Bosch Implements Generative AI for Rapid Scaling of AI Solutions in Manufacturing

Bosch Implements Generative AI for Rapid Scaling of AI Solutions in Manufacturing

(IN BRIEF) Bosch, a global technology leader, is piloting generative AI and foundation models in its manufacturing plants. These technologies create synthetic images to develop and scale AI solutions for optical inspection and optimize existing AI models. The aim is to significantly reduce the time required for planning, launching, and scaling AI applications from months to just weeks. Bosch has already integrated AI into nearly half of its manufacturing plants, achieving productivity gains and cost savings. By pioneering generative AI, Bosch aims to enhance its global manufacturing network’s efficiency, innovation, and sustainability. The World Economic Forum has recognized Bosch plants as Industry 4.0 “lighthouses” for their AI innovations.

(PRESS RELEASE) STUTTGART, 7-Dec-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  Robert Bosch GmbH, commonly known as Bosch, is a German multinational engineering and technology company, is taking bold strides in embracing generative AI and foundation models within its manufacturing processes. In two pilot projects at Bosch plants in Germany, generative AI is being used to create synthetic images, enabling the development and scaling of AI solutions for optical inspection while optimizing existing AI models. The groundbreaking innovation is expected to reduce the planning, launch, and scaling time for AI applications from six to twelve months to just a few weeks. Once these pilot projects demonstrate success, Bosch intends to extend the service of generating synthetic data to all its locations.

Nearly 50% of Bosch plants have already integrated AI into their manufacturing operations, leveraging AI to enhance production scheduling, monitoring, and control. The application of generative AI not only enhances existing AI solutions but also lays the groundwork for the widespread adoption of this transformative technology throughout Bosch’s global manufacturing network.

Stefan Hartung, Chairman of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH, commented on the significance of this advancement: “With generative AI, we’re not only improving existing AI solutions, but we’re also laying the foundations for the optimum take-up of this future technology in our global manufacturing network. AI has excellent potential for innovation and can make human work even more productive. As a manufacturing company and Industry 4.0 trendsetter, Bosch aims to play a leading role in the development and application of industrial AI.”

Bosch’s pilot plants have already experienced tangible benefits from AI implementations. For example, at the Hildesheim plant, AI-based data analysis reduced cycle times during the production ramp-up of new lines by 15%. In Stuttgart-Feuerbach, new algorithms slashed component-testing processes from three and a half minutes to just three minutes. This breakthrough technology enables Bosch to significantly enhance its AI capabilities, using synthetically generated data for training and optimizing AI models.

Tanja Rueckert, Member of the Bosch Board of Management and Chief Digital Officer, stated, “With generative AI, we’re now taking the next step in the evolution of artificial intelligence and advancing modern manufacturing to a new level. Generative AI helps to harmonize individualization and scaling – the technology gives us the best of both worlds.”

As a leading player in Industry 4.0, Bosch has consistently merged digitalization with artificial intelligence to drive manufacturing innovation. “The use of AI will make factories more efficient, more productive, and more eco-friendly,” Rueckert emphasized.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) recognized Bosch’s pioneering efforts in AI, designating Bosch plants as Industry 4.0 “lighthouses.” The Bursa plant in Turkey, in particular, showcased significant improvements in manufacturing quality through AI, reducing water consumption by 30%, energy consumption by 6%, scrap by 9%, and increasing plant efficiency by nearly 10%. The WEF’s recognition underscores the profound impact AI is having on industrial production.

Bosch remains committed to leading the way in AI adoption in manufacturing, leveraging generative AI to drive efficiency, innovation, and sustainability across its global manufacturing network.

About Bosch

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 421,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company generated sales of 88.2 billion euros in 2022. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. 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.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 85,500 associates in research and development, of which nearly 44,000 are software engineers.

The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861–1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-four percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The remaining shares are held by Robert Bosch GmbH and by a corporation owned by the Bosch family. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPress.

Media contact:

Dennis Christmann
Spokesperson internet of things (industrial), Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence (industry), 5G
+4971181158178
dennis.christmann@de.bosch.com

SOURCE: Robert Bosch GmbH