Sustainability Report 2017

In Brazil, the mining industry is an important economic sector. However, safety in the extraction of minerals can still be improved. In 2017, the new Bosch Integrated Solutions Brazil subsidiary tackled this challenge and developed an IoT solution. Connected Mine connects objects, devices, services, and machines with an IP address. Moreover, the intelligent production network runs automatically, increases energy efficiency, and reduces both operating costs and emissions. With the new solution’s startstop feature alone, Bosch estimates that 44 metric tons of CO₂ can be saved per vehicle each year.

In 2007, Bosch was one of first companies to sign the Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charter). The German initiative aims to create a work environment at companies and institutions that is free of prejudice. Regardless of gender, nationality, or age, all associates should be treated with the same level of respect. In the past decade, diversity has become an integral part of everyday life at Bosch.

The Bosch location in Nashik, India, had a dam built within just twelve weeks to improve local agricultural conditions. The Lakshmanpada project was successfully completed at the end of May, ahead of the monsoon season. The dam can store around 400 million liters of water, and thus provide clean drinking water to some 200 households from five villages. In addition to this, more than half of local farmers can now plant a second cereal crop each year. And thanks to the rise in groundwater levels, eight drinking water wells and four hand pumps now have a stable water supply.

For the tenth year in a row, the Bosch Group in Austria has presented the “Invented for life” prize. In the fall of each year, students in their final year of study at the polytechnic are invited to submit their thesis projects in a range of categories. An expert jury of Bosch associates then evaluates the submissions. The winners selected are awarded a six-month internship at a Bosch location in Austria – the perfect start to their careers.

In cooperation with Robert Bosch GmbH, for the past ten years Robert Bosch Stiftung has been offering tenth-grade girls from the Stuttgart area an opportunity to discover the fascinating worlds of science and technology. With the Girls’ Campus, the girls attend weekend seminars that provide practical insights into the mobility of the future. The program also includes presentations, guided tours, and presentation training.

With the Southern Europe Training Initiative, Bosch began offering apprenticeships to young people from Italy, Portugal, and Spain in 2014. The aim is to contribute to fighting youth unemployment in these countries. Over the past four years, Bosch has created a total of 175 extra apprenticeships and spent 14 million euros on the program. In 2017, 72 young people started apprenticeships: 25 are now learning in their home countries, and the remaining 47 have come to Germany. Thanks to language lessons that last several months and continuous support at their locations, these young women and men are gradually integrating into their places of work and German society. Around 85 percent of the apprentices successfully complete the program.

Each year, innovative projects aimed at improving occupational safety and energy efficiency are initiated at Bosch locations around the world. To raise awareness about these new approaches across the company, in 2017 Bosch began honoring the best ideas with the Bosch EHS Award. The winners included projects from Brazil, China, and Germany. “Energy Management 4.0” makes energy consumption transparent. Among other things, the “Cold Degreasing” project has reduced energy consumption with a newly developed detergent that is effective at low temperatures. In turn, the “GoGreen” initiative takes a comprehensive approach to saving energy. The locations also demonstrated creativity with regard to safety: with the “Building a safe plant” project, executives and associates showed their commitment to occupational safety. With “System CIP for Safety”, they have improved workplace safety with a continuous improvement process. And with “Virtual Reality Safety Training @ CC”, associates receive training in a digital working world.