Snapshot of 2020

The main challenge posed in the year 2020 was arguably the massive health crisis of unprecedented scales. While it disrupted industries, closed down businesses, and affected lives all over the world, we tapped into our resilience, and handled it #LikeABosch. The priority? Maintaining business continuity, job security, and stability for our partners and customers. So, what did we learn? And more importantly, what can we expect in 2021?

Adapting to drastic changes

Since the pandemic was quick to spread across geographical borders, Bosch knew that we had to prepare ourselves for the worst as a large multinational corporation with stakes worldwide. The need to adapt to the migration of remote work became apparent – to protect associates internally and to maintain customer relations while still ensuring reliable supply and production. Within a year, Bosch underwent a dramatic transformation – the rapid digitalization of our communication and business models, because as innovators, we were quick to devise solutions.

Resources for remote work

As movements within many countries were restricted, the work-from-home situation was set to be the new model of daily business operations cum 2021. Bosch’s extensive investments in resources and infrastructure over the years rendered ease of access when transitioning to working remotely. Some examples of this digitalization in the ASEAN region in 2020 were:

5,748 new Microsoft Teams users communicating online to conduct daily operations
89 live streams and webinars conducted online to communicate messages across the region
Several business units such as Bosch Rexroth, Building Technologies, and Mobility Solutions conducting trainings over online portals and webinars

Leveraging on the online tools already in place, we tried and tested several means of operating till adaptation hurdles were overcome. Timely decisions were rolled out to sustain the business with a new strategy, while associates’ health and safety remained our top priorities.

Safeguarding jobs and securing our company’s existence has been hard work, and will remain so. But there will be life and work after coronavirus. Our experience in this crisis of our “We are Bosch” spirit will help us pull through.
Dr. Volkmar Denner, Chairman of the board of management

Rapid innovation and self-reliance

Thankfully, our edge in over 130 years of experience allowed us to overcome challenges by keeping business operations running. Utilizing our strength in innovation, we responded with an armament of tactics to fight COVID-19:

Vivalytic, our universal platform for laboratory diagnostics, and Bosch’s fully automated rapid test for COVID-19 help diagnose patients faster and mitigate the spread within our community
Establishing our comprehensive hygiene measures such as in-house mask production and sanitizers for manufacturing workers
PeopleCount, our video analytics product to manage human traffic indoors
Human Skin Temperature Detection from Bosch Building Technologies
Nexeed Industrial Application System, a software to record, process and visualize data from logistics

At Bosch, we believe our products should always be useful and fascinating to our consumers, meet state-of-the-art quality standards, and be designed for the future. As we shape the future, we have one long-term goal in mind – sustainability.

Sustainability at the core

Going into 2021, what lies ahead is our vision of achieving sustainability by becoming carbon-free and switching to a hydrogen economy. Bosch is at 70% progress in carbon-neutrality worldwide because we are constantly investing in energy efficiency, renewable forms of energy and green power. One strong example in our mobility solutions for the future includes the production of mobile fuel-cell stacks for vehicular usage, set to debut its launch in 2022 and expected to reach a 20 billion Euro value in the market in 2030.

All this is happening while we look towards AI and IoT to benefit the world amidst the ongoing battle with COVID-19. Through innovation and research, we continue with our mission of delivering to our stakeholders despite the difficulties faced in 2020. We continuously adapt to change and with over 130 years of industry expertise, we emerge stronger when facing adversity. Our long history is a testament to inventing for life, and this motto remains our focus as we step into 2021.