Bosch (company)
Robert Bosch GmbH is a German company which was started in 1886 by Robert Bosch.
Bosch businesses include:
- Parts and systems supplier for the automotive industry
- Manufacture of consumer goods (power tools, home appliances)
- Industry and building services engineering
- Packaging technology
- Safety engineering
Bosch is a leading global supplier of automotive and industrial technology and of consumer goods and building technology. The Bosch Group comprises some 280 subsidiary companies. The objectives of the Bosch Group's activity are sustained profitable growth and the safeguarding of its independence which allows it to pursue long-term strategies. In 2005, worldwide sales of the Bosch Group came to 41.5 billion euros. The number of employees around the globe in the three business sectors Automotive Technology, Industrial Technology, and Consumer Goods and Building Technology in 2005 came to approximately 251,000.
The headquarters of Bosch is in Stuttgart. Franz Fehrenbach became chairman on July 1, 2003.
In 2004, Robert Bosch GmbH was 17th on the list of "Top 20 Patent Winners" in the United States, with 907 new patents. This was an improvement from 20th (758 patents) in 2003, and 23rd (683 patents) in 2002. [1] Total worldwide sales were around $50 billion in 2005, with about $8 billion in US sales. Bosch has a reputation for building products that are top quality, priced a little higher than their competitors, but built to last a lifetime.
Ownership
Robert Bosch GmbH, including its wholly owned subsidiaries such as Robert Bosch Corp. in North America, is unusual in that it is an extremely large, privately owned corporation that is almost entirely owned by a charitable foundation. Thus most of the profits are devoted to humanitarian causes.
The Robert Bosch Stiftung ("Robert Bosch Foundation") holds 92% of the shares of "Robert Bosch GmbH", but no voting rights. The Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG ("Robert Bosch Industrial Trust KG") (old members of the company management, agents of the Bosch family and other eminent people from the industry such as Jürgen Hambrecht (CEO of BASF) have 93% of the voting rights, but no shares. The remaining shares and voting-rights are held by the descendants of the company founder Robert Bosch.
Arrangement of the company
Industrial Technology
Bosch's subsidiary Bosch Rexroth is a supplier of industrial technology. Through this division, Bosch supplies technologies for driving, controlling, and moving machines. These technologies serve Bosch's two core markets – factory automation and mobile hydraulics. Bosch's packaging technology division plans, designs, manufactures and installs packaging lines for manufacturers of confectionery, food, and similar products. Bosch is the largest supplier of packaging technology.
Consumer goods and power tools
Bosch caters to the areas of consumer goods and building technology with its power tool, thermotechnology, and security systems, as well as with its household appliances business within the BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH joint venture.
With its brands Bosch, Skil, Dremel, and RotoZip Bosch manufactures power tools for the building trade, industry, and do-it-yourselfers. The product range also includes accessories such as drill bits and saw blades, as well as gardening appliances under its Gilmour brand.
In thermotechnology, Bosch has meanwhile begun manufacturing heating units and hot water appliances.
BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, in which Bosch and Siemens each hold a 50% share, is one of the world's top three companies in the household appliances industry. In Germany and western Europe, BSH is the market leader. Its portfolio includes the principal brand names Bosch and Siemens, the Gaggenau, Neff, Thermador, Constructa, and ufesa brands, and a further six regional brands. Bosch household appliances for the North American market are mainly manufactured at its factory near New Bern, NC. Its competitors include Viking Range, Sub-Zero Refrigerator, Wolf Appliance (a division of Sub-Zero Refrigerator), Dacor, and Miele.
Bosch also supplies electronic security systems.
History
| 1886 | Opening of Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering in Stuttgart on 15 November |
| 1887 | First low voltage-magneto from Bosch for Gasoline Engines |
| 1897 | First low-voltage magneto ignition for motor vehicle engines |
| 1901 | First plant in Stuttgart |
| 1906 | Production of 100.000. magneto ignition |
| 1906 | Introduction of 8-hours working day |
| 1910 | Opening of plant in Stuttgart-Feuerbach |
| 1913 | Start of production of headlights |
| 1926 | Start of production of Windshield wipers. |
| 1927 | First diesel fuel injection pump |
| 1932 | Birth of the Junkers & Co. |
| 1932 | First drill from Bosch |
| 1932 | First Blaupunkt car audio |
| 1936 | First diesel fuel injection pump for passenger cars like Mercedes-Benz 260D |
| 1942 | Death of the company founder Robert Bosch on 12 March |
| 1964 | Robert Bosch Foundation |
| 1965 | Worcester Bosch Group opens in England |
| 1970 | Company headquarter moves to Gerlingen |
| 1976 | First Oxygen Sensors |
| 1978 | Worldwide first anti-lock braking system (ABS) |
| 1979 | First electronic engine management system (Motronic) |
| 1986 | Traction control system (TCS) on the market |
| 1995 | First Electronic Stability Program (ESP) |
| 1997 | Common rail diesel fuel injection |
| 2000 | DI-Motronic gasoline direct injection system |
| 2003 | Acquisition of Buderus AG |
| 2003 | Digital car radio with MP3 drive and digital recorder (Blaupunkt) |
| 2004 | Third-generation common-rail diesel injection for cars, with piezo injectors |
| 2004 | Bosch opens new Technology Center in Abstatt |
| 2006 | Bosch acquires Telex Communications a maker of hearing aids and audio equipment. |
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