After mechanization, electrification and more recently automation, industry today is experiencing its fourth great revolution with the rising of the connected factory.
Called “Industry 4.0” by Germans, it embodies a new generation of smart factories, in which people, machines and products interact. Driven by the collection of data, communication between machines, augmented reality and artificial intelligence, the industry of the future is a real response to the production’s relocation and the challenges of tomorrow.
True to its motto “technologies for life”, the Bosch group strategy is to be both user and supplier of solutions for Industry 4.0. To achieve this goal, we divided our digital transformation into three stages: by adopting a bottom up approach, hundreds of use cases were first developed in all sectors of the plant in order to respond to local issues. This enabled us to cross-use the best pilot projects across the entire value chain, to finally standardize the most efficient 4.0 tools and deploy them through our international production network.
Since 2013, we have developed more than 3,000 i4.0 projects around severals themes such as production management, predictive maintenance or even inventory management. Bosch is therefore positioned as a leader in the industry of the future with more than a billion generated in sales and more than 270 production plants deploying its solutions.
The rise of the industry of the future has allowed Bosch Mondeville to reinvent itself. Early on, we saw the growth opportunity presented by the Internet of Things. Historically specialized in the production of large series (over 500,000 units on an annual average), we had to adapt our production tools to penetrate this new market. In 2012, an industrial think tank involving our 500 employees was set up to build a 4.0 roadmap and build a new vision for the plant.
Two strategic axes then emerged : rethinking our business model and designing Manufacturing as a Service and reboosting the Made In France industry by focusing on high added value activities. To achieve this, Bosch Mondeville has made an investment of more than 10 million euros in its digital transformation, turning our plant into a genuine I4.0 showcase.
Thanks to the investments made, we are now able to offer our customers a tailor-made production to meet the requirements and the evolution of their markets. The introduction of new digital tools gives us great flexibility and allows us to manufacture both small series and large volumes with highly customized designs for niche markets. We provide our customers with a complete solution and give them the opportunity to focus solely on their core business through a single subcontractor for all of their product references, regardless of volume differences.
If we have convinced many customers to relocate their production in France, it is simply because it is no longer necessary to produce very large volumes to achieve profitability. Industry 4.0 improves productivity and also helps with lower costs by allowing operators to focus exclusively on value-added tasks. This way, we have improved the competitiveness of our customers by approximately 30% by offering them full traceability, quality close to 0 ppm and securing their production.
By 2025, all Bosch electronic products will be equipped with artificial intelligence or will be produced and developed using artificial intelligence. We see in it an enormous potential for innovation in all of our activities, whether it is in development, production or logistics. We are continuing to develop the Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, which is our own competence center for AI research. As a company that provides innovative technologies, we intend to occupy a leading position around these methods.
As shown with the award “Factory of the Year 2017” or the “Showcase of Industry of the Future” label, Bosch Mondeville is now considered one of the most connected factories in France. In order to share our know-how, we are opening our doors to French manufacturers wishing to achieve a digital transformation while following the best practices of the sector.
It is also an opportunity for professionals looking for an EMS partner to discover our production tool and our processes, in order to obtain a clear vision of what we are able to offer. During these I4.0 tours, many use cases are introduced, with a focus on benefits regarding quality, costs and deadlines.
