Agustín Escobar (Puertollano, 1975) has been in charge of Siemens Spain for a year and a half. With a long career within the German multinational, the president and CEO has the objective of continuing the success story of the Spanish subsidiary.
Currently, the industrial group has 7,000 employees between Spain and Portugal and the turnover for these markets was above 1,200 million in 2022, the last year with available accounts, although Escobar himself points out that the company achieved a record income on last year and that follows the same path in this year.
In this aspect, the company’s century-old factory in Cornellà plays a crucial role. The manufacturing site has become a benchmark for the mobility division, becoming its most important center in Southern Europe.
Where does the company have its focus?
Siemens is a technology company that has delved deeply into two aspects: digitalization and sustainability for industry, infrastructure and mobility. We talk about technology with purpose and our goal now is the green transition, in line with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda of the European Union.
What role do the Cornellà facilities play?
All businesses are represented in these facilities, but the most important thing is that we have a factory with more than 100 years of history to which we have applied all that technology to achieve maximum efficiency and sustainability.
Is it a competitive center for the group?
When I returned to Spain six years ago, there were 200 people at the plant and basically engines were produced and traction converters were assembled. Since then, the focus has been on creating value and we have proven that it is an ideal place for Siemens investments. Now 320 people work, production has been expanded and a frame assembly line has been incorporated. This center is the global benchmark in rolling stock, with 90% of production for export. In fact, we have just acquired a new production line, of reducers, which until now were only manufactured in Austria.
What makes it competitive? The salaries?
Salaries have a weight, but it is not essential either. In any case, the workforce in this factory is the same or more competitive than in Germany, but we also differentiate ourselves because we are more flexible. I also think there is a lot of commitment because there is a feeling of historical relevance. On the other hand, the level of productivity is also high in other facilities, such as the signaling center that we promote in Valencia.
There is a general problem in the industrial market due to lack of talent. Is it difficult to find profiles?
We have diversified in geographies to continue accessing more talent. That was the main reason for opening the technology center that I mentioned before in Valencia. However, I believe that our value proposition is very attractive and even when we hire here in Catalonia, we are still able to grow. There are areas where it can cost more, such as technology, but also in welding. In the last four years, we have hired around 1,200 people in Spain alone. I think that for talent, especially young talent, the proposal has to be a proposition of value and purpose.
What plans do you have for the future headquarters that you promote in Tres Cantos?
We have decided to build a new headquarters with the premise that it is a completely zero-emission building, where we also apply all our digitalization technology to the building field. Also because we are looking for a much more open building that facilitates interaction between people. So, it will be much more oriented towards this new way of working to generate value with interaction.
Will the new space allow for new hubs?
We have them independent of the headquarters. Spain has incorporated several global hubs. For example, we have the cybersecurity center in Madrid, we have a very important mobility center in Cornellà. In the coming weeks, we are going to open a new competence center for the development of AGV solutions, which are autonomous vehicles that work in factories doing the logistics part. Specifically, we created a digital experience center in the DFactory of the Free Zone to test these technologies.
Have they received European funds?
We are technological partners in practically all Perte. We are in the naval sector with Navantia and Pymar, we are in the aerospace sector, in the water sector, in the food and beverage sector, and, of course, we are in the connected electric vehicle sector. In the areas of public procurement, as in the case of Adif, we have worked directly.
In the electric vehicle, Spain is behind. Where is the problem?
Spain has a privileged position in the sector as the second European manufacturer. Taking into account that we are going to have this transition towards electric vehicles, it is key that we accelerate the transition both from the point of view of battery production and from the point of view of the transformation of the production process. So are we going at the right speed? We have to accelerate. If we look at the charging infrastructure, we are halfway through the implementation they are doing in Portugal, well below the European average.
How has artificial intelligence impacted your business?
It is a revolution that we have implemented both internally, to improve our processes, and externally, applying it to technology to accelerate our clients’ processes as much as possible. With artificial intelligence, no one is going to do the transformation alone. We are going to work more and more in ecosystems. We have begun to develop alliances with companies that allow us to combine forces and offer the best possible solution. So, for example, in that industrial field we have an agreement that we signed a few months ago with Microsoft for the development of the industrial copilot, which allows you to communicate with robots using natural language.
Do you have local alliances?
Yes. For example, we work with a local startup, whose services are offered on our Siemens Accelerator digital platform, which has developed an application aimed at citizen security. It is implemented in 17 cities in the metropolitan area and allows you to have an emergency system on your phone that connects with the police if necessary.
