“Energy is our second highest store-level line item expense behind labor,” said Robin Moore, vice president for store development and construction at Michaels. According to Moore, results have been significant. “Through regular KPI reviews and process improvements provided by Siemens’ Client Services team, we have been able to sustain and increase our energy savings over time, and these new extensions will take those savings even further. We have been very pleased with both the advanced technology and the consultative approach provided by our longstanding partnership with Siemens.”

The company-wide expansion was preceded by a thorough system analysis after a 30-site pilot and subsequent 200-site expansion. A comprehensive measurement and verification study following these deployments validated the savings delivered.

The extensions are projected to provide Michaels a cash-on-cash payback of 20 months, and an ROI exceeding 90 percent. In addition, the investment will drive further reductions in Michaels’ carbon footprint, the environmental equivalent of 5,600 cars removed from the road each year.

“Considering the significant results Michaels experienced from the initial deployment, further gains might seem tough to realize,” said Siemens Retail & Commercial Systems (RCS) general manager Marcus Boerkei. “However, these results reflect the continuous improvement approach we take with all of our clients. Unlike the traditional EMS ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ mentality, our approach is to build a collaborative partnership with retailers. We meet regularly with our customers for KPI reviews to maintain our initial savings, while deploying new innovations over time to drive gains even further. Our rapid R&D cycle allows us to generate new enhancements in a matter of months versus years, and most of these new capabilities are delivered remotely via the web-based Site Controls Data Center.”

For more information, visit www.siemens.com/rcs.

Publication date: 6/18/2012