Software

Bosch: Software for factories to generate billions in sales

March 5, 2025. Bosch is continuing its software offensive. The technology company is also pursuing ambitious goals in the Industrial Technology business sector: By the beginning of the next decade, Bosch aims to generate sales of around one billion euros in this business area with software and software-related services.

Bosch Connected Industry provides its customers with holistic support during the digital transformation. A wide range of training courses qualify production staff to use the IIoT software. Change consultants support the transformation processes. Photo: Bosch

ctrlX AUTOMATION from Bosch Rexroth is the heart of factory automation

With ctrlX AUTOMATION, Bosch Rexroth has created an open automation system for factory automation. Since its launch five years ago, the number of customers has risen to over 2,000. The associated partner network ctrlX WORLD, which currently has over 100 partner companies, extends the range of solutions to include software and hardware. The ctrlX OS operating system is also growing and becoming increasingly important. Open interfaces and standards allow the integration of all types of automation technologies and partners. “Increasing digitalization requires new solutions that allow systems to be networked and offer openness in all directions. Co-creation and open ecosystems enable companies to pool their strengths, develop innovations together and react much faster to market changes,” says Thomas Fechner, the Bosch Rexroth Executive Board member responsible for factory automation. The company now offers more than 80 apps via its ctrlX OS Store. These range from communication and IoT solutions to innovative vision and engineering apps, all of which are validated in accordance with strict Bosch Rexroth guidelines. Around half of the apps come from third-party providers. This underlines the co-creation approach that is becoming increasingly prevalent in automation. ctrlX AUTOMATION can also be linked to NEXEED.

NEXEED from Bosch Connected Industry is the brain of the smart factory

The Industry 4.0 software from Bosch Connected Industry controls production and creates the necessary transparency for raw material and material efficiency. Causes of rejects can be detected and rectified at an early stage, machines and systems can be maintained, retrofitted and optimized with foresight. As a result, factories become up to 25 percent more productive, the availability of machines is increased by up to 15 percent, while maintenance costs are reduced by up to 25 percent. With NEXEED, everyone responsible for production has exactly the information they need. Among other things, production employees are supported directly at the machine with the help of artificial intelligence. In future, they will be able to use the app to record any incidents at a station by voice input, ask about similar situations and request suggestions for solutions. NEXEED is used by international customers such as Sick and Osram as well as in around 150 Bosch plants. Thanks to open interfaces, the Bosch software can be integrated into common industrial platforms and existing infrastructures. It also allows the generated data to be used in other applications.

Bosch Semantic Stack is the key to full data potential

For example, NEXEED provides data for the Bosch Semantic Stack. “Companies are sitting on a treasure trove of data, but very few of them know what to do with it. We have the key to unlocking the value of this data,” says Norbert Jung, Member of the Board of Management of Bosch Connected Industry. The Bosch Semantic Stack software portfolio creates a semantic data layer that makes product data understandable for humans and machines throughout the life cycle, assigns it to a digital twin and thus enables consistent, reliable insights for well-founded business decisions. Instead of just storing data, the Bosch Semantic Stack explains its meaning and thus prevents multiple data preparation and integration. Bosch uses the solution itself and has already created more than 400 million digital twins of its products across the company. Thanks to this, data can be used more easily and securely across company boundaries. Here is a concrete example: from 2027, a so-called digital battery passport will be mandatory in the EU for all electric vehicles, light means of transport and industrial batteries of two kilowatt hours or more. This must be able to show a wide range of data about the battery life cycle, such as CO2 data during production, performance data and information on material composition for recycling. Bosch offers the Battery Passport, a module of the Bosch Semantic Stack, for this purpose. This fulfills the legal requirements and uses digital twins to automatically create the necessary battery passports for end-to-end data transparency across the entire life cycle.

Bosch Rexroth model factory provides insights into the factory of the future

In the Bosch Rexroth model factory in Ulm, the company demonstrates how Bosch software makes factories and their control simpler and more efficient. Using concrete production scenarios, Bosch is presenting its high-performance portfolio of industrial technology, including intralogistics and distribution. The exemplary manufacturing process illustrates how existing production environments can be transformed safely and cost-effectively. The model factory brings solutions for the automotive, battery, consumer goods and semiconductor industries to life. Users can flexibly adapt production to fluctuating demand and economically produce variants or even the smallest quantities. Controlled by Bosch software, communication between the machines and systems and with higher-level systems via open standards ensures a seamless exchange of information and complete orchestration of production.

Since it opened in 2021, around 8,400 visitors have learned about topics such as sustainability in factory automation, flexible material flow and the benefits of modular software architecture.

– – – – – –