Working better together - a Midlands branch evening event with Siemens

Siemens welcomed 40 project management professionals from the East Midlands area to a recent APM evening event, at its new state-of-the-art office and workshop facility located at Teal Park, Lincoln.

The Siemens gas turbine business has a wealth of history in Lincoln and an excellent reputation built on extensive product experience specialising in turbines up to 15MW.

Siemens shared the story of the programme of work to consolidate its multi-site portfolio into a new single environment and provided an overview explaining the challenges faced when constructing the new site for the service business. The story covered employee and equipment relocations, management of stakeholders throughout the process and the development of new ways of working to drive a change in culture in the new environment.

The project began in 2010 and was split into two phases; one to relocate office employees and a second to relocate workshop employees and equipment. The building, named Feilden House was officially opened on Wednesday 10th April 2013. It was named after the late Robert Feilden who led the design of the first (Ruston) Gas Turbine in the 1940s after previously working with Frank Whittle.

The event was introduced by Eddie Brooks, Head of Supply Chain Management and members of the Project Steering Committee. The main presentation was delivered by Clive Cox, Programme Manager and Keiran Moses, Working Environment Project Manager.

One of the key messages delivered by the presentation was how Siemens re-location was used to help promote ongoing cultural change, as well as delivering a brand new modern working environment for employees. Ongoing culture development work was in fact one of the major achievements of the project. Signs of positive change can be seen on a daily basis. For example, the new canteen has provided an environment for employees to collaborate and share, which has helped new working relationships to form, all of which marks the start of a one-business focused working culture.

Throughout the project, employees were continually engaged via a network of Champions to ensure all business areas were in a ready to move state prior to the relocation. One of the workstreams leading this activity related to data management. Much like other large organisations Siemens is required to retain both hardcopy and electronic data for a specified timeframe, which resulted in the requirement for large amounts of storage space. As the storage capacity within the new Lean office environment would inevitably be reduced, there was a need to review all on-site storage of documentation. This resulted in the archiving of approximately 1.6 million sheets of paper prior to the site move and has allowed for the development of a streamlined data storage ethos.

The site itself consists of an 11 acre site with a 4,500 m2 office facility and an 8,000 m2 workshop facility. The site utilises new technologies including an energy management system, photovoltaic panels on the roof of the workshop to supplement energy needs and electric vehicles for site to site commuting. Siemens also obtained two separate Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) accreditations, for the office and workshop respectively. BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation. The workshop was awarded the highest accreditation status of Outstanding and Siemens is one of only a handful of operational workshops to achieve this accolade within the UK.

The event presentation was then followed by a site tour around both the office and workshop and concluded with a question and answer session with the presenters.

Siemens is extremely proud of its new site; it reflects the Siemens values and is a major achievement for a thriving and successful business. It also marks a new chapter for the ongoing development of a single world class culture which is already taking shape.