Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
Bosch values communication
An employee looks for defects on Bosch’s assembly line at its Nuremberg plant in Germany. / Courtesy of Bosch
By Park Jin-hai
By Park Jin-hai
Andreas Hamper Bosch Senior Vice President
NUREMBERG, Germany ― What Hyundai Motor cars have in common with BMW, Mercedes is that all of them use Bosch car parts.
Bosch is the world’s No.1 auto parts supplier by sales.
In terms of direct injection, heart of the GDI engine, Bosch’s market share in gas-powered cars worldwide has grown to 60 percent since it began producing components for Volkswagen in 2000.
This decade-long success has been possible because its products boast the lowest defect rate under each plant’s water-tight control process ― currently four parts per million (ppm) on average and far less than its target eight ppm.
When a defective part is found while assembling, it is disassembled immediately and must go through the whole process again from zero. All parts are marked with serial numbers that can be tracked back at any time.
"This process is universal in all our 12 plants in five countries manufacturing the gasoline direct injection system," said Andreas Hamper, senior vice president of the company’s Nuremberg gasoline systems plant.
“We have identical assembly lines worldwide so that the quality in one region is the same as in Germany. Proven quality I think speaks a lot.”
His plant, called the “lead plant,” sets the standards and shares its knowledge with other plants. This information includes engineering expertise, design knowledge, simulation, experiments and durability tests.
Communications
For global communications, Bosch set up a Wikipedia-like communication channel in the late 1990s, according to Hamper.
Workers must post any irregularities or problems on the channel. This information is then compiled and shared across all Bosch plants.
For instance, a German worker may report that he has eliminated a defect on a machine by tightening a specific bolt. Then another person may report how a further slight modification made things even better. All this information is shared with all employees involved in operating the machine.
“Since Bosch adopted the system, the defect rate has fallen substantially,” Hamper said.
“Although it is often the German lead plant that set the standards, there are many cases where overseas input and problem-solving suggestions have been adopted in Germany.”
Bosch has gasoline system plants in Korea, the U.S., China and Turkey. The Korean plant’s defect rate is among the lowest, reaching zero in 2012.
All workers in Nuremberg meet every six months to review the information accumulated on the system and streamline it again.
In 2013, the company upgraded the system again, networking all machines and workers around the world on the data base, enabling them to connect online in real time.
The company says productivity has risen 5 percent a year since the system was adopted.
Innovation
Bosch’s innovative gasoline direct injection reduces 15 fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission by 15 percent.
The technology uses ultra-short laser pulses to drill fine nozzles in the direct injection valves, helping to reduce fuel consumption by up to 20 percent.
The technology won the German Federal President’s Future Prize for technology and innovation.
The company has 45,700 research associates, out of 290,000 employees worldwide, which means one in six employees are involved in research.
“Almost 10 percent of total sales revenue ― 4.7 billion euros ― was invested in research in 2014, while first-filed patents totaled 4,593 that year,” said diesel systems governmental and external affairs director Cyrus Amini. “This means we filed for 18 patents per working day.”
The company says three-quarters of workers hired globally this year will be research staff.