parts of activities schuckert & co., nuremberg in 1903 become siemens-schuckert. in 1907, siemens (siemens & halske , siemens-schuckert) had 34,324 employees , seventh-largest company in german empire number of employees. (see list of german companies employees in 1907)

in 1919, s & h , 2 other companies jointly formed osram lightbulb company.

british siemens advertisement 1920s era.

during 1920s , 1930s, s & h started manufacture radios, television sets, , electron microscopes.

in 1932, reiniger, gebbert & schall (erlangen), phönix ag (rudolstadt) , siemens-reiniger-veifa mbh (berlin) merged form siemens-reiniger-werke ag (srw), third of so-called parent companies merged in 1966 form present-day siemens ag.

in 1920s, siemens constructed ardnacrusha hydro power station on river shannon in irish free state, , world first design. company remembered desire raise wages of under-paid workers overruled cumann na ngaedheal government.

1933 1945

prisoners around 1944 working @ siemens factory in kz bobrek, subcamp of auschwitz concentration camp.



a siemens truck being used nazi public address vehicle in 1932

siemens (at time: siemens-schuckert) exploited forced labour of deported people in extermination camps. company owned plant in auschwitz concentration camp.

during final years of world war ii, numerous plants , factories in berlin , other major cities destroyed allied air raids. prevent further losses, manufacturing therefore moved alternative places , regions not affected air war. goal secure continued production of important war-related , everyday goods. according records, siemens operating 400 alternative or relocated manufacturing plants @ end of 1944 , in 1945.

in 1972, siemens sued german satirist f.c. delius satirical history of company, unsere siemenswelt, , determined of book contained false claims although trial publicized siemens history in nazi germany. company supplied electrical parts nazi concentration camps , death camps. factories had poor working conditions, malnutrition , death common. also, scholarship has shown camp factories created, run, , supplied ss, in conjunction company officials, high-level officials.

siemens businessman , nazi party member john rabe is, however, credited saving many chinese lives during infamous nanking massacre. later toured germany lecturing on atrocities committed japanese forces in nanking.

1945 2001

in 1950s, , new base in bavaria, s&h started manufacture computers, semiconductor devices, washing machines, , pacemakers. in 1966, siemens & halske (s&h, founded in 1847), siemens-schuckertwerke (ssw, founded in 1903) , siemens-reiniger-werke (srw, founded in 1932) merged form siemens ag. in 1969, siemens formed kraftwerk union aeg pooling nuclear power businesses.

a 1973 siemens electron microscope on display @ musée des arts et métiers in paris.

the company s first digital telephone exchange produced in 1980. in 1988, siemens , gec acquired uk defence , technology company plessey. plessey s holdings split, , siemens took on avionics, radar , traffic control businesses—as siemens plessey.

in 1985, siemens bought allis-chalmers interest in partnership company siemens-allis (formed 1978) supplied electrical control equipment. incorporated siemens energy , automation division.

in 1987, siemens reintegrated kraftwerk union, unit overseeing nuclear power business.

in 1991, siemens acquired nixdorf computer ag , renamed siemens nixdorf informationssysteme ag, in order produce personal computers.

in october 1991, siemens acquired industrial systems division of texas instruments, inc, based in johnson city, tennessee. division organized siemens industrial automation, inc., , later absorbed siemens energy , automation, inc.

in 1992, siemens bought out ibm s half of rolm (siemens had bought rolm 5 years earlier), creating siemensrolm communications; dropping rolm name later in 1990s.

in 1997, siemens agreed sell defence arm of siemens plessey british aerospace (bae) , german aerospace company, daimlerchrysler aerospace. bae , dasa acquired british , german divisions of operation respectively.

in october 1997, siemens financial services (sfs) founded act competence center financing issues , manager of financial risks within siemens.

in 1998, siemens acquired westinghouse power generation more $1.5 billion cbs corp , moving siemens third second world power generation market.

in 1999, siemens semiconductor operations spun off new company called infineon technologies. in same year, siemens nixdorf informationssysteme ag became part of fujitsu siemens computers ag, retail banking technology group becoming wincor nixdorf.

in 2000, shared medical systems corporation acquired siemens medical engineering group, becoming part of siemens medical solutions.

also in 2000, atecs-mannesman acquired siemens, sale finalised in april 2001 50% of shares acquired, acquisition, mannesmann vdo ag merged siemens automotive forming siemens vdo automotive ag, atecs mannesmann dematic systems merged siemens production , logistics forming siemens dematic ag, mannesmann demag delaval merged power generation division of siemens ag. other parts of company acquired robert bosch gmbh @ same time. also, moore products co. of spring house, pa usa acquired siemens energy & automation, inc.

2001 2005

a siemens velaro high speed train in service on köln–frankfurt high-speed rail line

in 2001, chemtech group of brazil incorporated siemens group; provides industrial process optimisation, consultancy , other engineering services.

also in 2001, siemens formed joint venture framatome areva sa of france merging of companies nuclear businesses.

in 2002, siemens sold of business activities kohlberg kravis roberts & co. l.p. (kkr), metering business included in sale package.

in 2003, siemens acquired flow division of danfoss , incorporated automation , drives division. in 2003 siemens acquired indx software (realtime data organisation , presentation). same year in unrelated development siemens reopened office in kabul. in 2003 agreed buy alstom industrial turbines; manufacturer of small, medium , industrial gas turbines €1.1 billion. on 11 february 2003, siemens planned shorten phones shelf life bringing out annual xelibri lines, new devices launched spring -summer , autumn-winter collections. on 6 march 2003, company opened office in san jose. on 7 march 2003, company announced planned gain 10 per cent of mainland china market handsets. on 18 march 2003, company unveiled latest in series of xelibri fashion phones.

in 2004, wind energy company bonus energy in brande, denmark acquired, forming siemens wind power division. in 2004 siemens invested in dasan networks (south korea, broadband network equipment) acquiring ~40% of shares, nokia siemens disinvested of shares in 2008. same year siemens acquired photo-scan (uk, cctv systems), filter corporation (water , waste water treatment technologies/ solutions, acquired veolia), hunstville electronics corporation (automobile electronics, acquired chrysler), , chantry networks (wlan equipment).

in 2005, siemens sold siemens mobile manufacturing business benq, forming benq-siemens division. in 2005 siemens acquired flender holding gmbh (bocholt, germany, gears/industrial drives), bewator ab (building security systems), wheelabrator air pollution control, inc. (industrial , power station dust control systems), windenergie gmbh. (wind energy), power technologies inc. (schenectady, usa, energy industry software , training), cti molecular imaging (positron emission tomography , molecular imaging systems), myrio (iptv systems), shaw power technologies international ltd (uk/usa, electrical engineering consulting, acquired shaw group), , transmitton (ashby de la zouch uk, rail , other industry control , asset management).

2005 , continuing: worldwide bribery scandal

in 2005 germany opened investigations siemens business practices worldwide, prompted requests prosecutors in italy, liechtenstein , switzerland; investigators joined in 2006 , investigators addressed violations since 2001, when siemens started selling shares in stock exchange. investigators found bribing officials win contracts standard operating procedure. on time period company paid around $1.3 billion in bribes in many countries , kept separate books hide them.

fines anticipated high $5 billion investigation unfolded. settlement negotiations took place through of 2008 , when announced in december far less, driven in part siemens cooperation, in part imminent change in administrations (the obama administration take on bush administration), , in part dependence of military on siemens contractor.

the company paid total of $1.6 billion, around $800 million in each of , germany. largest bribery fine in history, @ time. money paid germany included $270 million fine paid year before (related bribes in nigeria). payment included $450 million in fines , penalties , forfeiture of $350 million in profits. company obligated spend $1 billion on setting , funding new internal compliance regimens. siemens pleaded guilty violating accounting provisions of foreign corrupt practices act; parent company did plead guilty paying bribes (although bangladesh , venezuela subsidiaries did); such guilty plea have barred siemens contracting government. scandal had started breaking, siemens had fired chairman , ceo heinrich von pierer, , had hired first non-german ceo. peter löscher; had appointed lawyer, peter solmssen independent director board, in charge of compliance, , had accepted oversight of theo waigel, former german finance minister, compliance monitor . compliance overhaul entailed hiring around 500 full time compliance personnel worldwide. siemens enacted series of new anti-corruption compliance policies, including new anti-corruption handbook, web-based tools due diligence , compliance, confidential communications channel employees report irregular business practices, , corporate disciplinary committee impose appropriate disciplinary measures substantiated misconduct.

the culture of bribery old in siemens, , led 1914 scandal in japan on bribes paid both siemens , vickers japanese naval authorities win shipbuilding contracts.

the culture of bribery had further had grown inside siemens after world war ii siemens attempted rebuild business competing in developing world, bribery common. until 1999 in germany, bribes tax-deductible business expense, , there no penalties bribing foreign officials. in 1999 oecd anti-bribery convention came effect, germany party , siemens started use off-shore accounts , other means of hidings bribery.

as investigation opened midlevel executive in telecommunications unit, reinhard slekaczek, identified key player; had quit siemens in 2005 after company required him sign document saying had followed law , company policy, , turned state s evidence , led investigators documents had saved , other documents. had controlled annual global bribery budget of $40 $50 million. usual method of bribery pay local insider contractor in turn pass money government officials; part of settlement siemens disclosed had 2,700 such contractors worldwide. bribes around 5% of contract s value in corrupt countries high 40%. paid highest bribes in china, russia, argentina, israel , venezuela.

examples of bribery investigation found included:

$40 million in bribes in argentina win $1 billion contract make national identity cards.
$20 million in israel contract build power plants
$16 million in venezuela urban rail lines.
$14 million in china medical equipment
$12.7 million in payments in nigeria
$5 million in bangladesh mobile phones
$1.7 million in iraq saddam hussein , others.

the investigation led directly several prosecutions while unfolding, , led settlements other governments , prosecution of siemens employees , bribe recipients in various countries.

in may 2007 german court convicted 2 former executives of paying €6 million in bribes 1999 2002 siemens win natural gas turbine supply contracts enel, italian energy company. contracts valued @ €450 million. siemens fined €38 million.

in july 2009, siemens settled allegations of fraud russian affiliate in world bank-funded mass transit project in moscow agreeing not bid on world bank projects 2 years, not allowing russian affiliate world bank funded work 4 years, , setting $100 million fund @ world bank fund anti-corruption activities on 15 years, on world bank had veto , audit rights; fund became “siemens integrity initiative”. first payments made out of funds in 2010 in tranche of $40 million. second set of projects funded in 2014 totaling $30 million.

siemens paid n7 billion nigerian government in 2010.

in 2012, greek government settled greek bribery scandal 330 million euros. trial of persons accused of involvement in scandal began on 24 february 2017. total of 64 individuals accused, both greek , german nationals. central figure of scandal however, ex-siemens chief executive in greece michael christoforakos, against whom european arrest warrants pending absent, germany refuses extradition day. arrested in germany in 2009, accusations against him german courts have been dropped, , since lives free in country. greece has been demanding extradition since 2009, , considers him fugitive justice.

in 2014 former siemens executive andres truppel pleaded guilty funneling $100 million in bribes argentine government officials win id card project siemens.

in 2014 israeli prosecutors decreed siemens should pay us$42.7 million penalty , appoint external inspector supervise business in israel in exchange state prosecutors dropping charges of securities fraud. according indictment, siemens systematically paid bribes israel electric corporation executives utilize positions in order favor , advance interests of siemens .

2006 2011

in 2006, siemens announced purchase of bayer diagnostics, incorporated medical solutions diagnostics division on 1 january 2007, in 2006 siemens acquired controlotron (new york) (ultrasonic flow meters) in 2006 siemens acquired diagnostic products corp., kadon electro mechanical services ltd. (now turbocare canada ltd.), kühnle, kopp, & kausch ag, opto control, , vistascape security systems

in january 2007, siemens fined €396 million european commission price fixing in eu electricity markets through cartel involving 11 companies, including abb, alstom, fuji electric, hitachi japan, ae power systems, mitsubishi electric corp, schneider, areva, toshiba , va tech. according commission, between 1988 , 2004, companies rigged bids procurement contracts, fixed prices, allocated projects each other, shared markets , exchanged commercially important , confidential information. siemens given highest fine of €396 million, more half of total, alleged leadership role in activity.

siemens power generating wind turbine towers

in march 2007, siemens board member temporarily arrested , accused of illegally financing business-friendly labour association competes against union ig metall. has been released on bail. offices of labour union , of siemens have been searched. siemens denies wrongdoing. in april fixed networks, mobile networks , carrier services divisions of siemens merged nokia s network business group in 50/50 joint venture, creating fixed , mobile network company called nokia siemens networks. nokia delayed merger due bribery investigations against siemens. in october 2007, court in munich found company had bribed public officials in libya, russia, , nigeria in return awarding of contracts; 4 former nigerian ministers of communications among named recipients of payments. company admitted having paid bribes , agreed pay fine of 201 million euros. in december 2007, nigerian government cancelled contract siemens due bribery findings.

also in 2007, siemens acquired vai ingdesi automation (argentina, industrial automation), ugs corp., dade behring, sidelco (quebec, canada), s/d engineers inc., , gesellschaft für systemforschung und dienstleistungen im gesundheitswesen mbh (gsd) (germany).

in july 2008, siemens ag announced joint venture of enterprise communications business gores group, renamed unify in 2013. gores group holding majority interest of 51% stake, siemens ag holding minority interest of 49%.

in august 2008, siemens project ventures invested $15 million in arava power company. in press release published month, peter löscher, president , ceo of siemens ag said: “this investment consequential step in further strengthening our green , sustainable technologies”. siemens holds 40% stake in company.

in january 2009, siemens announced sell 34% stake in framatome, complaining limited managerial influence. in march, announced form alliance rosatom of russia engage in nuclear-power activities.

in april 2009, fujitsu siemens computers became fujitsu technology solutions result of fujitsu buying out siemens share of company.

in june 2009 news broke nokia siemens had supplied telecommunications equipment iranian telecom company included ability intercept , monitor telecommunications, facility known lawful intercept . equipment believed have been used in suppression of 2009 iranian election protests, leading criticism of company, including european parliament. nokia-siemens later divested call monitoring business, , reduced activities in iran.

in october 2009, siemens signed $418 million contract buy solel solar systems israeli company in solar thermal power business.

in december 2010, siemens agreed sell solutions , services subsidiary €850 million atos. part of deal, siemens agreed take 15% stake in enlarged atos, held minimum of 5 years. in addition, siemens concluded seven-year outsourcing contract worth around €5.5 billion, under atos provide managed services , systems integration siemens.

2011 present

in march 2011, decided list osram on stock market in autumn, ceo peter löscher said siemens intended retain long-term interest in company, independent technological , managerial viewpoints.

in september 2011, siemens, had been responsible constructing 17 of germany s existing nuclear power plants, announced exit nuclear sector following fukushima disaster , subsequent changes german energy policy. chief executive peter löscher has supported german government s planned energiewende, transition renewable energy technologies, calling project of century , saying berlin s target of reaching 35% renewable energy sources 2020 feasible.

in november 2012, siemens acquired rail division of invensys £1.7 billion. in same month, siemens made announcement of acquiring privately held company, lms international nv.

in august 2013, nokia acquired 100% of company nokia siemens networks, buy-out of siemens ag, ending siemens role in telecommunication.

in august 2013, siemens won $966.8 million order power plant components oil firm saudi aramco, largest bid has ever received saudi company.

in 2014, siemens plans build $264 million facility making offshore wind turbines in paull, england, britain’s wind power rapidly expands. siemens chose hull area on east coast of england because close other large offshore projects planned in coming years. new plant expected begin producing turbine rotor blades in 2016. plant , associated service center, in green port hull nearby, employ 1,000 workers. facilities serve uk market, electricity major power producers generate wind grew 38 percent in 2013, representing 6 percent of total electricity, according government figures. there plans increase britain’s wind-generating capacity @ least threefold 2020, 14 gigawatts.

in may 2014, rolls-royce agreed sell gas turbine , compressor energy business siemens £1 billion.

in june 2014, siemens , mitsubishi heavy industries announced formation of joint ventures bid alstom s troubled energy , transportation businesses (in locomotives, steam turbines, , aircraft engines). rival bid general electric (ge) has been criticized french government sources, consider alstom s operations vital national interest @ moment when french unemployment level stands above 10% , voters turning towards far-right.

in september 2014, siemens said buy u.s. oilfield equipment maker dresser-rand group inc $7.6 billion.

in november 2016, siemens announced acquisition of eda company mentor graphics $4.5 billion.