Impressively, AREVA T&D has 68 industrial sites, a presence in more than 100 countries, employs 75,000 people worldwide and caters for some 30,000 customers in 160 countries around the world. Employing 1,000 people, its Regensburg facility is Areva T&D's third largest and its largest medium voltage facility. Mr. Thierry Tricot provides some interesting history: “The first factory was established in Dresden in Germany, 1903. In 1931, this company, whose name at that time was Sachsenwerk, was taken over by the AEG group. Then in 1948, just after the Second World War, because the factory was the wrong side of the East-West German border, it was transferred and rebuilt in Regensburg, Bavaria. In 1991, it was completely rebuilt with new facilities that included AEG's global Medium Voltage Centre. In 1996 the majority shareholding was acquired by Alstom T&D, and in 2004 Alstom T&D joined the AREVA group, to form AREVA T&D.”

The Internal Fit

AREVA has four main divisions and the Regensburg facility is part of the transmission and distribution (T & D) division as Mr. Tricot explains: “Three divisions relate to the nuclear activities of AREVA and we are in the T & D division which designs, manufactures, sells and maintains equipment, consisting mainly of electrical switchgear and switchboards for utilities and industrial companies that require a high current or electricity consumption for their processes. 

“One third of AREVA's employees work in our T&D division and 1,000 of those are at Regensburg. Within the T & D division there are four business units and one of them is the so-called Product Business Unit. The purpose of this business unit, of which we are part, is to design and manufacture products for our utilities and industrial customers. In terms of employees and turnover, the Product Business Unit represents 60 percent of the T & D division's activities. In the unit the last level of organisation is the product line. We have nine product lines and we are part of the Primary Distribution Product Line (PDS – Primary Distribution Switchgear). PDS has about 30 manufacturing facilities worldwide, which are close to our customers. Most of them are smaller units since the biggest units and by far the biggest unit is our competence centre in Regensburg. The PDS product line employs about 4,000 people worldwide and one quarter of these are in Regensburg. They report to our product line as we do and obtain some of their products directly from our factory and customise these products for their local customers. 

"The design and manufacture of the core of the product is carried out here in Germany and, thanks to the local units, we are close enough to our customers to understand their needs and meet such needs through customisation. In this way we enjoy the benefits of strong hi-tech competency in Germany, combined with our customisation units that have a very good understanding of local approaches to maintenance, operations and specific requirements.”

The External Fit

In addition to the cooperation of its internal divisions and business units, this global company also cooperates with parties external to itself, as Mr. Tricot explains: “We have two external forms of cooperation. One form is the joint venture and we have a number worldwide. In areas where we do not have our own industrial facilities, in order to be close to customers, we tend to enter into joint ventures with other companies. In China, for instance, we have several. The other type of collaboration is based on licensing agreements with independent partners in various areas whom we allow to manufacture products according to our design.”

The Regensburg range

The Primary Distribution Product Line is tasked with supplying medium voltage switchgear, mostly fitted with circuit breakers, worldwide. “Medium voltage in our vocabulary means from one kilowatt and 1,000 volts up to 52 kilowatts with rated currents of up to 5,000 amps and short-circuit currents of up to 63 kilo amps. It is this product line that is located in Regensburg and supplies medium voltage switchboards either in gas insulated technology (GIS – gas insulated switchboards) or in air insulated technology (AIS). Additionally, we supply single or loose components to be fitted by other companies in their own insulated switchboards.

“We also have the main R & D centre for the product line here, where we employ around 100 people in R & D. Additionally, we have a service activity in Regensburg aimed at serving mostly the German – speaking countries. For the products that we deliver to other parts of the world, we have local service units in order to both be close to the customer and to be able to react promptly. It is our people here in Regensburg who train our service people worldwide in order to ensure that all work to the same high standards. 

“The main focus of our operations here in Regensburg is on medium voltage GIS technology, for which we are responsible for covering the whole world for Areva T&D, with regard to the design and industrialisation of products, with the exception of China. Part of our activity takes place in our home market in Germany and more than 50 percent relates to export. Because of this we employ between 12 and 15 nationalities, as this helps us understand the world market and the needs of our worldwide customers. Here we take on all stages of a new product, beginning with the design, through the marketing of it, the acquisition of orders – including sales and tendering activity – through manufacturing to supplying our customer and, in the case of German-speaking countries, including servicing. We have the expertise for all this and employ a number of highly qualified people, including PhDs and engineers. This year we are adding a training institute to our facility here, so as to be able to train our central European customers in Areva T & D's entire portfolio of products.”

The AREVA Way

AREVA T&D is committed to contributing to sustainable development in all areas of its business by means of the ‘AREVA Way,’ which is a continuous improvement process structured around 10 sustainable development commitments that are integral to its general management system. In this regard it has five key goals: design products so as to optimise their environmental efficiency throughout their life cycle, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, widely implement environmental management and occupational safety systems, support plant reorganisation by participating in local economic redevelopment and develop a purchasing policy that is both viable and responsible. Mr. Tricot sheds more light on this: “We have a very strong focus on three areas. First of all, we think in a sustainable way and do not just act and plan on a short-term basis. We look at events and trends and our approach and our investment plans in people, buildings, assembly line machinery and so on are based on the long-term view to ensure we supply our customers in a sustainable way with expertise, services and products. This is critical to our customers, because our products remain in use for 30 to 50 years. This means we must bear in mind how our business will develop over the next 5 to 20 years.

“Our second strong focus is on providing the technology and expertise to ensure higher safety, reliability and capacity of power grids for our customers. We do this by focusing on the design of our products, the quality management system we put in place and our competency.

“For this reason innovation is very important to our company and we employ about 100 people in R & D. Our aim is to design and manufacture a product which will, year after year, have a lower impact on the environment and also ensure the safety and reliability of power grids for our customers. I am proud to say that, within Areva T & D and this facility in Regensburg, we invest more every year in innovation and this helps differentiate us from the competition. In order to understand and meet customer needs, we engage not only our sales force, but also people in our R & D team who are from various markets around the world, and we integrate their experiences.

“Last, but not least, is our focus on our relationship with our customer with the aim of improving the way we do things. We constantly train our sales force to improve feedback from customers, not only regarding their needs in terms of products, but also in terms of processes, our way of approaching them, the way we execute the contracts and their level of satisfaction.”

Major successes

The company has had some major successes recently that derive directly from its approach: “One success that I am very proud of is our employee safety record,” affirms Mr. Tricot. “We are very strongly committed to ensuring safety at work and last year we received an award from Areva T & D and the Bavarian authorities because our 1,000 employees were totally accident-free over a period of 20 months. We have very high standards and constantly work to minimise risk in order to maintain our record of zero accidents and zero environmental damage. Strongly committed as we are to the empowerment of all our managers, professionals and other staff, we all work together very actively to achieve excellence in quality, health and safety. 

“On the matter of major projects, some of our successes include a very large undertaking at Berlin's airport and the supply of medium voltage insulated switch gear for the Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV - high speed railway) from Madrid to Valencia in Spain. Another is the supply of medium voltage switchboards and GIS equipment for the Greater Gabbard, one of the world's biggest wind farms off the U.K. in the North Sea. We also see the potential for the further development of power transmission and distribution in Africa, particularly North Africa. 

Adapting to change

Based on the last five years and the expected trends over the next five years, it would seem that AREVA T&D is in a growing market, since globally more and more people are being connected to power grids which are being extended or reinforced. Mr. Tricot, though, qualifies this assessment:

“There are some signs that globally the market will not grow this year, as the financing of projects is more difficult now. Our company is, though, not greatly affected by this at present, as in some areas and some sectors certain customers and potential customers are currently investing less, but others are investing as usual. At the same time we are taking on some projects that have been pushed through by the economic stimulus packages of some countries.

“We have, in any case, responded to the downturn by ensuring we keep in frequent contact with our customers in order to better understand their project and its financing. We pay attention to their short-term and medium-term project forecasts so that we are better able to meet their needs in the best possible way. We also tend to take a longer-term view such that, although a customer may be putting a project on hold for now, we aim to be in a position to deliver the equipment to him as soon as the project comes back on stream.

“In the short term it is business as usual and we will continue to work to targets ensuring we satisfy our customers and employees. Long-term we aim to increase our market share and strengthen our market position, especially in GIS, through new product innovation, investing in our people, recruiting highly qualified people and in advancing and training our staff.

A future supported by two pillars

The company's high levels of expertise and its ability to adapt to changing market conditions are seen as the main strengths that will take it successfully forward, as Mr. Tricot explains: “Our thinking and our approach to business and to our market are definitively determined by the AREVA Value Charter and the AREVA Way. Our strong commitment to the AREVA Value Charter ensures our fairness in our dealings with our customers and our employees, that we are responsible and transparent in our communication with them, that we are open towards local stakeholders such as local authorities and we maintain a sustainable approach. Our Regensburg facility benefits greatly from the highly qualified, motivated and committed staff who have joined us from the top schools in Germany. In fact, high competency levels is our main strength and our second strength is our individuals and teams who recognise that it is best to remain at the cutting-edge and increase market share by constantly adapting the organisation and our skills and processes to market conditions that are always changing.” 

These two main pillars will clearly help power the company through uncertain times and well into the future.