Bosch Continues to Expand its Digital Supply Chains

On its path to becoming a leading provider of IoT and mobility solutions, Bosch is further expanding its digital supply chains. By 2021, the company wants to use cloud and platform solutions to handle more than 85 percent of its global purchasing volume.

“In a connected world, digitalized supply chains are crucial if we are to meet the personalized, highly specific requirements of our customers more quickly. Those who fail to digitalize will lose out,“ said Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, deputy chairman of the board of management of Bosch and a CFO. “Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular still have a lot of potential to generate further growth and improve their competitive positions.“

As Asenkerschbaumer explained, Bosch is planning, for example, to fully digitalize the receipt of incoming goods together with its suppliers. Another goal is to enable the company’s suppliers around the world to view Bosch’s manufacturing needs in real time, thereby optimizing transportation networks and lowering CO2 emissions. Across the globe, around 37,000 Bosch associates work in purchasing and logistics; they keep around 280 manufacturing plants supplied with more than 300 million parts every day.

“Despite a sluggish economy, we expect our purchasing volume in 2019 to reach more than 40 billion euros,“ Asenkerschbaumer said. Over the last ten years, the company’s total purchasing volume for raw materials, services, and capital goods exceeded 340 billion euros. This makes Bosch an important customer for its suppliers. To secure mutual success, the Bosch CFO believes it is necessary to deploy innovative purchasing and logistics strategies to achieve cost advantages at an early stage, and to fully digitalize the company’s supply networks.

Bosch only recently announced its plan to make its manufacturing and administrative operations climate neutral at all locations worldwide by 2020. As the first global industrial enterprise to do so, the company wants to set an example here and motivate its suppliers to achieve carbon neutrality as well.