Supply Chain Management at Bosch:
"End-to-End Processes maximize value creation"Founding year1886
Sales in euros90,5 Billion
Employees at the end of 2024417.900
What should be done when global supply chains are disrupted and customers around the world are waiting on critical deliveries? Bosch answers:
Real-time transparency, early-warning systems, and trained task forces help prevent and manage crises. Dr. Arne Flemming, in charge of Supply Chain Management at Bosch, explains in an interview how an organization can use digitalization to control its supply chains and meet the current challenges.
Interview with Dr. Arne Flemming, Head of Supply Chain Management at Bosch
Dr. Flemming, how has the meaning of Supply Chain Management changed over the last few years?
“Global market bottlenecks—especially during the Covid-19 pandemic—have shown that stable supply chains are the foundation of a well-functioning economy. At Bosch, our policy has therefore always been to adapt quickly to the latest developments in global trade and potential disruptions to supply chains, beginning with how we manage our own supply chains. Here, what is important is a strategy that is capable of balancing between performance and costs. We aim to secure a high availability of components, raw materials, and products for our global plants and customers. And to do so at competitive costs. This is where our Supply Chain Management contributes greatly to ensuring stability of our global supply chains.”
About the person
Dr. Arne Flemming is Head of Supply Chain Management at Bosch. In this role, he is responsible for supply chain management for the Bosch Group, which employs approximately 32,000 associates worldwide in the areas of purchasing and logistics.
What approach specifically do you take to optimize your supply chain?
“Right now, Bosch already relies on a high level of digitalization in its supply chains to gain real-time insights into inventory and demand—from procurement and manufacturing all the way to the customer. This allows us to ensure a continuous increase in efficiency, for example resulting from network effects and the intelligent use of resources. Moreover, we strengthen our regional supply chain functions by pursuing a local-for-local strategy, producing where our customers are. This allows us to shorten the supply chains while at the same time stabilizing them, even if as a result we need to deal with a greater amount of complexity in the global network.”
Real-time data and digital control mechanisms are becoming more and more important. Please explain the “Digital Control Tower” concept that you employ at Bosch?
“We firmly believe that solid and high-quality data is the basis for a future-oriented supply chain management. To this end, we map our supply chain data in near-real-time in a central data pool, which is used by several different business units. In order to interpret this data correctly, we employ what we refer to as digital control towers that our trained experts use to make data-driven decisions and to recognize complex interrelationships. With close to 225 plants worldwide and supply relationships in more than 60 countries, integrated management is critical in the event of global disruptions or market bottlenecks. As an example: If there are any blockades in a maritime route, we can use real-time data to respond quickly and efficiently by, for example, seeking out alternative suppliers or alternative routes.”
How do you ensure that your network made up of close to 35,500 suppliers and logistic partners can keep up with your data strategy?
“Generally speaking, transparency as it relates to real-time data of supplies and transport service providers is a competitive advantage for all parties involved. As a global organization with a purchasing volume of around EUR 50 billion annually, our suppliers consider us to be an important partner. With our technology expertise, we also help shape market standards and create a consistent, reliable database. A good example right now is maritime traffic data, which we use to accurately predict arrival times. We work with all stakeholders to achieve closer integration.”
What role does artificial intelligence play in your strategy?
“At this point, AI is incorporated into every Bosch product – or has been instrumental in its production, which is why we also use our AI expertise in purchasing and logistics within the company. As an example, AI helps us with speech recognition in supplier hotlines and in quality management by analyzing drawings and extracting data from specifications. We also regularly test a wide range of possible applications for AI, such as volume forecasting and automated contract analysis. That said, I still believe human involvement is key: we need experts who understand AI and know how to use it effectively.”
What are the three key factors that make up a resilient supply chain network?
“First, you need transparency for future-oriented supply chain risk management. Real-time data and early warning systems enable you to respond to risks early on. Next, flexibility is crucial to ensure that you have sufficient alternatives in terms of delivery routes and suppliers. Finally, a closely coordinated organization comprising purchasing and logistics is essential. You can overcome bottlenecks quickly if data-based decisions are implemented effectively by task forces on a global, regional, and local level.”
How do you handle a silo mindset? In supply chain management in particular, a wide range of areas need to be integrated.
“We cannot afford to operate in silos. A common understanding of supply chain management ensures successful teamwork between purchasing and logistics as sub-functions at Bosch. Cross-functional collaboration is already a natural part of our approach to implementing logistics and purchasing in end-to-end processes. This helps maximize value creation. What’s more, it is just as important to continue to expand the technical expertise of the individual sub-functions. We have expert communities who engage in intensive exchange, help each other, and benefit from each other’s experience. That works really well, precisely because we don’t just merge them all into one big supply chain community.”
Pascal Kolb
Principal and Head of CEE
STAUFEN.AG
Pascal Kolb verfügt über mehrjährige Beratungserfahrung mit den Schwerpunkten auf Operational Excellence, Supply Chain Management und Lean Transformation. Er leitete bereits internationale und konzernweite Beratungsprojekte mit außerordentlichem Umsetzungserfolg, darunter einen globalen Operational Excellence Rollout in über 10 Ländern und Task Forces in mehreren Automotive OEM-Montagewerken. Pascal Kolb verfügt über eine ausgezeichnete Branchenexpertise in den Bereichen Automotive, Maschinenbau und Elektronik.
A future-oriented supply chain risk management enables you to respond to risks at an early stage. First and foremost, this requires real-time transparency of inventory and a cooperative approach among all parties involved in the supply chain – from suppliers to customers.Pascal Kolb
Principal, Staufen, part of Accenture
About Bosch
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services with a staff of around 417,900 employees worldwide (as of December 31, 2024). Based on initial figures, it generated sales of €90.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year. Its operations are organized into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology.
