The Olympic Games are coming to Beijing and the eyes of the world are on China. But it’s not just the athletes notching up record achievements; the country itself is enjoying an unprecedented economic upturn. And Bosch is playing its part, with a team of over 20,000 associates from all divisions continuing to increase the Bosch presence in China. Here are five success stories worthy of a gold medal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weizhong Zhu is friendly and polite, but he shows no mercy when it comes to refrigerators. Approximately 200 appliances suffer at Zhu’s hands every year: first he heats them to 60°C and then he suddenly cools them to -20°C. He fills them to bursting point and exposes them to extremely high humidity, then he straps them to trolleys and sends them hurtling into walls. He also uses special machines to rattle their doors and open them 830 times an hour (20,000 times a day). This all takes place in the cooling unit test center at the Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH plant in Chuzhou, about an hour’s drive west of Nanjing.

BSH have been producing cooling units at this plant since 1996 and enjoy double-digit growth rates. Their cooling units are supplied almost exclusively to the Chinese market. Over 6,500 refrigerators are shipped out of the plant every day and production for 2008 is expected to total nearly 1.6 million, which equates to a market share of roughly 17 percent. As the head of China’s most advanced test center, Weizhong Zhu is responsible for ensuring that the buyers’ high expectations are fulfilled. “Quality is the key to our success,” says Michael Neumann, plant manager in Chuzhou. “Our tests allow us to optimize energy efficiency, durability and noise levels, all of which play a crucial role when deciding on a purchase.” So Zhu will continue simulating the cooling units’ life cycle under extreme conditions to ensure that the quality meets the customers’ expectations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to power tools, no one can put one over on him. Xianqing Chen, from Hefei, a city of more than a million, has been a professional trader in drills, saws, and accessories for more than 20 years. And yet he gladly came to Hangzhou for dealer training from Bosch Power Tools: “I’ve got good technical knowledge, but here I can also learn about the newest sales techniques,” he says.

Since the opening of the PT Training Center in March 2007, more than 1,500 specialist dealers have come to the Bosch location near Shanghai. “The Training Center has been well received, and it is also highly regarded by the local authorities as a training establishment,” says Vinzenz Haerle, PT General Manager in China.

In seminars running over several days, experienced trainers describe in detail all the functions of Bosch devices, showing them the location’s five production halls and honing the dealers’ sales skills. However, the flow of information is not limited to one direction: “We’re also happy to listen to what the dealers have to say, because their experience helps us with our quality monitoring and brainstorming,” says Hong Li, head of the establishment.

The participants are especially interested in Bosch’s corporate culture, according to Li, who also encourages the dealers to pass on the company’s history and values to their customers. Xianqing Chen finds that this goes down well: “When it comes to charisma and communication, no other brand can hold a candle to Bosch.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thinking in the long term may not be the norm in China but it’s the standard approach at Bosch, which I consider to be important.” Ming Han, 28, has spent three years working for the engine management specialist UAES, in which Bosch has a 50 percent stake. The engineer particularly admires “the systematic, focused way of driving forward technical developments.” Eric Wang of Bosch Rexroth has a similar view: “Decisions aren’t made hastily but are carefully considered,” says the 29-year-old sales manager from Shanghai. Personnel Manager Chris Chen, 26, particularly appreciates the value-oriented approach: “That includes the sense of trust that I feel exists between the supervisors and associates.”

Han, Chen and Wang made a conscious decision to work for Bosch, something that cannot be taken for granted in this booming country full of opportunities and with high associate turnover. The fact that Bosch has relatively low associate turnover underlines the extreme importance of a strong corporate culture: Bosch relies on qualified new recruits in China too and expects to have approximately 23,000 associates there by the end of 2008 – more than in any other country except Germany – with several thousand more joining over the next few years. Surely their experiences will be as positive as those of the three gifted young people featured here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are 50 million vehicles on China’s roads, with over 500,000 passenger cars more every month. And the number of Bosch Service branches is growing, too: “By year’s end, there will be more than 600 workshops in China,” says Dandan Luo, responsible for marketing Bosch Car Service (BCS) in China. More than 2,000 garages are planned for 2015. “The long Bosch tradition in China will help us here,” assures Luo.

Indeed, the first Bosch Service Station opened in Shanghai as early as 1926. Today, the city has 25 services. Jiong Zhao is the BCS head technician in the suburb of Huayu: “We have more than 25 cars in the workshop every day, and the number is rising steadily,” he says. These are often company cars, but the growing middle class is increasingly calling on BCS professionals to maintain or repair their cars, which are mostly three to four years old. “Customers are more interested in the inner workings of their cars than they used to be,” says Zhao, adding: “That also means that the level of awareness of Bosch products and technologies is increasing.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dozens of technicians are working in the control room of the Shanghai World Financial Center – nearly 500 meters under the roof, but still on the first floor. Before them are vast arrays of switches and buttons, with monitors and flashing lights – it could be a setting for the latest James Bond movie. However, it is practical, ultra-modern technology that ensures safety in the tallest building in the People’s Republic of China, such as the Praesideo digital PA and evacuation system from Bosch.

“We have supplied 26 call stations, over 200 amplifiers, and a total of 2,400 speakers,” says Steven Zhang, product manager at Bosch Security Systems in Shanghai: “The system is one of the world’s largest and most complex of its kind. ”Some 40 people spent 3 years integrating the system into the 492 meter high skyscraper. “We had to work carefully and methodically,” explains Shi Jian Dong from installation company Saga.

This is because, in an emergency, announcements need to be able to reach all 320 sound zones in the building in any combination, free from interference. “That’s why almost every speaker line is also under full supervision,” says Zhang. When this monolithic building, opens in the fall, it will not just offer space for conference rooms and offices within its 380,000 square meters. Between floors 79 and 93, the Park Hyatt Shanghai will be offering the world’s highest hotel rooms. Guests can savor a unique view of the city and sleep safe and sound, thanks in no small measure to sophisticated Bosch technology …