To start the 2023 fiscal year, we welcomed our new Process Optimization and Digitalization (POD) leader, Liz Capell, to the Siemens GBS North America family. Now that she’s settled in, we decided to get a behind-the-scenes look into what POD really is and her POD vision for the future.

All About POD

First things first- we had to ask the question that everyone is already asking.

What is POD?

“POD stands for Process Optimization and Digitalization. POD is the U.S. “brand” of Delivery Optimization which is a global organization. “My responsibilities include growing the footprint of POD and scaling up its impact on customers and business lines, elevating the POD approach and ways of working with other GBS organizations,” states Capell.

What are the POD team responsibilities?

“We have POD teams supporting different business functions within GBS, and they focus on making the processes more efficient. With process optimization, we use digitalization to automate things within the business offerings. We also help our customers identify their pain points and offer a variety of solutions for their consideration. Once they determine the right solution for their business we build, and develop it for them,” Capell continues.

What value does POD bring to customers?

“Last year, through the automation solutions that we sold to our customers, they processed 6.3 million transactions. What’s so impressive about this Is, when considering all of those transactions that would have been done by someone manually, the robotic solutions increased efficiency and reduced substantial manual hours,” she continues.

One of the automation tools used to help customers was through the collaborative efforts of the POD team and R2R with the creation of Tax-Sights™. Tax-Sights is a platform ecosystem designed to proactively alert businesses of potential overpayments and improve knowledge sharing throughout the end-to-end Use and Sales tax process to help reduce overpayments and costs through clear data sets.

Where do you see POD headed to in the future?

“I can see POD really taking GBS into the future with our innovative approach and relationship with customers. And since the POD teams span across our different business lines, I envision our ability to do more cross functional projects and products,” states Capell.

When asked about how the POD team’s transformative creative solutions and innovative designs enhance our customer’s businesses, Christof Fahr, Center Head North America states “Our approach to Process Optimization and Digitalization, which we branded POD, has revolutionized how we solve our customers’ process challenges.”

Get to Know Liz

Liz brings a diverse set of experiences to GBS. She has spent the majority of her career in consulting and project-based work. She has led several teams, responsible for driving process improvement using lean management and Six Sigma methodologies for companies in various industries. Most recently, she established and led Sysco’s Intelligent Automation Center of Excellence, in addition to leading Service Management and Capabilities for Sysco’s GBS.

To get to know Capell more, we asked her about her background and what she looks forward to about working with Siemens GBS.

How did your journey start in process optimization/improvement?

“I was first introduced to Lean Six Sigma at a large international logistics company that I worked for over 15 years ago. After being selected and going through the Black Belt certification process, I was able to apply my new skills to the U.S. Shared Finance Center. I was very eager to learn the methodology because it provided structure for the way my brain naturally works.”

How have you evolved as a professional over your career?

“My evolution has been driven by two things: 1) learning more about myself and my strengths- and leaning into them and looking for opportunities to use them and 2) learning more about my weaknesses and how they impact my work and others around me. I strive to continuously learn and grow through my experiences and the people I work with.”

What are you most looking forward to on this journey at Siemens GBS NA?

“Being a part of the Siemens family and making great things happen for our customers- together as a team! I have already enjoyed getting to know many of the people in the first months and am glad that I joined the team.”