PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bosch, a leading global supplier of technologies and services, invested $235 million in North America and recorded consolidated sales of $11.3 billion in 2014. The company plans to double its sales from 2013 to 2020 and continue to grow its profitability. Investment in the region is one step in achieving these goals.
“The strength of our business in North America is a key component of Bosch’s global development,” said Mike Mansuetti, president, Robert Bosch LLC. “We are continuously looking for opportunities to expand our presence and value to the region and our customers.”
Multifaceted approach to investment
An example of the company’s commitment to investment in the region is its footprint in Pittsburgh, focused on research, high-technology business and partnerships. The company’s presence includes its Research and Technology Center (RTC), the Carnegie Bosch Institute (CBI) and Akustica Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bosch Group and a top supplier of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone products.
Bosch’s first tie to Pittsburgh was a major endowment gift to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), establishing CBI as part of the Tepper School of Business in 1990. CBI focuses on improving international management and its impact on leadership through research, education and collaboration. Nine years later, Bosch funded its first research project at the school within the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department within the College of Engineering.
In 2001, Akustica was founded in Pittsburgh to commercialize acoustic MEMS technology, licensed from CMU. Through its strategic acquisition of Akustica in 2009, Bosch added microphones to its portfolio of MEMS sensors that support the human-machine-interface (HMI) in consumer electronic devices. Bosch is the world’s leading supplier of MEMS sensors.
Akustica most recently announced a new MEMS microphone that subsequently received the 2015 “Best of Sensors Expo” award from Sensors Magazine for being the industry’s smallest top-port MEMS microphone. Additionally, the microphone supplier shares its space with Bosch’s Pittsburgh-based RTC associates, allowing the two groups to leverage synergies and advance developments in hardware and software engineering.
Bosch’s RTC in Pittsburgh is at the forefront of research and development that is shaping the Internet of Things (IoT). Its research focuses on the design, deployment and integration of innovative Internet technologies in application areas of relevance throughout the Bosch Group, including the automotive, smart building, consumer goods and advanced manufacturing domains.
Bosch recently announced a $2.5 million donation to establish the Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies chair at CMU. The goal of the new Bosch professorship is to support research in two areas. First, the creation of breakthrough technologies that enable Internet-scale systems, allowing the connection between the physical and cyber domains to be secure. Second, the development of next-generation technologies that enable and ultimately guarantee the use of personal data in accordance with individual privacy preferences in the ever-changing computing world. The chair has been granted to David Brumley, the director of CyLab, one of the largest university-based cybersecurity research and education centers in the United States.
Additionally, Bosch’s RTC is collaborating with CMU to test and develop a connected campus environment, composed of intelligent buildings that provide improved efficiency and simplified experiences. With CMU’s campus serving as a living laboratory, Bosch’s RTC team has begun testing innovative ideas and new deployment of sensors within a smart campus. Leveraging a multi-year investment in hardware and software infrastructure that started in 2010, this year the project will begin with the deployment of 70 Bosch sensors to build a fully “smart campus” that expands beyond one building to a large area of connected buildings.
“Pittsburgh is a great example of how strategic and sustaining investments can positively impact a business,” said Mansuetti. “There’s a strong and natural correlation between our research, high-tech products and partnerships in this area that benefit our business, regionally and globally, and most importantly, our customers.”
Worldwide in 2014, Bosch invested $6.6 billion in R&D and applied for nearly 4,600 patents. Bosch operates three locations in the U.S. dedicated to corporate research, located in Palo Alto, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Cambridge, MA.
About Bosch
Having established a regional presence in 1906 in North America, the Bosch Group employs some 28,700 associates in more than 100 locations, as of April 1, 2015. In 2014, Bosch generated consolidated sales of $11.3 billion in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. For more information, visit www.boschusa.com, www.bosch.com.mx and www.bosch.ca.
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 360,000 associates worldwide (as per April 1, 2015). The company generated sales of 49 billion euros in 2014.* Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiary and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including its sales and service partners, Bosch is represented in roughly 150 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. In 2014, Bosch applied for some 4,600 patents worldwide. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to create solutions for a connected life. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.”
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*The sales figure disclosed for 2014 does not include the former joint ventures BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (now BSH Hausgeräte GmbH) and ZF Lenksysteme GmbH (now Robert Bosch Automotive Steering GmbH), which have since been taken over completely.
About the Carnegie Bosch Institute
The Carnegie Bosch Institute (tepper.cmu.edu/our-faculty-and-research/centers/carnegie-bosch-institute) was established in 1990 as a unique alliance between Carnegie Mellon University and the Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services. Housed within the Tepper School of Business, the Carnegie Bosch Institute focuses on the improvement of international management through research, education and collaboration, sponsoring five academic research chairs and providing innovative executive education programs targeted to the needs of multinational companies.
