Bosch Group Research Articles

Smart PSS modelling language for value offer prototyping: A design case study in the field of heating appliance offers

The recent convergence between two industrial transitions towards digitalization on the one side and servitization on the other side led to the new business strategies of digital servitization and smart PSS delivery. While inheriting from the previous scientific literature on PSS, because of the multiple impacts of digitalization in the overall system, the processes of ensuring the design and engineering of smart PSS solutions poses new challenges. This research addresses the specific needs to develop conceptual prototypes of smart PSS value offers, at early stages of the design process. The paper presents the development and experimentation of a modelling language and its associated modelling toolkit (sPS²Modeller). The application case study addresses the design of a smart PSS in the field of heating appliances, developed in collaboration with the company elm.leblanc, Bosch Group – France.

DESIGN OF MASTER DATA ARCHITECTURE

Master data management (MDM) is a concept that is gaining traction in both the scientific and practitioner communities of information systems. MDM is a set of operations that must be completed to achieve business needs, for example, regulatory compliance, business unification, and inclusive customer management. The design and maintenance of the master data is a very critical task. Surprisingly, the scientific community has been almost deafeningly mute on how enterprises approach master data architecture design. This article discusses the report of a research study conducted at Bosch Group to shed light on this under-researched area. The report demonstrates that master data architecture design is a multifaceted effort that necessitates harmonizing the objectives of several stakeholders, handling various technical options, and satisfying the requirements of multiple master data classes.

Employee’s perception of corporate social responsibility – Evidence from the Czech Republic

The importance of social responsibility has an everymore prominent position. This is since the world is increasingly interconnected and globalization is constantly moving forward. The aim of the paper is to analyse the activities of social responsibility of a selected company: Bosch, and then propose specific recommendations for further development of the company. It is based on analysis of company reports, interviews with managers and a questionnaire survey. The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. We focused on the plant in Jihlava, in the Czech Republic. The findings show that most employees know the concept of CSR and perceive it as a positive matter and want their employer to behave according to this concept. According to them, the greatest attention should be paid to the social pillar. The survey shows that the employees know the values of the company in which they work. In terms of communication with employees with regards to the activities of CSR, it is at a high level. Finally, recommendations are proposed, including ones concerning problems with transport, eco-labels, communication and employee support.

Using a Multi - function Pressure Valve in Volumetric Hydraulics Drives

The paper deals with using hydraulic equipment for pressure and flow control in volumetric hydraulic drives to control a throttle movement speed of the output link of an executive hydraulic motor. Depending on the type of problem to be solved, hydraulic equipment is divided into the pressure and flow control, and the shutoff and regulating elements used in equipment are divided into those of valve and spool type. The main paper objective is to analyse designs and feasibilities for using a multi-functional pressure valve to solve real-life problems of control in a volumetric hydraulic drive. The paper presents a multi-function indirect pressure valve design of DZ standard size (Rezroth Bosch Group) and its detailed principle of operation. In the multifunctional pressure valve design there are threaded plugs, the combination of which allows us to control the pilot valve, using the pressure in the hydraulic system (internal control) or the pilot valve control from an external pressure source. Pilot drainage to the valve outlet port (internal drainage) or drainage directly to the tank is possible. It is shown that the term “Load Sensing System” that is used in Western equipment to mean “control based on load magnitude” can be correctly used to describe designs for using a multifunctional valve.Issues on setting up internal functional communications of the valve to select feed modes of a pilot valve and its drainage have been fully considered. By examples of using a multifunctional pressure valve, the valve operation capabilities are shown, namely as an overflow valve, a sequence one, its operation in the balancing scheme of the gravity load and as part of a hydraulic drive with alternating load. The use of multi-function pressure valve in presses allows us to increase the pressing force through using the weight of the punch. The article belongs to the category of systems engineering, and the represented options of the using valve can be applied when designing the volumetric hydraulic drives with throttle control of the movement speed of the output link in hydraulic drives.

Industrial IoT Data Scheduling Based on Hierarchical Fog Computing: A Key for Enabling Smart Factory

Industry 4.0 or industrial Internet of things (IIoT) has become one of the most talked-about industrial business concepts in recent years. Thus, to efficiently integrate Internet of things technology into industry, the collected and sensed data from IIoT need to be scheduled in real-time constraints, especially for big factories. To this end, we propose in this paper a hierarchical fog servers’ deployment at the network service layer across different tiers. Using probabilistic analysis models, we prove the efficiency of the proposed hierarchical fog computing compared with the flat architecture. In this paper, IIoT data and requests are divided into both high priority and low priority requests; the high priority requests are urgent/emergency demands that need to be scheduled rapidly. Therefore, we use two-priority queuing model in order to schedule and analyze IIoT data. Finally, we further introduce a workload assignment algorithm to offload peak loads over higher tiers of the fog hierarchy. Using realistic industrial data from Bosch group, the benefits of the proposed architecture compared to the conventional flat design are proved using various performance metrics and through extensive simulations.

Simulation model generation for warehouse management: case study to test different storage strategies

A simulation model generator was developed to help a company of the Bosch Group to reduce costs in time and space with its warehouse. The simulation models are automatically created in Simio and can simulate pickers riding milk runs to collect containers from the warehouse, to satisfy the needs of production lines, assisting warehouse management by testing different storage strategies. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present the developed generator and to use it in a case study, to test different storage policies for the company. The generator was validated, as was the simulation model automatically created. With this tool, some suggestions could be made to the company in question. Namely, it was shown that it would not be possible to maintain the FIFO rule and, at the same time, eliminate the upper floor of all racks for ergonomic reasons. To allow this, the rate of replacing containers should be synchronised with the needs of production lines. Alternatively, it was also shown that the performance of the warehouse would improve by dividing it into zones allocated to each milk run.

Simulation model generation for warehouse management: case study to test different storage strategies

A simulation model generator was developed to help a company of the Bosch Group to reduce costs in time and space with its warehouse. The simulation models are automatically created in Simio and can simulate pickers riding milk runs to collect containers from the warehouse, to satisfy the needs of production lines, assisting warehouse management by testing different storage strategies. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present the developed generator and to use it in a case study, to test different storage policies for the company. The generator was validated, as was the simulation model automatically created. With this tool, some suggestions could be made to the company in question. Namely, it was shown that it would not be possible to maintain the FIFO rule and, at the same time, eliminate the upper floor of all racks for ergonomic reasons. To allow this, the rate of replacing containers should be synchronised with the needs of production lines. Alternatively, it was also shown that the performance of the warehouse would improve by dividing it into zones allocated to each milk run.

IMPROVEMENT OF OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS OF BARREL PRE-HONING MACHINE LINE

Bosch Group is one of the leading global supplier of technology and services. The company was established in Stuttgart in the year 1886 by Robert Bosch a leading industrialist (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” Bosch Limited located at Adugodi, Bangalore manufactures one of the components of the diesel engine called an Element. It is made up of the assembly of two parts called the Barrel and the Plunger. When the plunger is inserted into the barrel, it creates a pressure drop in the pump which is used to inject the fuel into the engine. This paper reports the current Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and its improvement in the Barrel Pre-honing Machine Line, which is a process involved in the manufacture of a barrel. Improvement of the OEE is beneficial to improve the productivity. The scope of the project was to collect data to calculate the current OEE and create improvements. The project undertaken involved identifying the bottleneck area and eliminating the bottleneck. To do this, the Takt time chart of the various processes involved in the manufacture of the barrel was analyzed. The bottleneck was identified to be the Pre-Honing line which consisted of 12 machines. Preliminary analysis was carried out on the Pre-Honing line of barrels to obtain the current state data for the month of January and February. Graphical analysis of the collected data showed that two machines in particular had relatively lower OEE of the 12 machines. Any improvement on these two machines would lead to increased production, eliminating the bottleneck. Hence these two machines in particular were chosen as the subject of study. Thus the project aims at reducing Availability, Performance and Quality losses of the machines using SFMC (Shop Floor Management Cycle). Shop floor management cycle is a procedural system developed by Bosch to improve the Overall Equipment Efficiency in the troublesome process and hence the production and productivity. The identification of the bottleneck is done through Takt chart and then hourly monitoring is used to identify the losses. Further this data is analyzed to obtain the root causes of the problem. These causes are subjected to critical analysis, validated and appropriate actions are taken to reduce or eliminate them. The SFMC concepts include tracking all the activities that take place in the machine line. This includes creating a Takt time chart, maintaining hourly monitoring sheet, OEE tracking, creating a Pareto chart of the losses, problem solving (Ishikawa Diagram, 5-why) and PDCA sheet. The Hone Holder Tracking Sheet was designed and implemented to reduce the availability losses due to non-availability of hone holder sets. On implementation, the OEE of the line was improved from 70 to 84%.

How External Factors Influence Business Model Innovation: A Study of the Bosch Group and the Chinese Automotive Aftermarket

Adapting existing business models for use in developing economies poses particular challenges for established firms. Yet, few studies have separated stable internal factors from the novel external factors that drive change in the existing business model. The Bosch Group's investment in the Chinese automobile aftermarket highlights the impact of four principal external factors—industry, technology, institutions, and market—on business model innovation. A proposed framework comprising these factors offers managers who are charged with expanding into a developing economy guidance in modifying an existing business model to suit local conditions. By so doing, they will be better equipped to ensure the attainment of organizational objectives in their new setting. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Definition of a collaborative working model to the logistics area using design for Six Sigma

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create an online enterprise community for all logistics employees of Bosch Car Multimedia division in the Bosch Group, for an internal collaboration of the entire Bosch Group based on an IBM Connections platform: Bosch Connect. An additional concern, collected throughout the project, was to bring employees to join the platform, making it a tool of your daily work. The final objective is to implement and promote a tool to foster internal and external integration of the Bosch logistics community. Design/methodology/approach – A case study is presented to illustrate the use of a Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology to support all the process creation of a collaborative community. There are several variants of the methodology DFSS. For the context of this project, will be used the define, measure, analyze, design and verify (DMADV) methodology, that is appropriated to design services processes and it addresses specifically to the remodeling processes. Findings – The use of DMADV methodology allows establish, systematically, a model which was in accordance with the target population needs. Research limitations/implications – Since this is a case study, it is not possible to generalize the results. Furthermore, this project was developed in a limit time (about four months). Thus, was not possible to obtain a large community. Practical implications – The case study brings some evidence of how a systematic approach to the design of a online enterprise community can support designers to meet user’s needs. Social implications – A new approach is proposed to meet an online enterprise community user’s needs. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no evidence the use of this methodology to support a construction of an online enterprise community.

Influence of Gaseous Hydrogen on Fatigue Behavior of Ferritic Stainless Steel – A Fatigue-life Estimation

The Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services develops reliable and efficient fuel cell components for future mobility solutions. This work studies the fatigue behavior of ferritic stainless steel 1.4005IA optimized for electromagnetic properties under varying environmental conditions. Fatigue-life of air-tested specimens are compared to specimens which are electrochemically hydrogen precharged and loaded in a pressurized gaseous hydrogen atmosphere. The fracture surfaces of broken specimens are investigated using optical microscope and SEM in order to analyze the failure mechanisms. Furthermore, the hydrogen contents of specimens before and after static and cyclic testing in gaseous hydrogen are measured. Based on strain controlled fatigue tests using unnotched specimens, the influence of hydrogen on cyclic material parameters is determined. Using these parameters, a fatigue-life estimation for notched specimens based on the local strain approach is carried out. Different estimation approaches are evaluated, by comparing experimental data and predicted fatigue-lifes. A modified material model, based on the four-parameter equation according to Manson, Coffin and Morrow is proposed to prescribe the influence of hydrogen on cyclic behavior of ferritic stainless steel in low gas pressure applications (up to 1MPa). The proposed approach including the modified material model is in a good agreement to the experimental data. This opens a pathway for a reliable component design process for industrial applications.

A Robert Bosch csoport miskolci letelepedése és beágyazódásának folyamata

A tanulmány egy multinacionális nagyvállalat (a Bosch) letelepedését és a helyi gazdaságba, társadalomba történő beágyazódási folyamatát mutatja be egy keletközép- európai közepes méretű városban, Miskolcon, 2001-től napjainkig. A szerző az endogén növekedési elméletet igazolja primer kutatás során feltárt tényanyaggal, majd ez alapján levont következtetésekkel. Az elsődleges cél annak bemutatása, hogy a hosszú távú versenyképesség feltételeinek megteremtésével a fenntartható gazdasági fejlődés és a magasabb helyi hozzáadott érték megteremtése hogyan válik lehetségessé. Ennek érdekében a tanulmány azonosítja a helyi beágyazódás mérföldköveit, „kötelező” és „szabadon választott” tevékenységeken keresztül a nemzetközi nagyvállalat szerepét és lehetőségeit a település fejlődési útjának meghatározásában és a helyi gazdaságfejlesztés sikerességében. Mindez hozzájárul a multinacionális nagyvállalatok letelepedésének, beágyazódásának, működési mechanizmusainak megértéséhez, amely hazánk duális gazdaságszerkezetének oldása, valamint a kis- és közepes méretű vállalkozások fejlesztése szempontjából alapvető fontosságú. A tanulmányban bemutatott, a helyi szereplők részvételével, együttműködésével megvalósított tevékenységek jelentős mértékben hozzájárultak ahhoz, hogy Miskolc a szerkezeti válságból kiemelkedve hazánk egyik vonzó befektetési célpontjává, vállalkozásorientált fejlesztési gyakorlatot megvalósító városává váljon.

How to design the master data architecture: Findings from a case study at Bosch

Master data management (MDM) is a topic of increasing prominence both in the scientific and in the practitioners’ information systems (IS) community. As a prerequisite for meeting strategic business requirements, such as compliance with regulations, business integration, or integrated customer management, MDM comprises numerous activities. One of the central activities is designing and maintaining the master data architecture. Interestingly, though, the scientific community has remained almost silent with regard to the question as to how companies should proceed when designing the master data architecture. In order to shed light on this unexplored topic, the paper at hand presents the findings of a case study at Bosch Group. The case study shows that designing the master data architecture is a multidimensional task which requires balancing the interests of various organizational stakeholders, managing an array of technical opportunities, and meeting requirements of numerous master data classes. Also, the case study suggests that taking advantage of architectural design patterns may be an appropriate way to adequately address the complexity of the task.

Verification of a Timed Multitask System With Uppaal

System and program verification has been a large area of research since the introduction of computers in industrial systems. It is an especially important issue for critical systems, where errors can cause human and financial damages. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are now widely used in many industrial systems and verification of the corresponding programs has already been studied in various contexts for a few years, for the benefit of users and system designers. First restricted to an untimed setting, verification was recently extended to systems where quantitative constraints are needed, possibly related to time elapsing. For instance, timed features like TON (Timers ON delay), used in PLC programs, were modeled with timed automata, thus increasing the size of the verification problems addressed. In this framework, we propose the modeling and verification of a particular timed multitask PLC program, which is part of the so-called MSS (Mecatronic Standard System) platform from Bosch Group. In this case study, time aspects are combined with multitask programming, which raises questions related to the reaction time between the detection of a signal and the resulting event. Our model for station 2 of the MSS platform is a network of timed automata, including automata for the operative part and for the control program, which is first described in SFC then translated in Ladder Diagram. This model is constrained with atomicity hypotheses concerning program execution, and model checking of a reaction time property is performed with the tool UPPAAL.

Bosch builds a talent bank of ex‐employees

PurposeThis paper aims to describe how Bosch Management Support helps the Bosch Group to reclaim the knowledge and experience of its former employees, by enabling them to come back to work for the company on short‐term assignments.Design/methodology/approachDetails the origins and workings of the scheme, and the successes it has achieved.FindingsDemonstrates how the scheme provides access to flexible support that can be mobilized at short notice. This skilled workforce does not require familiarization or coaching, which is a major advantage over employing consultants from outside the company.Practical implicationsReveals that the scheme enables Bosch divisions and business units to manage workloads more smoothly, avoiding bottlenecks when too much work has built up.Originality/valueHighlights an innovative way of meeting skill shortages and the challenges of an ageing population.

Fresh grounds for improvement [total productive maintenance in Bosch's Changsha plant

Bosch Group, the global supplier of automotive, building and industrial technology as well as consumer goods, opened its plant in Changsha, southeastern China, in 2006. Bosch managers at the new Chinese automotive technology plant found that keeping the machines running smoothly was proving to be problematic, until they discovered the benefits of total productive maintenance.

Enterprise application integration systems and architecture – the case of the Robert Bosch Group

Today, most organisations are using packaged software for their key business processes. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, customer relationship management and electronic commerce systems enable organisations to improve their focus of using information systems to support their operational and financial goals. This article argues that the need to integrate these packaged software applications with each other as well as with existing or legacy business applications drives the need for a standardised integration architecture to more flexibly implement new business processes across different organisations and applications. To illustrate the components of such an architecture, a case study undertaken at the Robert Bosch Group provided necessary empirical evidence. The Robert Bosch Group has evaluated different enterprise application integration (EAI) systems to achieve a standardised integration architecture. The article describes a reference architecture and criteria for the classification of EAI systems which are derived from different integration approaches.