Successful Fiscal 2012 Bosch Packaging Technology Accelerates Pace of Growth

• Presence expanded worldwide, especially in Asia and Africa
• Growth in sales outpaces the packaging machine industry as a whole
• Networked services enhance customer benefit

Waiblingen / Stuttgart - Bosch Packaging Technology posted stronger growth in fiscal 2012 than the packaging machine market as a whole. In the years ahead, the company intends to maintain its high growth rate and has set its sights on achieving 1.5 billion euros in sales by the end of 2015. Last year, this division of Bosch racked up sales of 914 million euros, up 123 million euros or 16 percent over 2011. In the same period, the number of associates rose to 5,000 or by six percent. In fiscal 2013, Bosch Packaging Technology is expecting to grow its sales by a high single-digit percentage figure. “We want to leverage our packaging solutions and related services to strengthen our leading position in the international market,” said Friedbert Klefenz, president of the Packaging Technology division, during the annual press conference at the company's headquarters in Waiblingen near Stuttgart.

Pharmaceuticals and food markets continue to gain impetus
The international market for packaging machinery in which the company operates grew by six percent last year. “This shows how much less dependent our business is on the general economic climate than other areas of the mechanical and industrial engineering sector,” explained Klefenz. Customers, he said, had longer planning horizons because the structure of the sales markets was generally more stable than, for example, in the automobile industry. This was why the pharmaceuticals market, in which Bosch Packaging Technology posts just under half of its sales, is set to continue growing strongly in the coming years, reaching a market volume of 1.1 trillion euros by 2015. Two years ago, the corresponding figure was just 850 billion euros. Sales of machinery to the food industry account for 50 percent of Bosch's packaging technology sales, and demand is on the rise here, too, as more and more countries begin to realize that suitable packaging can lengthen the shelf-life of food. “Packaging is one way of securing the food supplies of millions of people worldwide,” said Klefenz.

Bigger market shares
“Sales growth of 16 percent helped us to expand our market shares in 2012,” Klefenz went on to say. He said that Bosch Packaging Technology would be able to turn the consolidation process of recent years to its advantage. In the long term, only those companies would prosper that offered comprehensive solutions from a single source. One of the reasons for this was the ever more demanding expectations and requirements of consumers, legislators and international competitors vis-à-vis manufacturers in the pharmaceuticals and food industries worldwide.

An even stronger global player
In 2012, Bosch Packaging Technology continued to enhance its international presence. A global strategy is fundamental to the division because it generates more than 90 percent of its sales outside of Germany. Already, around half of the Bosch Packaging Technology associates are employed abroad. All in all, the company is represented at over 30 locations in more than 15 countries, with Asia occupying a prominent place in the network. Bosch Packaging Technology already earns one-quarter of its revenues in Asia, and expects to achieve double-digit growth rates there over the next five years. A new factory at Verna, in the Indian state of Goa, came on stream in 2012 with a workforce of 130. Business in India is currently growing at an average annual rate of over 30 percent. “We expect this dynamic growth on the Indian subcontinent to continue in the coming years as well,” said Klefenz.

Pioneer in Africa
Within the packaging industry, Bosch has assumed a pioneering role on the African continent. “Africa is becoming a market that merits a lot of attention. With our assembly site in Midrand, South Africa, we are already among the biggest packaging machinery manufacturers on the continent,” stresses Klefenz. Last year, the division generated six percent of its total sales in Africa, and the goal is to raise that to eight percent this year. That is one reason that Bosch established a further distribution and service center in Egypt, and the company plans to continue building up its African business in the coming years, especially south of the Sahara.

Bosch Packaging Technology's sales in North America grew moderately in 2012, while its performance in Europe and Latin America was satisfactory. “In Eastern Europe, and particularly in Russia, we discern substantial market potential, and are keen to make the most of it in the years ahead,” said Klefenz. He also stressed that expansion abroad would not come at the expense of the locations in Germany. A total of 13 million euros was invested in the Crailsheim location in Baden-Württemberg in 2012. After a new assembly hall covering 6,600 m² went on stream there, another new building with 2,200 m² of office space is due for completion in mid-2013. That will create a further 70 new jobs in the Schwäbisch Hall region, most of them in assembly and development. All in all, some 900 associates will then be working for the Bosch Packaging Technology division in Crailsheim.

Diverse acquisitions enhance portfolio mix
Last year, Bosch Packaging Technology extended its inspections expertise through the acquisition of Eisai Machinery, the machinery arm of the Eisai Co., Ltd., Japan, and its 120-strong workforce. “Our inspection solutions help make our customers' filling and packaging processes safer. At the same time, we can enhance our own expertise for complete systems,” explains Dr. Stefan König, in charge of technology at the Packaging Technology division and a member of its executive management.

In late 2012, the division completed its acquisition of Ampack GmbH in Königsbrunn, Germany, which has a workforce of 250. The company's portfolio comprises cup and bottle filling machines as well as dosing systems and peripheral machinery, which are deployed to fill and package highly sensitive food such as milk products, cereals, and food for babies and hospital patients. It also comprises services such as the maintenance and general overhaul of used machinery, the supply of spare parts, the validation of filling lines, and training programs for machine operators.

Networked services enhance customer benefit
The wishes and requirements of its customers are at the heart of everything Bosch Packaging Technology does. Even in the development phase of new machinery, we place great emphasis on ensuring that later tool and product changes can be carried out quickly. The division offers its customers a one-stop approach to procurement: our components are matched in such a way that customers can get tailored solutions from Bosch in one easy step.

Service, too, continues to gain in importance. If customers require replacement or spare parts, they can order them quickly online, helping keep production downtimes to a minimum. Another example of networked services is the mobile conferencing system Mavus. Mavus guarantees the greatest possible freedom of movement, and comprises a headset with a fully integrated camera, display, headphone and microphone. Thanks to Mavus, local technicians can make audiovisual contact with remote Bosch experts via the internet. That makes long journeys to the customer for machine maintenance and repairs a thing of the past.

Contact for press inquiries:
Dirk Haushalter
Phone +49 711 811-58503

Based in Waiblingen near Stuttgart, Germany, and employing 5,000 associates, the Bosch Packaging Technology division is one of the leading suppliers of process and packaging technology. At over 30 locations in more than 15 countries worldwide, a highly-qualified workforce develops and produces complete solutions for the pharmaceuticals, food, and confectionery industries. These solutions are complemented by a comprehensive after-sales service portfolio. A global service and sales network provides customers with local points of contact. Additional information is available online at www.boschpackaging.com

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services, active in the fields of automotive technology, energy and building technology, industrial technology, and consumer goods. According to preliminary figures, more than 306,000 associates generated sales of 52.3 billion euros in 2012. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 350 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 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 some 4.5 billion euros for research and development in 2012, and applied for over 4,700 patents worldwide. The Bosch Group’s products and services are designed to fascinate, and to improve the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial. In this way, the company offers technology worldwide that is “Invented for life.”

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com and www.bosch-press.com

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