Best Innovator Award 2010/2011 Bosch receives award as automotive supplier

Awards went to companies and management teams that follow particularly effective and long-lasting processes for innovation development. The jury was especially impressed by Bosch's strong commitment to innovation – something which is not only shown by the board of management and the executive management of the divisions, but also a fundamental part of Bosch corporate culture. Innovative spirit has been nurtured to become a core competence, and a group-level innovation management system has been implemented across all divisions.

“The company's success is chiefly due to its worldwide network of creative associates, as well as its high-performance innovation process that begins with the development of the innovation strategy and is supported by the

perfect methods and tools for generating ideas and evaluating them, with clear roles and responsibilities. This enables successful procedures to be reliably replicated and continuously improved,” said Dr. Martin Hieber, who built up the current system with his team in all 17 Bosch divisions. The definition of a specific budget has given rise to a process whereby engineers can suggest projects for their new product ideas and compete for the funding. In order to ensure that developments stay in touch with market realities, so-called tandem pairs have been set up to bring together marketing and engineering associates.

The Automotive Electronics executive vice president Klaus Meder and the innovation managers Dr. Martin Hieber and Dr. Dirk Linzmeier demonstrated to the jury how impressive the Bosch innovation management system is by presenting an example from their division. Many new ideas emerge as a result of considering how existing technological expertise might be transferred to new areas of application. In the case of the new Bosch eBike drive, its developers marshaled the company's expertise in the areas of automotive electronics, electric drives, sensor systems, and battery technology. The first bikes featuring Bosch drives premiered at the Eurobike trade show in September 2010.

Good ideas alone are not enough
With 34,000 researchers and developers, Bosch spends some four billion euros each year on projects that are important for the company's future. The ABS and ESP® vehicle safety systems are among the outstanding fruits of this labor. More recent examples include the fuel-saving start-stop system, the energy-efficient hybrid drive, and the Ixo drill/driver, which has now achieved cult status with some ten million units sold.

But in Bosch's view, inventions and ideas alone don't make an innovation. They first need to be put into practice in industry and achieve successful sales to be classed as truly innovative. That's why every new solution – whether in the shape of a product, function, service, process, or business model – must always create added value for the customer.

The Best Innovator Awards are staged each year by A.T. Kearney and the German weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche, under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology. This year's jury comprised Ernst Burgbacher, parliamentary state secretary at the

German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Roland Tichy, editor-in-chief of Wirtschaftswoche, and Dr. Kai Engel, partner at the business consultants A.T. Kearney.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 285,000 associates generated sales of 47.3 billion euros in fiscal 2010. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 350 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 60 countries. If its sales and service partners are included, then Bosch is represented in roughly 150 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spent 3.8 billion euros for research and development in 2010, and applied for over 3,800 patents worldwide. With all its products and services, Bosch enhances the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial.

Bosch is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as a “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 up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. 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. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.