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Bosch scores big in Japan with clever technology

Strong business performance boosted by innovative solutions for mobility and smart farming

  • Sales see double-digit increase to 2.3 billion euros in 2017
  • Worldwide sales to Japanese automakers rise some 11 percent
  • Bosch is strengthening activities for smart agriculture in Japan
Irina Ananyeva

Irina Ananyeva >

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Tokyo – The Bosch Group is scoring big in Japan thanks to its innovative and intelligent solutions for the local market as well as for the global Japanese automotive industry. “Bosch has made impressive progress in Japan. We are working with Japanese automakers to drive forward the automation, electrification, and connectivity of mobility. In addition, we are increasingly focusing on IoT solutions, such as smart agriculture,” says Klaus Meder, the president of Bosch Japan. Last year, the leading supplier of technology and services recorded sales of 2.3 billion euros in Japan, an increase of roughly 10 percent over the previous year. Bosch Japan also made a good start to 2018, mainly due to strong growth for the Mobility Solutions business sector, which generates a significant share of the company’s sales in Japan. In 2017, the company grew twice as fast in this area as the local market. The Industrial Technology business sector also performed well. Bosch has been operating in Japan since 1911 and currently employs some 6,600 people in the country.

Business with Japanese automakers sees double-digit growth

In 2017, Bosch’s global sales to Japanese automakers rose year-on-year by around 11 percent, which makes it the sixth year in a row these have posted double-digit growth. Looking ahead, Bosch expects this trend to continue over the medium term. Bosch not only supplies Japanese automakers locally, but also works closely with them around the globe. In the ASEAN region, for example, Japanese automakers enjoy a market share of around 90 percent. Accordingly, the region is a focus of investment for the Bosch Group. For instance, at the end of 2017, the company opened its second plant for mobility solutions in Thailand, representing a total investment of 80 million euros. The new smart factory in Hemaraj manufactures components including injection valves, interconnect technology, and knock sensors. The site also houses a research and development center at which around 60 associates work on the further refinement of gasoline injection systems. Bosch is also expanding its manufacturing operations in Vietnam. Since 2008, the company has been producing push belts for continuously variable automatic transmissions in Dong Nai, which is located about 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City. Bosch is currently investing around 60 million euros to convert this plant into a smart factory and increase its production capacity. By the end of 2018, total investment in the site will have exceed 320 million euros since 2011.

Expanding IoT business: smart farming solutions

In addition to its mobility solutions business, Bosch is also focusing on developing connected solutions in Japan, for which it is drawing on the country's high degree of innovative strength. Last year, for example, saw the launch of Plantec, a smart system for optimizing tomato cultivation in Japanese greenhouses. The solution is tailored to the local market, as greenhouse cultivation is particularly widespread in the country. Plantec uses sensors to measure humidity, temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and sunlight. These environmental parameters are crucial for plant growth and data on them is collected and sent via a gateway to a cloud server. There, a system analyzes the data and takes into account additional important agricultural parameters as well as the weather forecast. The results of the analysis are displayed in an app. The system can analyze the risk of infection and use artificial intelligence to plan the use of pesticides in advance. It can thus help farmers minimize crop loss. Work on this project is being carried out in conjunction with the Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence (BCAI). At the end of 2018, the company plans to expand this service to strawberry and cucumber cultivation. Bosch's goal is to supply around 10 percent of Japan's greenhouses by 2020.

Bosch Thermotechnology is a leading European manufacturer of sustainable and energy-efficient heating, cooling and hot water solutions. In fiscal 2021, the company generated sales of about 4 billion euros (64 percent outside Germany) and employed approx. 14,200 people. Bosch Thermotechnology has strong international and regional brands and manufactures a diversified product range in Europe, America and Asia.

Further information is available online at www.bosch-thermotechnology.com.

Mobility is the largest Bosch Group business sector. It generated sales of 52.6 billion euros in 2022, and thus contributed almost 60 percent of total sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading automotive suppliers. The Mobility business sector pursues a vision of mobility that is safe, sustainable, and exciting. For its customers, the outcome is integrated mobility solutions. The business sector’s main areas of activity are injection technology and powertrain peripherals for internal-combustion engines, diverse solutions for powertrain electrification, vehicle safety systems, driver-assistance and automated functions, technology for user-friendly infotainment as well as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, repair-shop concepts, and technology and services for the automotive aftermarket. Bosch is synonymous with important automotive innovations, such as electronic engine management, the ESP anti-skid system, and common-rail diesel technology.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 421,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company generated sales of 88.2 billion euros in 2022. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. With its more than 400 locations worldwide, the Bosch Group has been carbon neutral since the first quarter of 2020. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 85,500 associates in research and development, of which nearly 44,000 are software engineers.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPress.

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