Siemens USA Website - Just Venting

[dpc]

I didn't think it was possible, but the Siemens website (US Version) has become even more unusable. An never ending series of pop-up pages with marketing fluff leading to more useless pages.

I was trying to find a manual or brochure for an older voltage regulator control, but it doesn't appear that they have any data on discontinued products. Or at least I got tired of poking at non-functional links and endless series of pop-ups.

I have no idea what they are thinking or why they thing this is a good way for a website to work. I wish ABB would just buy them out and put me out of my misery.
Aaargh!!

There - I feel better now.

 

[Skogsgurra]

ABB was a fine company before P.B. And is now recovering at a healthy pace.

Agree. Ludvika is a fine division. Pioneered HVDC (Ygne, Gotland in the fifties). Still delivering around 50 % of all HVDC installed.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[jraef]

But did Asea really buy BBC, or did they merge? There is a difference. At the time it happened, I was an agent for Asea AC drives and BBC (Rondo) DC drives, so I watched the whole thing unfold (confident that I would remain a rep for the new company). It appeared to me to be a true merger; in fact it seemed as though most of the top dogs in the new org. were BBC people, at least at first.

 

[Skogsgurra]

We need more research, Jeff!

The way it was described in business papers made me think it was a buy. The headlines went like "David eats Goliath" and so on.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[tommy75]

Jeff,

I'm picking up exactly what your putting down!! I've followed the whole BBC-ABB-ALSTOM-SIEMENS/ALSTOM-???
for quite some time and all I know is I have an ABB oh wait... an Alstom oh wait... a Siemens VAX HP, a Flender-Graffenstaden gearbox, an ABB oh wait... an Alstom Generator and an ABB oh wait... an Alstom oh wait... a Siemens LP. Wait, who am I supposed to call for the generator again? Anyways thats kinda what I got when looking for a quote on the M.V. Drive but I think it comes down to the people actually taking your info. I called our local office, then the other local office, then I was transferred to the other local office, then to an Ohio office and so on all the while everyone wanted to know exactly what I was looking because " Please, before I come unglued, just get me to the M.V. drive guru." would not suffice. Wierd... What the heck is PC load letter??

 

[slavag]

Gunnar.
"ABB was a fine company before P.B."
What do you mean P.B., sorry for misunderstanding.
Regards.
Slava

 

[Skogsgurra]

P.B. That's the initials of the name of a guy that thought that technical operations was best run by bean counters. Killed parts of ABB.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[slavag]

Thanks Gunnar.
As, I understand , a new one ( don't remember initials) change this situation.

 

[sslobodan]

My sister works in Siemens in sales and even she has the problem handling the informations she needs. She works in Europe and that should say about the organization of company. Siemens is Huge, a giant and I doubt that ABB can buy it, it can only merge. In principle when I look for specific data I search Merlin Gern (Schneider) Database and they have a lot of data about other company products such as Siemens and ABB or even Molner so you can make equivalence in products. Considering I work in my projects with all names above and many more I must notice that ABB Europe is not much better than Siemens. I still wait for reply on some mails for over a 2 weeks and its still not a new year crisis
here are few useful links I usually use in my searches:

http://ecatalog.squared.com/

http://www.ab.com/products.html

http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/livelink.exe?func=cslib.csinfo&lang=en&siteid=WW

https://www.energy-portal.siemens.c...try=ZZ%26cmid=1&guest_user=anonymous-ptdhq-en

OF course I don't have links for US users because I don't work on that market but you can find product information for Euro market and than be redirected to US appropriate site when you launch query abut some product class. They are same in basis just they change standard voltage and Protection standards.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Oh, boy. I thought the engine industry was a mess...

By which I mean, I'm trying to quote ABB marine generators, and their website appears to be all fluff, and ...
... hold that thought.

A guy from ABB just called in, said he met me at the workboat show, and promised to have someone from their marine division call me real soon.

Not as handy as having a fact- stuffed website, but any port in a storm.







Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA