Siemens Energy Success Story

240+
NEW IDEAS VALIDATED

by engaging employees at every level

12
PATENTS FILED

following the completion of the innovation program

2.8 MILLION
IN FINANCIAL IMPACT

from implemented projects

About Siemens Energy

Siemens Energy was founded as a carve-out of the mother company in 2020. A step that paved the way for the establishment of what has since become a leading B2B energy technology company focused on providing energy systems that are more sustainable, reliable, and affordable than traditional solutions. Siemens Energy provides a wide range of products, solutions and services across the entire energy value chain, from power generation to energy storage. Today, the Siemens Energy team consists of more than 94000 employees across 90 different countries.

The Challenge

Finding an Open and Inclusive Innovation Process

Given the complex global structure of Siemens Energy, finding a suitable innovation program was a challenge. Michael Camison Pancorbo, Director at Siemens Energy noted that “People know what the word innovation means but they don’t have a methodology”. Recognizing this, the company‘s strategy department acknowledged the necessity of adjustments to provide a more organized approach to innovation, ensuring Siemens Energy could effectively keep up with the rapid pace of change.

Encouraging Company-Wide Innovation With Limited Resources

Given the size of the company and the numerous locations across the globe, implementing an innovation program that is scalable and produces results is a challenge – particularly when resources in the form of (wo-)manpower are limited. Committed to be a future-ready company, Siemens Energy’s strategy department, however, established the need for a more structured approach to innovation that would also be more accessible for all employees.

The overall needs included:

→ A framework to foster innovation and encourage streamlined, early-stage ideation for business growth.

→ An open and inclusive approach for all employees worldwide to foster an innovation culture and mindset

rready's AI-native suite of innovation solutions

Our solutions enable organizations to ignite and accelerate innovation—from the initial idea to impactful execution. Our modular, fully customizable solutions are designed to fit your unique needs.

Explore Demo

The Solution

A Structured Program to Foster Innovation and Encourage Early-Stage Ideation

Siemens Energy launched the in-house intrapreneurship program by rready to empower employees as innovators through a gamified, hands-on approach. Participants follow a step-by-step process across three stages to validate, explore, and implement their ideas.

The first stage, the idea validation phase, offers access to innovation experts and the KICKBOOK - a guide for idea validation. A pitch at the end of this phase determines advancement to the next phase where ideas are piloted. Successful pilot projects then receive funding and are moved to the implementation stage.

Using Digital Tools to Scale an Innovation Program With Limited Resources

Initially piloted in the US and Canada, the program was later expanded globally to over 50 locations via individual campaigns and regional launches. To scale effectively, the team mapped the journey early, identified requirements and bottlenecks, and created a reproducible strategy.

Although the core team that implemented the program was small, over 150 volunteers helped implement the program globally. This decentralized model gave regional teams ownership, supported by the core team. Additionally, the core team used digital tools to scale the program efficiently.

1. INNOVATION PLATFORM

The Innovation Platform is the central, customizable operating system of the innovation program at Siemens Energy, used by both Innovators and Program Leads. The innovators can submit and manage their ideas on the platform, as well as gain access to additional resources. The Program Leads gain visible insights into the program and a comprehensive overview of the progress made.

At Siemens Energy, the platform was introduced with a customized landing page, which was quickly scaled to include further information relating to the inhouse innovation program, and was made available on a global scale.

2. COLLABORATION

Releasing an innovation program on a global scale also required the core team at Siemens Energy to implement certain processes in terms of meetings and collaboration. Beyond this, it was also important to use various digital tools to ensure effective collaboration with people who were not part of the program, in the form of updates and announcements.

3. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

To guarantee the seamless operation of the innovation program, the core team had to introduce specific measures to ensure the effective and efficient management of the program.

The Results

Despite the program launch taking place primarily during the COVID pandemic, the team at Siemens Energy managed to yield impressive results. After only 1,5 years, 240 ideas were submitted, 67 of which moved into the pilot phase, and 27 ideas were implemented as part of the final phase of the program. A total of 12 patents were filed and several million in benefits were realized within this short time frame. The overall company ROI increased by more than 820% (based on the fees linked to rready services).

The initial goal when introducing the program, was not only to rally ideators within the company, but to also create a movement amongst employees that emphasized and propagated the right mindset and culture of innovation. The company achieved this by creating transparency of projects through the platform, removing organizational hurdles and de-risking investment decisions while delivering tangible results.

350+
PEOPLE UPSKILLED

in innovation skills and methods

1900+
COMMUNITY OF INNOVATORS

sharing their experience, knowledge and learnings

67
IDEAS FUNDED

for innovators to incubate their idea

24+
IDEAS IMPLEMENTED

following the successful completion of the innovation program

Download the Case Study

Want to turn innovation into real results?

Explore how rready Idea Management, KICKBOX Intrapreneurship or rready Innovation Management can be of value to your organization.

Let's chat