2023-05-13 06:30:13
Define Schneider Electric as a global company. How is your activity defined?
25% of sales occur in Europe; another 25%, in the US; a further 25%, in China, and the remaining 25% is distributed throughout the rest of the world. From a product point of view, it mainly targets three markets: industries, buildings and infrastructure. Here we have medium voltage product, low voltage product, industrial products and then the data centers. We invoice close to 30,000 million with 160,000 people in the workforce. We do not offer figures segregated by area.
Organizing these magnitudes must not be easy at all…
The group is organized in a matrix. It’s not like in SMEs, where you have a CEO with five functional areas working with five directors; here you have businesses, countries, functions… All intertwined. Culture makes everything fit. In the end, if you are not hierarchical, you have much more collaboration. In my case, for example, I have a European manager, but I also have business managers from each unit, who also set goals for me. It takes a lot of collaboration. It is teamwork brought to the maximum expression.
A lot of collaboration, but in the end, someone makes the decisions.
I come from a very international company, Mondragón, which had its decision center in the Basque Country. This, on the other hand, is a completely global company, the decision centers are also distributed, even the executive committee. Right now we have four hubs: Hong Kong, India, Paris and Boston. The executive committee is spread across these four hubs and decision-making is shared. It works.
And how do you land in different countries with so much globalization?
We are the most local of global companies, which means we have a lot of freedom in the country we operate in, and that’s great because the markets are completely different. And geopolitics will further separate them. For example, everything that refers to digital issues, cyber security, etc., has different legislation. Cybersecurity in Europe applies different rules than China and the US. And the same thing happens with sustainability, although it seems that there are slightly more global agreements on this issue. Being so local allows us to adapt to different realities. Schneider has 17 zones and I manage one, Spain and Portugal. They give us the power to decide in each country. There are companies that are organized by business globally, not by geography, and in these cases they do need the legislation to be the same throughout the world; we don’t
What else should be monitored?
Knowledge of technologies. It is not knowing how to program or make algorithms. It is knowing what a smart connected device is, what IoT does, what about platforms and what artificial intelligence is to design value propositions. To this is added, as a fourth element, being an activist in sustainability. We have been at Schneider for more than 10 years and our variable remuneration depends on the sustainability index. Finally, the fifth element is a new approach to the customer.
In this context of polycrisis, what growth prospects does Schneider Electric have?
The new energy landscape has a direct impact on us as an opportunity for growth. For example, one of the big melons will be the renovation of houses for their energy efficiency; this includes the development of photovoltaic panels in residential buildings. Added to this is what we call microgrids, which is a technological deployment that manages the renewable resources that you install in a building, in an industry or in a certain infrastructure. It is directly related to the flexibility of demand.
Demand flexibility?
Until now the entire energy chain was generation that went to end users. Now, with the introduction of renewables, this generation cannot be planned in the same way because, for example, if there is no sun, no energy can be produced, since, at the moment, storage is not developed enough. With renewables, the supply will not be so secure. We must be flexible in demand, that is, in houses, industries, buildings, etc., and be able to adapt so that when there is no supply we can continue. Batteries do not yet allow for large storage. It is very difficult to see now what will happen, but it does seem clear that industries and infrastructure will need to be flexible and be prepared for times when you may not have power.
How are you preparing for no energy?
This is where we talk about microgrids: having different renewable assets in your industry or in a certain infrastructure, so that when one is missing you can have another. Normally, this happens by having photovoltaics, having something with batteries, having the electric vehicle incorporated…. We are also convinced that hydrogen will have a great development, that Spain will be one of the most important countries in this field and that electro-intensive industries, as well as truck transport, airplanes, etc., can be powered by hydrogen. The time will depend on the money invested in it, but in three to five years we will be able to see hydrogen at least in the big companies. In the end, since you have to be sustainable, by the nose you have to electrify.
Right now, is the energy transition going at a good pace?
Here the Administration should support more. It already does, but we are moving very slowly. We are not aware of the urgency of what is happening. European funds should reach the market faster. Our feeling is that it is not going at the right speed. And there are like two large areas: on the one hand, the large Perte that the central government handles directly, and on the other, the rest of the proposed actions that go through the autonomous communities. Each community manages it in its own way. It is a shame that it is not quiet as it should be. Investment must be made, especially in technology, to respond to new challenges. It’s about having assets that are digitized, that is: machines, products, installations, etc., digitized with software so that they can be used when needed. The flexibility of industries and infrastructures today is well below what it should be. And, as we continue at the speed at which we are going with renewables and with the replacement of gas, we may find ourselves without power at some point.
Mandarin?
Very soon. This winter has been good but we may see blackouts next year or the year after. When we have a blackout, we will put the batteries in and in four or five years it will be regulated.
What investments are planned in the Peninsula?
Some investment in some factory. Specifically in Valencia to make new product lines. And then in people, in talent. In Barcelona we are one of the Schneider Digital hubs. The digital part is the one that is growing the most in the whole group. At the digital hub, we have a workforce of 400 people, from more than 30 nationalities, and we will continue to grow, especially with young people and women.
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