    

 
   

Sustainability repor t













2019




















 


































 


  

















 


















  

























 

 






































  













  












 



   



 

 
 
  



  









factbook

2
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Editorial

Dear Readers,
Bosch is committed to sustainability and is constantly evolving in this respect. The corresponding strategic foundations are anchored in our “New Dimensions – Sustainability2025” target vision, which we have developed with an eye on the prevailing megatrends:
in all dimensions – climate, energy, water, urbanization, globalization, and health – wefocus our activities on those areas in which we can achieve the greatest benefit for people and the environment. But we take our corporate responsibility even further: we wantto promote social progress and play an active role, even beyond the boundaries of ourcore business. In this regard, we are especially committed to education and science –which we consider an investment in the future.
We made significant progress last year. We have come a big step
closer to our goal of making our sites CO₂ neutral by the end of
2020. Over 1,000 newly implemented projects have improved ourenergy efficiency. We have also extended our commitment to thecareful use of water. Our efforts in this regard are specificallyfocused on regions affected by water scarcity. In 2019, welaunched around 50 projects in such regions that will enable us
to save a total of around 200,000 cubic meters of water – oraround 80 Olympic-size swimming pools. As in previous years,
we also focused on the occupational health and safety of ourassociates. Thanks to a variety of measures, we were once again
able to rigorously reduce the accident rate.

And last but not least, a sustainable orientation requires transparent reporting in which
we disclose our processes and document our progress. In this report, the factbook
2019, we present our sustainability activities over the past year, the challenges we
faced, what we accomplished, and our goals for the future in detail and backed up withextensive data. Our report is based on the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative(GRI). It is supplemented by our magazine Spotlights, in which we offer illustrative andvivid insights into the implementation of our sustainability target vision.
I hope you find this report inspiring. Thank you for your interest!
Yours sincerely,

Christoph Kübel
Member of the board of managementand director of industrial relations

3
Editorial | Contents

Contents2
3
4
6

Editorial
Contents
Foreword by the board of management

Company		8Bosch Group profile		
13 Sustainability strategy and organization
		
19 Corporate governance and compliance24

Products
		
26 Management approach		
30 Product development
		35 Sustainable products

42

Supply chain		
44 Management approach		
46 Social and environmental requirements for suppliers		
47 Supplier assessments		
49 Further development of sustainability performance

50

Environment		52 Management approach		
54 Energy and climate action		
60 Water and wastewater		
63 Materials and waste management

66

Associates		
68 Management approach		
71 Employer of choice		76 Leadership and collaboration
		78 Learning and development
		
83 Occupational health and safety

88

About this report
This factbook reports on all facts,
figures, and nonfinancial information concerning the Bosch Group’s
sustainability activities.
Spotlights magazine presents
highlights from the reporting year –consistent with the “New Dimensions – Sustainability 2025” target
vision:Society		
90 Management approach		
91 Global commitment
		
94 Political lobbying		
97 Sponsorship

98

Annex
		
99 GRI content index
		
105 Independent auditor’s assurance report		
107 About this report		
107 Publication details

4
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Foreword by the board of management

Dear Readers,
It’s not just the world that is changing, Bosch is changing
with it. Our markets are undergoing a profound transfor­
mation. One consequence of this is that our company is
faced with new challenges in terms of sustainability, which
we are tackling by balancing economic, ecological, andsocial responsibilities – every day and at all our sites
worldwide.
Above all, we are making a contribution to climate action,
and we are making every effort to limit the rise in temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere. Our sites worldwide will
be climate neutral before the end of 2020. From development to production and administration, Bosch will nolonger have a carbon footprint from then on. That’s anambitious goal. But we are in no doubt that we can reachit. In fact, we can already look back at some initial progress: all Bosch sites in Germany have been climate neutral since 2019.
Yet we are not resting on our laurels. We are setting oursights further afield – indeed, beyond our company’s
boundaries. We are involving our business partners inour climate action measures and are also training ourattention on our indirect emissions. These include theimpact of purchased goods and services and their transport, as well as the impact of our products. Throughout
our supply chains and in the use phase of our products,
we aim to reduce our absolute CO₂ emissions by at least
15 percent by 2030. Our climate targets have beenreviewed and approved by the Science Based Targets
initiative (SBTi). We are the first automotive supplierworldwide to join the SBTi.

Mobility solutions are a major constituent of our productportfolio. We want climate action in road transportation,
and we are advancing toward the powertrain of the futurewith an open mind with regard to technology. Accordingly, we are developing electromobility based on both battery as well as fuel cell technologies. And we see synthetic fuels as an opportunity for diesel and gasoline engines
to be CO₂ neutral. We are making considerable upfront
investments in sustainable mobility – more than one billion euros for electrified, automated, and connected driving in 2020 alone. Beyond this, we are also active in key
growth areas. Our expertise in the domains of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) gives us
a considerable edge.
Irrespective of the technological or entrepreneurial
course we take, the key to success lies in the expertiseof our roughly 400,000 associates. We are systematicallyempowering them to accompany our organization’s digitaltransformation in particular. With a new training program,for instance, we are getting around 20,000 associates inshape to handle AI. More than ever, Bosch sees itself as alearning company.
On the following pages, you can find out how we are
stepping up to face the ecological challenges, how weare achieving our goals, and what else we are planning
as we look ahead to the future. I thank you for your trust
and look forward to a constructive exchange of ideas.
Yours sincerely,

Dr. Volkmar Denner
Chairman of the board of management

5
Foreword by the board of management

6
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Company

As a leading global supplier of technology and services, theBosch Group has a special social responsibility. Particularly intimes of far-reaching changes, we want to use our innovations toprotect the natural resources on which present and future
generations depend. In this sense, sustainable, ecological, andsocially responsible action is the foundation for our success inbusiness. “In the long term, an honest and fair approach to
doing business will always be the most profitable.” Theconviction held by our company founder Robert Bosch still
guides our actions today.

7| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society

398,200

associatesfrom some150

nations

77.7

billion euros
in sales revenue

440

subsidiaries and regional companies
in over

Over


60

1,000

countries

stakeholders worldwide

surveyed on sustainability

8Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

1.1 Bosch Group profile


Bosch 2019 annual report

The Bosch Group employs some 398,200 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2019) andgenerated sales revenue of 77.7 billion euros inthe 2019 fiscal year (previous year: 78.5 billion
euros). The group comprises Robert BoschGmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiary and regional
companies in over 60 countries. Together with all
sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network extends
across nearly every country in the world.
1 | 01
Head count
Bosch Group by region,
as of Dec. 31, 2019
Total

Asia Pacific(including othercountries, alsoin Africa)
111,717

398,150
Europe242,506

Americas43,92772,600 associates
in research anddevelopment

With innovative products and services, Boschoffers exciting technology that is “Invented forlife” and improves quality of life worldwide. As aleading IoT company, we offer innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connectedmobility, and connected manufacturing. With ourexpertise in sensor technology, software, andservices, as well as our own IoT cloud, we develop connected, cross-domain solutions for ourcustomers from a single source. The basis forthe company’s future growth is its innovative
strength. Bosch employs some 72,600 associates
in research and development worldwide (also see
the “Products” section).
The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 byRobert Bosch (1861–1942) as a “Workshop for
Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.”
Robert Bosch GmbH’s ownership structure guar-

Robert Bosch StiftungA charitable foundation, Robert Bosch Stiftung finances its work from the dividend it
receives as a shareholder in Robert BoschGmbH. In 2019, Robert Bosch Stiftung spent
about 105 million euros on charitable causes.
Since it was established in 1964, Robert
Bosch Stiftung has been carrying on the company founder’s public welfare endeavors. It
is devoted to social challenges and promotes
projects whose aim is to develop innovative
solutions and models for our future. To thisend, it is active in specific funding areas,among them international understanding
and cooperation, health, education, scienceand research, and active citizenship. Robert
Bosch Stiftung sees itself both as an “operative foundation” that pursues its objectives
with projects of its own and as a supportive
foundation that enables others to develop andimplement their projects.
With more than 50 years of experience,
Robert Bosch Stiftung has extensive knowledge in the fields it supports, the capacity
to develop solutions, and an extensive network of partners, experts, and practitionerson the ground. For further information on
Robert Bosch Stiftung and its projects, visit
www.bosch-stiftung.de/en.

antees the entrepreneurial freedom of the BoschGroup, making it possible for it to plan over thelong term and to undertake significant up-front
investments designed to safeguard its future.
Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert
Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch StiftungGmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority ofvoting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrie­
treuhand KG, an industrial trust that carries out
the entrepreneurial ownership functions. The
remaining shares are held by the Bosch family
and by Robert Bosch GmbH.

9| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and complianceBusiness sectors andbusiness fields
The Bosch Group pursues its objective to develop
and bring to market solutions that are “Invented
for life” in four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods,
and Energy and Building Technology. They areamong the leading players in many of their fieldsof activity.
Mobility Solutions
The Mobility Solutions business sector, oneof the world’s biggest automotive suppliers,
accounts for 60 percent of total sales revenue.
The vision we pursue is to make mobility as
emission-free, stress-free, and accident-free as
possible and at the same time multimodal andpersonalized. Key areas of activity are injection
technology and powertrain peripherals for internal-combustion engines, diverse solutions for
powertrain electrification, steering systems, safety and driver-assistance systems, and technology
for user-friendly infotainment, as well as vehicleto-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, repair-shop concepts, and technology andservices for the automotive aftermarket. Particular strategic priorities include transforming thepowertrain and expanding our business in thearea of electrification, automated driving, newelectrical and electronic architectures for vehicles, accessing adjacent market segments, anddeveloping additional services.
The business sector also includes the Automotive
Aftermarket division, the service provider Connected Mobility Solutions, the new Bosch eBike
Systems division, which was created at the startof 2020, and activities involving two-wheelers,commercial and off-highway vehicles, and engineering services.

Industrial Technology
In the 2019 fiscal year, the Industrial Technology
business sector generated roughly ten percent of
total Bosch Group sales revenue. This businesssector includes the Drive and Control Technology
division (Bosch Rexroth AG), which specializes indrive and control technology for efficient, powerful, and safe movement in machines and systems.
With smart components as well as customized
system solutions and services, the division creates the prerequisite environment for fully connected applications. Focusing on the factory of
the future, our Bosch Connected Industry business unit drives forward Industry 4.0 software
solutions and projects for internal and externalcustomers. The Robert Bosch Manufacturing
Solutions unit works on Bosch-internal assembly
systems solutions and innovative production processes. We sold our subsidiary Robert Bosch
Packaging Technology GmbH including its pharmaceutical and food units at the end of 2019.
Consumer Goods
The Consumer Goods business sector contrib­
uted some 23 percent of total Bosch Group sales
revenue in 2019. This includes the Power Tools
division, which offers not only power tools suchas jigsaws and hammer drills, but also gardening
equipment such as lawnmowers, high-pressurecleaners, and measuring technology. Its focal
points are on convenient, high-performance cordless tools, and increasingly also Web-enabled
tools and services. The key pillars of the Power
Tools strategy are innovativeness, continuing
digitization, strong brands, and the expansion ofbusiness in emerging markets.
The Consumer Goods business sector also
includes BSH Hausgeräte GmbH – a supplier ofmodern, energy-efficient household appliances,which are increasingly also Web-enabled. Its
product portfolio ranges from washing machines,
and tumble dryers, through refrigerators, andfreezers, stoves, and ovens, and dishwashers tosmall appliances such as vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, and food processors. The Bosch sub-

10
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

sidiary is concentrating on a customer-centric
Hardware+ strategy and increasingly offering digital and personalized services in addition to innovative household appliances.
Energy and Building Technology
In 2019, the Energy and Building Technology
business sector generated seven percent of total
Bosch Group sales revenue. The constituent
Building Technologies division comprises theglobal product business for innovative security
and communications solutions as well as theregional integrator business. The latter offers
solutions and customized services for building
security, energy efficiency, and building automation in selected countries. Both units focus oncommercial applications. The product portfolio
encompasses video-surveillance, intrusion-detection, fire-detection, and voice-alarm systems, aswell as access-control and professional audio andconference systems.
The Thermotechnology division offers solutions
for air-conditioning, hot water, and decentralizedenergy management to customers worldwide.
It provides heating systems and energy management for residential buildings, water heaters, andcommercial and industrial heating and air-conditioning systems. The portfolio includes highly efficient technologies such as condensing boilers,
solar thermal systems, heat pumps, and combined heat and power generation.
The third division, Bosch Global Service Solutions, offers outsourcing for business processes
and services, primarily for customers in the automotive, travel, and logistics industries and in
information and communications technology.
Robert Bosch Smart Home GmbH pools Webenabled solutions for the home.

Opening up new areas of business
The Bosch Group’s global software and systems
unit, Bosch Software Innovations GmbH, based in
Berlin, Germany, was renamed Bosch.IO GmbHat the beginning of 2020 and given responsibility
for other Bosch activities in the IoT domain.
Bosch.IO helps the operating units to develop
scalable solutions and digital business models.
It is also responsible for IoT activities relating toagriculture, commercial buildings, and energy,
as well as external sales of the Bosch IoT Suite,
including in combination with Bosch’s hybrid
cloud solutions.
Since 2013, already, grow platform GmbH has
provided a platform within Bosch for developing
and implementing new business models. In thisway, it helps cultivate new business and strengthen the start-up culture within Bosch (also see
the “Products | Product development” section).
Through Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH, weadditionally invest in external technology startups around the world. This gives us early accessto innovative technologies, some of which havedisruptive potential. The company’s investments
focus on projects involving highly automated driving, AI, IoT, and mobility solutions, as well as
computer architectures of the future.
Our subsidiary Bosch Healthcare Solutions
GmbH, based in Waiblingen, Germany, offers
connected products and services in the new business field of healthcare and medical technology(also see the “Products | Sustainable products”
section).

11| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and complianceBusiness in 2019
The Bosch Group is experiencing fundamental
changes in its markets. These changes will open
up major opportunities in the medium and longterm. But they will also pose key challenges, primarily in the automotive sector at present. In
addition, the company felt the impact in 2019 ofa cooling global economy and the marked fall inglobal automobile production.
Nonetheless, the success of many products kept
the Bosch Group’s sales revenue virtually on apar with the previous year. The development of
earnings was not particularly favorable. This waschiefly due to three factors: First, upfront investments in technologies with future potential suchas electromobility, automated driving, AI, and IoT
continued to grow. Second, there was the weakness of automotive markets such as China andIndia, which had previously generated high margins, and of the diesel passenger car market segment. Finally, this meant significant expenses fornecessary restructuring measures, especially in
the Mobility Solutions business sector. An important strategic step toward a sharper focus was
taken with the divestment of the former Packaging Technology division.
For further details on Bosch’s business situation,
see the 2019 annual report (page 45 et seq.).
1 | 02
Sales revenue
Bosch Group 2019 by region,in billions of euros
Total

Asia Pacific(including othercountries, alsoin Africa)
22.5
Americas
14.4

77.7
Europe40.8

Bosch’s strategic
approach
The starting point for our goals and strategies isthe objective of securing the company’s future as
enshrined in the will of founder Robert Bosch –in other words, ensuring the company’s development and securing its financial independence. We
want to become a leading IoT company and provider of the mobility of the future.
Our ambition is to always develop products thatare “Invented for life,” that spark enthusiasm, that
improve quality of life, and that help conserve
natural resources. In this respect, “products”
means not only physical products and services
but also software-based solutions. We are driving
innovation, opening up new business areas, andevolving our organization. At the same time, we
are adapting our existing activities to market
requirements.
The Bosch Group is currently seeing fundamental
changes in technologies and markets. Besides
digitization and increased connectivity, this isalso due to global concern about climate change,
geopolitical developments, and social trends
such as increasing urbanization. Connectivity isaffecting all our areas of business – from mobility
solutions, industrial technology, and consumer
goods through to building and energy technology.
Another disruptive factor is increasing electrification, especially in automotive technology, butalso in industrial technology and energy andbuilding technology.

12Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

“We are Bosch” mission
statement

Mission statement and values
One of the strategic focal points of our “We are
Bosch” mission statement is shaping change,
taking into account the aspects of connectivity,
electrification, automation, energy efficiency, andemerging markets. It is our ambition to play a partin molding the far-reaching changes in markets
and technology. Additional key strategic focal
points are customer centricity as well as entrepreneurial and innovative excellence. For us, customer focus means understanding the needs ofour customers and, against this backdrop, finding
the best possible solution for products and business models. Excellence is a prerequisite to reachour goals. We measure ourselves against our bestcompetitors and always aim to take the lead.
When putting our strategy into practice, we build
on our strengths: our culture, our high level ofinnovation and quality, and our global presence.
The Bosch values are the bedrock of our actions:future and result focus, responsibility and sustainability, initiative and determination, openness
and trust, fairness, reliability, credibility andlegality, and diversity.

 
 
 







 

















 













 















13
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and compliance

1.2 Sustainability strategy
and organization
Sustainability concerns us all – and has therefore
been defined as a central task at Bosch on which
the various business sectors work together. Ambitious targets and systematic sustainability management form the basis. The contents, tasks, andrelated controlling are firmly anchored in our processes. Clear responsibilities and decision-making processes secure the efficiency of our actions.

1 | 03
Target vision:
New Dimensions – Sustainability 2025

En

1 | erg
2 | Ene y
Re rgyne
wa effic
ble ien
en cy
erg
y

1 | Water scarcity
2 | Water quality

1 | Health + Safety
2 | Substances of concern+2e1
ate scop e 3mpi
Cl CO 2 sco
1 | CO 2
2|

New Dimensions

HealthWater

Sustainability 2025Gl

1 | oba2 | Res lizat
Su pon ion
pply sibilch ity
ain

ts
en
sm

on es teati ss asa
niz cle + W
ba cy es
Ur Life ourc
1 | Res2|

It is also our ambition to play a leading role insustainability management: we want to help
improve quality of life worldwide and conserve

natural resources with our products, solutions,and services. The “Invented for life” ethos is
ingrained throughout our entire product development (also see the “Products” section).
Our “New Dimensions – Sustainability 2025”
target vision developed in 2018 describes six
globally important issues, each of which is specified and further developed based on two major
aspects with clearly defined, medium-term targets. Derived from the megatrends that are significant for our company and the results of our materiality analysis, the issues set the frame for ouractivities in the years ahead.
The issues set the priorities for our commitment tosustainability and clearly show the way forward.
That includes our commitment to climate action,
as well as continuously striving toward energy
efficiency, and the conscientious use of natural
resources such as water. Also in an increasingly
urbanized world, we want to keep the ecologicalfootprint of our operations and products as small
as possible and gear our operations more andmore toward the principle of a closed-loop or circular economy. As a globally operating company,
we also assume responsibility for society and theenvironment worldwide. In this way, we are making our actions transparent and are including our
supply chain in our efforts to do business in asustainable and responsible manner. We alsoendeavor to keep people and the environment
from harm – occupational health and safety,
compliance with materials restrictions, and the
responsible use of substances of concern are key
issues in this respect. Our plans regarding therespective issues are described in the following
sections of this report.


Read more about the“New Dimensions –Sustainability 2025”
target vision in Spotlights
magazine

14
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Clear responsibility for sustainability
At Bosch, we take a holistic approach to sustainability. The highest technical committee for sustainability is the corporate social responsibility
steering committee under the aegis of the CEO.
This committee brings together the board of management member responsible for sustainability
as well as the competent department heads – forexample, for HR, real estate and facilities, environment, and communications. The steering committee concerns itself with Bosch’s strategic orientation in relation to sustainability, whereas goal
agreements and management review for all sustainability-related issues are the responsibility of
the CEO and the board of management member
responsible for sustainability.

The strategic orientation with regard to sustainability is developed jointly by the Communications and Governmental Affairs corporate sector
and the EHS and Sustainability corporate sector.
From a content point of view, the Communications and Governmental Affairs corporate sector
focuses on sustainability communications andstakeholder engagement. The EHS and Sustainability corporate sector is responsible for sustainability management, which mainly entails setting
and tracking goals, designing and accompanying
programs, as well as preparing concepts for further development.

1 | 04How sustainability is organized at Bosch

Goal agreement
Management review

Chairman of the board of management
and board of management member
responsible for sustainability

Strategic approach

Corporate social responsibility
steering committee

Sustainability management
and sustainability report
Sustainability communicationand stakeholder engagement

Head of EHS and Sustainability
Head of Communications andGovernmental Affairs

Implementation and monitoringof the sustainability strategy and targets

Specialists responsible
in the divisions

15| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and compliance

Responsibility for worldwide implementation of
the sustainability strategy and monitoring theachievement of goals rests with the competentspecialists at headquarters and in the divisions.
The structure we apply in sustainability management is one that has already served us well inother areas: strategy and framework conditions
are defined centrally, and the divisions focus oncompliance with the standards and processes,
right through to certification. Our associates in
the regions and at the more than 400 Bosch sites
worldwide then have the task of putting therespective requirements into practice locally andensuring compliance with the defined framework
conditions.
In order to reduce the complexity of our sustainability management, we use a central core process that is based on the ISO standard process
definitions, in particular ISO 31000 (also see
Fig. 1 | 05).

EHS Award: recognizing
exemplary projects
Bosch recognizes outstanding projects
with the annual EHS Award. Bosch locations
worldwide can apply in the categories CO₂/
energy efficiency, resource efficiency, andoccupational health and safety – and since2019 in the new category sustainable products. A jury of experts then chooses the three
best projects in each category, and the boardof management member responsible for sustainability presents the trophies at an internal awards ceremony. The rising number ofapplications is testament to the award’s highprofile within the company: a total of 162
applications were submitted in 2019 –an increase of 57 over the previous year.

1 | 05
Core process of sustainability management
Core process of sustainability management
Internal andexternal
requirements(incl. stakeholders
and legislation)

Management responsibility
Planning

Operation

Commitment and cooperation
for more sustainability
We want to make a relevant contribution to jointly
overcoming global social challenges and are
therefore involved in numerous initiatives. For
instance, Robert Bosch GmbH has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since2004 and a member of the German Global Compact Network’s steering group since 2013. We arecommitted to the ten Global Compact principles

Steering

Requirements
are fulfilled

relating to human rights, labor standards,
environmental protection, and anti-corruption
measures. With this factbook, we also satisfy therequirement associated with this commitment ofreporting on the progress we made in 2019 interms of these principles.
We also support the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015.

16
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Accordingly, we regularly benchmark our sustainability activities against the 17 SDGs. As in theprevious year, the following are of particular relevance for our company: Good Health and WellBeing (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Clean Water and Sanitation(SDG 6), Decent Work and Economic Growth(SDG 8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure(SDG 9), Sustainable Cities and Communities(SDG 11), Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12), and Climate Action (SDG 13).
Bosch’s diverse activities also support aspects ofother UN goals.
Our reporting serves to make our commitment
transparent. We support various reporting formats, such as the German Sustainability Code,CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project),
and the Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Founding memberof value balancing
alliance e. V.

As one of seven founding members of the valuebalancing alliance e. V., since 2019 we have beenworking together with other internationally operating companies on a global standard for measuring and disclosing companies’ true contributionsof value to society. The aim of the value balancing
alliance is to factor in the environmental, social,and economic impact in companies’ financial
reporting and performance measurement.

As signatory of the WIN Charter developed by
the Sustainable Business Practices initiative of
the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg,
we have also committed to our economic, ecological, and social responsibility at the regional level. In addition, we are active members in a large
number of other sustainability-related initiatives
including since 1995, as a corporate member ofTransparency International Deutschland e. V. and,since 2007, as a member of the Forum Compliance & Integrity.
Dialogue with internaland external stakeholders
We want to hear what our stakeholders have to
say and make their needs the yardstick against
which we measure our activities. That is why weengage in continuous dialogue – as cooperativeand intensive exchange is essential for us to tailor
our efforts so that they can achieve their maximum potential and meet the various stakeholders’ expectations.
As a company with global operations and a very
extensive product portfolio, we face the challengeof addressing a very wide range of stakeholders
with often widely diverging requirements.
▶▶Customers
We are in regular and intensive exchange withcompanies from various industries. In the automotive industry, a focus is on the consequencesof new mobility concepts. In practically all industries and often in cooperation with other companies, we are also working on topics including
energy efficiency and connecting mobility, buildings, and industry. And, last but not least, ourtrade and retail customers appreciate tools andhousehold appliances from Bosch (also see the“Products” section).

17| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and compliance▶▶Suppliers
Our responsibility for the environment and society stretches beyond our company boundaries
and across the entire supply chain. Accordingly,
we include our suppliers in our sustainability
efforts and perform regular environmental andsocial audits with them, among other measures.
The exchange includes extensive analyses as wellas training on topics such as resource efficiency
and workplace safety (also see the “Supply chain”
section).

▶▶Associates
The legacy of our company founder Robert Boschalso finds its expression in our corporate culture:
the dialogue with associates includes, for example, continuous feedback talks with their respective managers. Bosch also conducts a companywide associate survey at regular intervals to obtain
feedback on, among other things, associates’
working conditions, their identification with thecompany’s values, and work–life balance (alsosee the “Associates” section).

▶▶Universities and research institutes
We maintain dialogue with research institutes bypromoting research projects in areas of relevancefor Bosch such as digitization, renewable energies,
and electrification. In addition, we offer students
and graduates the opportunity to write their bachelor or master thesis and dissertations on sustainability topics of practical relevance (also see
the “Products | Product development” section).

Further important stakeholders in our company
include the people living in the vicinity of our
locations around the world, as well as environmental and social nongovernmental organizations, banks, insurance companies, the media,
religious organizations, and representatives ofpublic authorities. With them, too, we engage indiscussions. By attending conferences and as apart of our work in associations and committees,
we continuously review our extensive activities.

▶▶Policymakers
As a supplier of technology and services with amultitude of different products, we are bound by
regulatory frameworks in our endeavors to demonstrate what is technologically possible. We
therefore actively participate in efforts to represent the interests of associations and engage indialogue with policymakers, be it directly or
through committees. In this context, Bosch isviewed as a reliable partner and is regularly specifically asked to share its knowledge. Our dialogue with policymakers focuses on issues oftechnical feasibility while considering the inter­dependence of costs and effects (also see the“Society | Political lobbying” section).

 
 
 







 








































18
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Material topics
We use a materiality analysis to determine whichaspects of sustainability to focus our activities on.
The analysis is regularly compared with the outcome of our trend monitoring and adjusted asnecessary. We updated our materiality matrix at
the end of 2019: more than 1,000 international
stakeholders – including business partners, representatives of the scientific community, policymakers, the capital market, and relevant non­governmental organizations, as well as associates
and prospective job applicants – gave theirassessment of the relevance of sustainability
issues. The following materiality matrix presents
the aspects that Bosch and its stakeholders
deemed to be of material relevance within thedefined fields of activity.
The survey confirmed in particular the high relevance of climate action and energy efficiency,
data security and protection, and compliance andintegrity. The outcome of this analysis also forms
the basis for the choice of topics in this factbook.

Moderate

Relevance for stakeholders

Very high1 | 062019 materiality matrix

Occupational health
Sustainability awarenessCompliance and integrity
Climate action andenergy efficiency
Data security andprotection

Water
Sustainability reporting
Diversity

Air quality
Associate development
Social commitment
Resources and waste
Environmental/social
supply chain standards
Occupational safety

Mobility transformation
Employer attractivenessSustainable productdevelopment

Demographic change
Land consumption
Biodiversity
Investor relations
DonationsFire protection

Digitzation (IoT) andartificial intelligence (AI)
Entrepreneurial
freedom

Moderate
Sections:

Relevance for Bosch
Company

Products

Environment

Associates

Very highSociety19| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and compliance

1.3 Corporate governanceand compliance
A clear commitment to taking responsibility,
obeying the law, and behaving ethically isimmensely important to Bosch. “We promise only
what we can deliver, accept agreements as binding, and respect and observe the law in all ourbusiness transactions.” We have also anchoredthis philosophy in our mission statement.

Responsible corporate
governanceThe board of management of Robert BoschGmbH defines the strategy for the entire company
and manages the company as a whole. Its responsibilities are set out in the board of management
organization chart. The Robert Bosch GmbHsupervisory board appoints, monitors, and advises the board of management. In making appointments to the supervisory board, Robert BoschGmbH is subject to the German Codetermination
Act (Mitbestimmungsgesetz). Owing to the company’s size, the supervisory board has 20 members.
Ten members are appointed by the shareholders
with voting rights. The other ten members areelected by the employee representatives.
Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG acts as managing partner. In line with the mission handed
down in the will of the company founder, Robert
Bosch, the trust is responsible for safeguarding
the company’s long-term existence and, above all,its financial independence. The aim is to guarantee that the company remains independent andable to act at all times. For further information on
the board of management and the supervisoryboard, see pages 6 and 10 of the 2019 annual
report.

Risk management
Managing risks in a forward-looking and responsible manner and identifying opportunities at an
early stage and seizing them sets important foundations for our success in business. In the BoschGroup, risk management encompasses the entire
company, including all operations, functional
areas, divisions, regional organizations, and business sectors. It is thus a core responsibility for all
managers on every level of the Bosch Group.
As a rule, responsibility for risk management isassumed locally on all group management levels,with certain governance tasks being organizedat corporate level. This means that risks are identified and managed where they arise: in otherwords, above all in the divisions and regionalorganizations. The latter are also primarily
responsible for introducing measures to reduceor control risks. In addition, corporate departments for areas such as compliance management, legal services, tax, and the corporate officefor the risk management system direct and monitor the operating units’ control activities. Internal
auditing, which acts as an independent authority
and reports directly to Robert Bosch Industrie­
treuhand KG as the shareholder, has responsibilities including assessing the appropriateness andeffectiveness of the tasks described and, if necessary, initiating remedial measures.
The corporate coordinating office for the risk
management system is responsible for making
this topic fit for the growing tasks ahead. In 2019,
this included the preparation and publication of arisk management directive, which is applicable to
the whole Bosch Group worldwide and will be
enforced in full in 2020. This directive serves toensure greater clarity regarding basic principles
and responsibilities. The corporate coordinating
office also began introducing a new, standardized
electronic risk information system across the

20
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Bosch Group in 2019, which supports risk recording and analysis and improves transparency. This
work also involved further developing the methodology for assessing risk. In addition, a new,cross-functional risk committee is tasked withidentifying significant risk areas across the divisions and analyzing disruptive technological andstrategic risks.
For further details on our risk management system and a description of significant risks, see the2019 annual report (page 58 et seq.). The main
antitrust and legal risks are also described there.

Compliance at Bosch
Compliance refers to the observance of legal
requirements and company guidelines. At Bosch,this is an integral part of our corporate values.
To this end, we have clearly and unequivocallyformulated our position on legal requirements
and ethical issues in our globally applicable Codeof Business Conduct. Together with the Boschvalues, it provides a foundation that we believe is
key to Bosch’s success in business. And because
responsible and lawful conduct is important
beyond company boundaries, we have formulated
our expectations of our business partners in acorresponding code of conduct (see the “Supply
chain” section).
Group-wide compliancemanagement system
Bosch’s group-wide compliance management
system (CMS) is the organizational framework
within which we work to ensure that our values
and rules are observed worldwide. The Chief
Compliance Officer (CCO) heads the Compliancecorporate sector and reports directly to the boardof management and the chairman of the supervisory board. In the regions and divisions, the COO
is assisted by the compliance offices and additional staff. In addition, the corporate compliancecommittee, comprising representatives from legal
services, internal audit, and HR, supports the
CCO in an advisory capacity.
In 2018 and 2019, we further developed the compliance organization and broadened its scope by
appointing new positions. In order to further
strengthen the organization’s independence, thecompliance officers of the regions were integrated into the corporate headquarters as of January
2020 by assigning them target responsibility. In
2020, we also want to integrate the complianceofficers of the divisions into the corporate headquarters. With these measures, we are pursuing
the goal of further strengthening the independence of the compliance officers while at thesame time maintaining the proximity of contact
persons to the divisions and regions. In doing so,
we continue to develop steadily from essentiallyrule-based compliance to a primarily valuesbased approach. We want to be a pioneer in values-based conduct that extends beyond merecom­pliance with the law.
We aim to keep our policies and procedures up todate, even in a constantly evolving environment.
That is why we continuously monitor the effectiveness of our CMS and develop it further. To thisend, we carry out regular risk analyses in selectedpriority areas. This includes, for example, theanalysis of corruption risks carried out worldwide
in 2019 with the aim of collecting information on
the thematic, regional, and organizational distribution of relevant risks. The audit was based on
predefined questionnaires and was performed
using a proprietary IT tool. In addition, we initiated another review of money laundering risks in
2019, which we will complete in 2020. Dependingon the results of the analyses, we define andimplement systematic measures to the extent
necessary.
To complete the control loop, the Internal Auditing corporate department tests compliance with

21
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and complianceinternal policies and processes in the course of
its regular internal audits. Both the corporate
department and its local units have corresponding authority to demand information and perform
audits. CMS design and effectiveness are also
covered by the internal audits. In addition, we
test our CMS system in external audits and consulting engagements, which have repeatedly
attested its effectiveness in recent years. We
always take the results as an opportunity to further develop and optimize our CMS.
Code of Business Conduct
The Code of Business Conduct provides guidance
for all Bosch associates on values-based andlegally irreproachable conduct. It outlines thebasic rules of conduct at the company and takes astance on ethical issues such as how to deal withinsider information, whether to accept gifts, andhow to avoid conflicts of interest. Our aim is toprovide clear guidance and, at the same time, toprotect our associates, our company, and ourbusiness partners.
The Code of Business Conduct also includes ourcommitment to social responsibility, in particularwith regard to respecting human rights and theprohibition of forced or child labor. Our code also
extends to our business partners. The Code ofBusiness Conduct is available to all associates in
33 languages and has been expressly communicated by the CEO to all associates exempt fromcollectively bargained agreements worldwide.
They have confirmed in writing their acknowledgment of the Code of Business Conduct. In addition, an abbreviated version of the Code with the
key messages has been distributed to all asso­
ciates.
Product Development CodeIn product development as well, we observe
clearly formulated basic principles as summarized in our Product Development Code andreflected in the Code of Business Conduct.

Our actions are always based on legal conductand our “Invented for life” ethos. That means
that, in case of doubt, legality and Bosch values
take precedence, including over customer wishes.
After all, Bosch products should deliver in everyday use the specified quality and safeguard
human life while conserving resources and protecting the environment to the greatest possible
extent. It is not permitted to develop functions forcycle/test recognition.
In 2019, we elaborated on and updated the Codeby preparing and adding a comprehensive appendix with examples and specific notes. As a result,
we were able to make it more accessible for users
and take their feedback on board.
Our ethical guiding principles, which go beyond
what is required by law, apply throughout the
Bosch Group and to all Bosch products and services. If a customer does not observe the principles of our Product Development Code, we donot take part in their invitations to tender. Since
mid 2017, for example, Bosch has no longer been
involved in customer projects in Europe for gasoline engines that are not designed to be equippedwith particulate filters. In the event of noncompliance with the Product Development Code in thecourse of existing business relations, measures
can encompass a delivery stop.
Dual use
Bosch does not conduct basic research for military applications. Some of our products featuretechnology that might permit dual use or deployment for military purposes. Dual use means thatthe products leaving our plant are in principle
constructed to enable their potential use in awide range of applications. We adhere to export
control regulations without exception in thisregard.


Code of BusinessConduct

22
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook


Code of Conduct for
Business Partners

Compliance ofbusiness partners

Training andcommunication

Bosch takes a holistic approach to corporatesocial responsibility. Therefore, clear policies
and procedures also apply with respect to ourbusiness partners. They are subject to a standardized and risk-based compliance check, forinstance. The depth and breadth of the check
depends on various factors, such as the nature of
the business relationship, and may also include
the ownership and HR structures. The findings
are assessed using a standard process and appropriate measures are defined and introduced asnecessary. These can range from a more in-depth
assessment right through to withdrawal from thebusiness relationship.

We use extensive training and communication
measures to sensitize our associates to compliance issues, including our social responsibility
and human rights. The compliance training program is available to all associates as Web-based
or classroom training courses. Participation is
mandatory for specific groups of associates,
including associates without collectively bargained contracts due to their special responsibility as specialists or managers, as well as numerous associates in selected areas or in special
functions.

In our Code of Conduct for Business Partners, wehave formulated what we expect from business
partners in terms of compliance. If necessary,
this is made the basis of the business relationship or a fixed contractual component.

770,000 compliancetraining courses
completed

Moreover, there are additional internal policies
that provide clear guidance on responsible conduct and define further processes with respect
to our business partners. The Purchasing and
Logistics Guideline, for example, contains clear
guidance for associates in these areas anddefines the regulatory framework with regard to
the supply chain. The “Supply chain” section ofthis report describes in detail how we discharge
our responsibility in the supply chain.

Our Web-based training courses are regularly
refined and updated with new content and current
developments. We also take into account feedback as we develop the course further. In 2019,
we published a total of four new Web-based training courses, one of which relates to the ProductDevelopment Code. Having conducted extensiveclassroom training on this topic in recent years
that reaches the entire target group, this Webbased training serves as a regular refresher
course that must be taken every two years. Further training includes updates on antitrust law,
export control, and donations (anti-corruption).
Mandatory worldwide, the current compliancetraining courses have been taken over 770,000
times.

 
 








 


























23| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Bosch Group profile| Sustainability strategy and organization| Corporate governance and compliance

Communication measures oncompliance
We want our associates to know, experience, and embrace what compliance means
at Bosch. For this purpose, we use the entire
range of internal communication channels
available. This is accompanied by further
measures designed to increase the visibilityof the topic of compliance and the pertinentcontact persons within the company. To raiseawareness of compliance, we implemented acompany-wide poster campaign and a series
of intranet articles as well as a complianceself-test for our associates, among other measures, in the reporting period. As part of thecampaign, the compliance officers carried out
local activities worldwide, such as ComplianceDays, trade show booths, videos, mailshots,newsletters, and articles published in in-housenewspapers.

Compliance dialogue
The compliance dialogue provides a forum for an
intensive and open exchange between managers
and associates on compliance issues. Compliance is also one of the topics discussed in theannual feedback talks held between associates
and supervisors. In the reporting year, we expanded the compliance dialogue by revising existing
content to make it more user-friendly and tailoredto the target groups as well as adding new content.



















 









  










 Complaint
mechanisms andwhistleblower system
If there is any suspicion of possible misconduct,such as a violation of applicable law or the Codeof Business Conduct, associates as well as business partners and other third parties can submit
a report – also anonymously – to the complianceorganization. To this end, we have set up a global
whistleblower system that is available in 14 languages on the Internet and our intranet. In somecountries, it is also possible to report concernsby telephone. To help users, the whistleblower
system offers predefined reporting categories by
topic, but any other topics – such as possible violations of human rights – can, of course, also bereported. Aside from this option, Bosch associates can also directly contact their superior or therespective compliance officer in their division or
region. The compliance organization follows up
all reports without delay and involves additional
experts in individual cases. Cases are dealt within the local language, and progress and status arerecorded in a central database and monitored.
In 2019, a total of 883 reports (previous year:652) were recorded using the whistleblower system. Any incidents reported through the systemthat are not compliance-related are handed overto the respective specialist departments for further processing. For instance, HR is responsible
for handling cases of discrimination. We haveseen a steady increase in the number of reports
over the last few years, a development we primarily attribute to the comprehensive measures in
the field of compliance and the resulting
increased awareness of compliance issues.

Whistleblower system

24
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Products

Our products can be found in many areas of everyday life – athome or in the car, at work or at leisure. Our “Invented for life”
ethos stands for quality, reliability, and safety – and for the factthat our products fascinate people and improve their quality oflife. To ensure that it stays that way in the future, we conduct
research and development work on innovative solutions andtechnologies that make life easier and safer, conserve resources,
and create economic added value for our customers.

25| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society

30,000

software developers

6.1

billion euros
invested in researchand development

6,000
patent applications

1,000


expertsin artificial intelligence26
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

2.1 Management approach

Bosch has defined an ambition for its products:“Invented for life.” We draw on the unique knowledge and technical expertise of our associates
and partners to improve the quality of life of people the world over with innovative and inspiring
products and services. We make homes more
comfortable and resource efficient, enable emission-free and safe mobility, and develop productsthat protect the environment and conserve
resources.
Our four business sectors Mobility Solutions,
Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, andEnergy and Building Technology are leading players in their respective fields. With them, Boschoffers a unique product portfolio, although themarket and competitive conditions of individual
business units differ substantially in some cases.
This diversity and complexity is both a challenge
and a source of motivation for us. The basic ethical principles summarized in our Product Development Code apply equally to all business sectors (also see the “Company | Corporate governance and compliance” section).
We underline the importance of our products’sustainability by anchoring corresponding aspects
in four thematic areas of our target vision for sustainability: In climate and urbanization, we aim to
reduce our ecological footprint and to contributeto environmental protection; health is all aboutkeeping people and the environment from harm;
and while globalization deals with the ecologicaland social risks in the supply chain. This results
in a clear requirements profile for our products
across the entire life cycle from production anduse to disposal.

Strategy forsustainable products
With our EHS strategy for sustainable products,
we consider opportunities and risks throughout
our products’ life cycles. We are stepping up to
the challenge of climate change with new building
technology concepts – for example, for more sustainable room cooling and alternative drive technologies, including electric mobility. Known as
sector coupling, the deployment of renewablesources of energy to reduce the use of fossil fuelsin other sectors also presents opportunities for
the Bosch Group. After all, networked systems
will be indispensable in the future in order to
respond flexibly when conditions change in the
power supply system or on the electricity market.
We see risks in relation to our products’ sustainability above all as regards the complex supply
chains and the materials used with respect tosubstances of concern (SoC). This is an area inwhich we set high standards on the quality andperformance of our suppliers, and we factor insustainability criteria. When it comes to the materials used, we pursue a consistent application of
our MaCS (Material Data Management for Compliance and Sustainability) system. We also aim
to keep the ecological footprint of our products
to a minimum at the end of their life cycle – true
to the principle of a closed-loop or circular
economy.
Life cycle assessments
Based on the idea of a closed-loop or circular
economy, we have been systematically conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs) for all major
product groups since 2017. Product-specific environmental aspects are evaluated in each individual life cycle phase – from purchasing to produc-

27| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

Use of substances of concern
With respect to the use of materials, we are subject to a large number of legal and industry-specific requirements, including from the European
Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) andthe Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the
United States.
Bosch is continuously working to identify substances of concern (SoC) in its products andprocesses, use substitutes, and reduce or altogether avoid hazardous substances in the longterm wherever possible.
For example, we want to dispense with substances on the REACH candidate list in new
developments to the extent technically possible. Our Design for Environment (DfE) internal
standard, which among other things defines
the requirements for handling SoC, supports
product development in this respect. If SoC are
unavoidable in the production process for technical reasons, hazard assessments are carriedout to ensure suitable protective measures aretaken when handling such substances.
To efficiently manage materials prohibitions andrestrictions, in particular for products, we use
our central system MaCS (Material Data Man-

tion and use through to disposal. This includes,for example, the use of materials, including raw
materials and SoC, the consumption of energy
and resources in the use phase, recycling and theuse of recycled materials, and remanufacturing.
Step one of the multistage process requires that
relevant aspects and phases are classified andagement for Compliance and Sustainability).
This allows us to check and track the legal andindustry-specific framework as well as additional
internal requirements and, if necessary, takesuitable action. To this end, both the material
data of our suppliers, as made available to us via
systems such as the International Material Data
System (IMDS), and the parts lists of our product development are fed into MaCS.
Our specifications to our suppliers regarding
SoC are applicable throughout the company andare based on European regulations, regulations
outside Europe insofar as they impose stricter
requirements, industry standards such as the
Global Automotive Declarable Substance List
(GADSL), and customer specifications. These
requirements are enshrined in the Bosch standard N2580 “Prohibition and declaration ofsubstances.” In some cases, the standard goes
far beyond what is required by law. We require
our suppliers worldwide to apply the N2580
standard and report back on this via a definedprocess. The standard’s content is reviewed andupdated every six months by an expert grouprepresenting all operating units. Supplementary
to the N2580 standard, our Conflict Raw Materials Policy governs the handling of conflict minerals (also see the “Supply chain” section).

prioritized. In a next step, a uniform evaluation
scheme can be used to analyze performance foreach aspect. For instance, we identify potential
for reducing weight or volume or for minimizing
greenhouse gases in the respective divisions. In
some cases, such as for new technologies, we
also perform these analyses in full compliancewith ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.

Bosch standard N2580

28
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

LCAs cover 50 percent ofsales revenue volume

LCAs now cover around 50 percent of our sales
revenue volume. As a result, we have alreadybeen able to identify and capture concrete
improvement potential. In the area of materials,
we have since achieved considerable savings interms of the weight and volume of the materials
used. An analysis as part of the LCAs of the recyclability of the materials we use revealed a range
between 20 and almost 100 percent, dependingon the composition of materials.
2 | 01
Life cycle assessments
B2B | vehicle component (example)
Raw materials

End of
life

4
3
2
1
0

Use

Production

Transport

Packaging

B2C | boiler (example)
Raw materials

End of
life

4
3
2
1
0

Use

Production

Transport

Packaging

Our quality policy
Quality guides our actions and our brand promise. The products we deliver meet the highest
standards of quality and reliability. This applies
to all our products – regardless of where they are
produced or where they are used. Our binding
quality principles apply to the entire BoschGroup. Quality management is coordinated andsteered by the corporate department for quality.
Local officers are responsible for operational
implementation at individual sites. The majorityof our development and production sites have aquality management system certified according
to ISO 9001. At sites that manufacture vehicle
components, the system is certified according to
the IATF 16949 standard. Based on ISO 9001, thestandard was developed by the International
Automotive Task Force (IATF).
In view of our extensive product portfolio, a large
number of different laws and regulations on quality apply to us worldwide. We take these requirements on board already in the product evolution
process, and we have defined various policies forthat purpose. Applicable throughout the company, the Quality Policy and Quality Management
guideline plays a central role. It provides a framework for setting quality objectives and commits
the organization to continuously working to
improve the quality management system. Our
associates can access all guidelines, central
directives, and requirements related to quality
on corresponding databases, among other media.
Documents on the state of the art and productspecific implementation are to be increasingly
provided in the future as well.
In order to ensure utmost quality, we are also
involved in task groups for updating standards.
In the reporting year, for example, in connection
with the quality committee of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), we published a standard together with the Automotive

29| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

Industry Action Group that serves to avoid errors
and increase technical safety in the development
and production process. We also promote excellence in quality within the company, an aspectthat the board of management regularly recog­
nizes with the internal Bosch Quality Award.
Product safety
The safety of our products is an important element of our value proposition and a key quality
seal. Consequently, we take care to ensure product safety in all phases of the product evolution
process. Starting with the development phase,
we attach great importance to safety tests andcomply with ISO 26262, which concerns the functional safety of systems, for example. Products
are only released for large-scale production if all
aspects of safety have been clarified, the relevant
specifications are satisfied, and this is substantiated by appropriate tests.
Training ensures that all associates act in accordance with our quality standards. For example,
executives regularly instruct their associates on
the basics of product liability with regard to
ISO 26262. For associates who can influence
product quality, our compliance training also
includes Web-based modules on product safety
and product liability, which must be renewed in
set cycles. Advanced classroom modules enable
the acquisition of in-depth knowledge, for example, for the product liability officers in the divisions. Once a year, they meet at a conference toshare information and their experiences.
Customer satisfaction
For Bosch, quality and the trust of customers inour competence is a top priority. The diverse customer services offered by our divisions range
from a knowledge database with interactive learning programs though to maintenance advice and aservice portal for energy-related refurbishment.
At the same time, we make use of all opportunities to engage in direct and indirect dialogue withcustomers – for example, through our service hot-lines, by email, or in direct talks. In fact, we view
our customers’ feedback as a reliable yardstickagainst which we can measure our actions. In themarkets where we generate the greatest sales revenue, we ascertain Bosch’s corporate reputationeach year. At present, the survey covers 13 countries. The results are contrasted and validated
against benchmark values of other companies
with global operations in order to derive measures together with regional managers.

Communication andinformation
We also refer to our Bosch values for guidanceas we market our products. Rules for advertisingcommunication are enshrined in a manual thatdefines four central principles: value cultural
diversity, make reliable and credible statements,
be fair and respect national rules, and apply astandard to match our products’ quality standards. Our communication is fact-based. Advertising can be humorous, creative, and competitive
but never unprofessional or untrue. To ensurethat our principles are applied and messages are
consistent across the complete media mix worldwide, marketing communication is organized centrally and closely coordinated with the regionalorganizations and divisions. Product marketing ismostly managed locally by the respective divisions.
We consider it a matter of course to provide concrete and up-to-date information on our wide
range of products, and we ensure compliancewith the corresponding information and documentation obligations. For example, in the automotive and power tools business, safety data
sheets are also available online. Where necessary, instruction manuals are provided together
with the products for our end customers.

30
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

2.2 Product development

6.1 billion euros
invested in researchand development

We take environmental aspects into account early
on in the development stage and have therefore
anchored environmentally compatible productdevelopment (design for environment, DfE) in the
product evolution process (also see the “Environment” section). In the Bosch DfE standard, we
have laid down the corresponding principles in
concrete design and manufacturing guidelines fordevelopers and product managers on subjects
such as materials efficiency or recyclability.
Accordingly, environmental aspects must be
assessed using checklists and taken into accountin every development process.

year: 68,700) associates – roughly 18 percent(previous year: 17 percent) of our workforce –are active in the Bosch research and development
network, with 1,450 of them in the Research andAdvance Engineering corporate sector (previous
year: some 1,400). Bosch research is active at
12 locations in eight countries. In addition, there
are 125 development sites around the globe. We
promote the exchange of knowledge and methods
between the business sectors in order to create
and use synergies. Centers of competence foruniversal issues such as plastics and adhesive
technology are just one example.

Specially trained DfE coordinators support thedivisions involved, helping them with requirements and questions relating to sustainable product design. Together with the divisions, the EHS
and Sustainability corporate sector works to continually refine the approach. All divisions are incontact with each other through the DfE network.

In 2019, Bosch invested some 6.1 billion euros in
research and development (previous year: 6.0 billion euros), which corresponds to 7.8 percent
of sales revenue (previous year: 7.6 percent). Of
this amount, 3.7 billion euros were channeledinto software development, to which more than
30,000 developers are assigned, while around
1,000 associates work on AI. The Bosch Center
for Artificial Intelligence (BCAI) has around
300 million euros at its disposal until 2021.

To sensitize our associates to the importance ofsustainability in our products, we use training
courses as well as targeted communication
measures. These include presentations on our
LCAs, intranet articles, and incentives throughcompetitions. In 2019, for example, an internal
EHS Award was presented for the first time inthe category “sustainable products.”

Researchand development
72,600 associates
in research anddevelopment

Purpose-driven research has been the basis of
success at Bosch for more than 130 years. With
our innovations, we want to contribute to improving quality of life and live up to our “Invented forlife” ethos. At present, some 72,600 (previous

Our commitment to innovation is reflected in thelarge number of patent applications filed by
Bosch. Even if they are generally somewhat indecline in times of digitization, we were able tofile around 6,000 patents in 2019, thus reaffirming our claim to innovation leadership.
Cooperation with several hundred start-ups is an
important pillar of our innovation policy. In 2019,
we presented the Open Bosch Award for the firsttime for projects that excel through outstanding
cooperation between a start-up and Bosch. Alsoin 2019, we launched the “grow” global network,a platform for start-ups. It offers start-ups andtheir teams a framework that challenges andencourages them. We have already seen a num-31
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

ber of success stories with this approach, among
them the QuakeNet earthquake monitoring andalarm system in Japan.

2 | 02
Patent applications
Bosch Group 2017–2019

5,812

2017

5,996

2018

5,926

2019

Our experts operate in a worldwide network andmaintain dialogue with leading partners. We also
support research in the areas of environment,
energy, and mobility that are relevant to Boschthrough university partnerships and long-term

funding programs. In this way, interdisciplinary
teams are created with diverse perspectives fromacademia and business. Examples of our broad
commitment are our membership on the board oftrustees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) and ourcollaboration with Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, United States, on research into AI.
Our fields of innovation
The sheer scale of our research and development
activities demands a clear structure and consistent management of all stages – from idea toproduct. Ten areas of innovation, derived fromglobal megatrends and technology drivers, therefore set the priorities (also see Fig. 2 | 04). Owing
to the size and diversity of our company, there
is a multitude of potential applications for the
results – producing innovations that fascinate.
Many ideas that were developed to market maturity would not have been possible without the findings of our internal research. The range of products that originated here extends from automatic
emergency braking and motorcycle stability control to software that networks machines witheach other and sheds transparency on machineand process data (also see the “Products | Sustainable products” section).

2 | 03
From megatrend to innovation
Megatrends, such as:

Digitization

Globalization

Urbanization

Computers andcommunication

Energy and environmental technology

Robotics
and AI

Market demand

Corporate research innovations

Technology drivers
Scientific environment, including:Some 6,000 patentapplications

32
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

2 | 04Ten fields of innovation

Self-aware andself-developing
systems

Energyconversion andinfrastructure

Future ofhealthcare
solutions
Quantumtechnologies

Electric mobility

Connected
and intelligent
systems

User-centriccomputing
Disruptive
materials andsustainability

Networked systems
The Internet of things (IoT) is changing the world
we live in. It creates new conditions for individual
mobility of the future and makes homes smart
and factories more productive. We want to enable
and play a role in shaping this change. We are
increasingly adding software development to ourexisting hardware business. In this way, we areconstantly exploring new connectivity opportunities that have a positive impact on the environment, conserve resources and energy, and makepeople’s lives easier. We thus see ourselves wellon the way to becoming one of the world’s leading IoT companies (also see the “Company” section). Thanks to our broad portfolio and our competence in sensor technology, software, and services, Bosch produces groundbreaking solutions
for smart homes, smart cities, connected mobility, agriculture, energy, and connected manufacturing. Our strategic objective is to create solutions for a connected world.
Bosch.IO, our subsidiary for IoT, currently has
more than 900 digital and IoT experts who work
closely with our 30,000 developers. To date theyFullyautonomous
systems
Clean air,water, andfood supplies

Connected manufacturing
Over the past four years, Bosch has generated
sales revenue totaling more than 1.5 billion
euros with Industry 4.0 applications. By 2022,
we aim to generate sales revenue of morethan one billion euros annually in this field.
Our applications make work in manufacturing
and logistics easier, more efficient, and more
flexible. For example, a new autonomoustransport system from Bosch Rexroth links
warehouses and production and ensures reliability both in planning and during operation.
Our Nexeed software simplifies processes byharmonizing production data, compiling information, and systematically making it available.
This allows an increase in productivity at individual Bosch locations of up to 25 percent.

have initiated more than 250 international projects. With the Bosch IoT Suite, we are pursuing
our “We connect everyThing” vision. This suite

33| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

already allows us to link up more than ten million
sensors, devices, and machines with their users
and corporate applications: from oyster farms
and welding robots to smart-home gateways, cargo trains, and charging points for electric vehicles.
In partnership with the energy supplier EnBW, we
are currently developing solutions for a networked
urban infrastructure. Be it street lamps with charging points for electric vehicles or ground sensors
to determine which parking spaces are occupied– the Bosch IoT Suite provides a standardized
technological foundation. Our “Battery in the
Cloud” service also extends the life of batteries
in electric cars with smart software functions.
Artificial intelligence
For Bosch, AI is a key technology that will enable
numerous other innovations in the future andimprove people’s lives. By 2025, the goal is for all
Bosch products to either be equipped with AI or
for AI to have played a part in their development.
At the BCAI, with its approximately 250 associates, we are strengthening the company’s existing
expertise in the field of AI. Founded in 2017, andwith seven locations worldwide, the center conducts research to make AI safer, more robust, andmore explainable to people. Fields of application
for AI can be found in all business sectors – frommobility to manufacturing and agriculture.
As part of an extensive training program, almost
20,000 associates will take part in AI training overthe next two years. The program includes training
formats for executives, engineers, and AI developers and also addresses guidelines for using AI
responsibly. In the reporting year, we drew up ourown code of ethics for AI that addresses issues of
AI safety and ethics.

Together with partners such as the Max Planck
Institute for Intelligent Systems, the universities
of Tübingen and Stuttgart, and other companies,
Bosch is a founding member of Cyber Valley
Tübingen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, which was founded in 2016 and is one of
the largest research cooperations in Europe in thefield of AI. Under the umbrella of Cyber Valley,
new research groups and two professorships arebeing created. The endowed professorship formachine learning will be financed by Bosch overten years with a total of 5.5 million euros. Boschis also planning to build the new Bosch AI Campus in Tübingen, where some 700 experts will beworking on applied AI from the end of 2022.
Organized by the BCAI and Cyber Valley, theannual AI CON symposium brings together
leading AI experts from industry and research.
In 2019, more than 300 experts exchanged viewson the European strengths in AI in an industrial
environment.

Bosch AI Young Researcher Award
With the Bosch AI Young Researcher Award,
Bosch has been supporting promising young
AI scientists since 2019. Their outstandingachievements contribute to making AI safer,more robust, and more explainable to people.
The jury also evaluates the entries submitted according to criteria such as relevance,
scientific quality, and innovation. In 2019,the 50,000-euro prize money for foundational
research into reinforcement learning wasawarded to a researcher from Pompeu Fabra
University, Barcelona. Algorithms learn intuitively and by experimenting how their environment is designed and which rules apply.

Read more about AI and
the AI code of ethics in
Spotlights magazine34
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

IT security and dataprotection
Bosch Product Security
Incident Response Team
(PSIRT)

Trust that systems and data are protected against
manipulation is a decisive determinant of successfor IoT technology. Consequently, IT security isa fundamental element of Bosch’s quality standards. Our data protection and data security
principles are documented in our IoT Principles.
In this context, we take into consideration therequirements of our customers in particular: it
is our duty to handle their data in a secure andtransparent way and protect their privacy. Since
mid 2018, overall responsibility for IT security atBosch rests with the Chief Digital Officer. A separate steering committee meeting is devoted toreporting twice a year to the board of management.
We take a holistic approach to information secu­
rity and always look at the entire life cycle. Thisis true with regard to data protection and also thesecurity of computer networks and infrastructure
within our company, as well as with respect to the
IT security of our products, for which we have set
up a separate corporate office. Since 2014, aclearly documented process ensures that IT security has a broad foothold in development. Related
guidelines and central directives cover all relevant areas of information security at Bosch. The“Information security and data protection” groupguideline, which is binding for all associates,
defines duties, processes, and responsibilities,
and sets out specific rules on how to handle information. Technical rules on operating servers andother IT systems are contained in the “IT security”
central directive, which also applies throughout

the group. All central directives on IT security arerevised and updated annually. With our subsidiary ESCRYPT, we further possess the expertise
to develop solutions for secure communicationand the secure operation of our products.
There is no such thing as a foolproof security
system. That is why we have established the
Bosch Product Security Incident Response Team
(PSIRT). The team serves as a central point ofcontact for security researchers, partners, andcustomers who detect vulnerabilities in our products. Security gaps can also be notified throughour whistleblower system (also see the “Company | Corporate governance and compliance” section). When a solution has been found, we makeit transparent online for all our customers.
To strengthen trust in digital systems and products, we launched the Digital Trust Forum in
2019: at the initiative of Bosch, representativesof leading international associations and organizations met in Berlin and discussed the questionof how to create and ensure trust in digital systems. At a political level, we also advocate clear
cybersecurity rules in the European Union (alsosee the “Society | Political lobbying” section).

35| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

2.3 Sustainable products

We want to contribute to sustainable development with products that are consistently alignedwith our “Invented for life” ethos. Whether with
innovative technologies for sustainable, safe, andinspiring mobility, with solutions for smart energy
management, or offers for future-oriented energy
and building technology – some products directly
improve people’s quality of life, such as the
Bosch Healthcare Solutions (BHCS) productportfolio.

Contribution to themobility transformation
Bosch has a clear picture of the future of mobility
and of how to make a success of the move toalternatives. The goal is to ensure that the mobility of the future has no impact on global warming
and air quality and that it remains affordable forthe general public. The key to achieving this is a
powertrain mix of highly efficient combustion
engines and state-of-the-art electric motors. As asystems supplier for state-of-the-art injection anddrive systems as well as mobility solutions, wehelp automakers improve energy efficiency andpursue an open technology strategy to further
reduce emissions.
Diesel and gasoline powertrains
The latest technological innovations can make theinternal combustion engine even more efficient,so that it uses even fewer resources. This is particularly important for aircraft, ships, and trucks,
which cannot be easily converted to a batteryelectric drive. We will therefore continue toexploit the potential of the diesel engine, whichemits up to 15 percent less CO₂ than a gasoline
engine.

In 2018, we showed that with the latest Boschdiesel technology, nitrogen oxide emissions
can be reduced well below the current limits inreal-life road traffic. A combination of advanced
fuel-injection technology, a newly developed air
management system, and smart temperature
management has made this advance possible.
Moreover, modifications to engines and a newgeneration of particulate filters are significantly
reducing untreated particulate emissions fromgasoline engines. Greater use of renewable synthetic fuels could open up additional potential forthe combustion engine. Such fuels could reduce
CO₂ emissions from existing vehicles as well, as
they can be mixed with conventional fuel.
Electric driveElectric mobility will shape the mobility of the
future. Having received electromobility orders
worth some 13 billion euros in the period fromthe beginning of 2018 to mid 2019 alone, Boschis driving this development forward, including
large-scale production projects for the electric
drive of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Bosch technology is already found in morethan 1.5 million electric vehicles and hybrids
worldwide. In order to rapidly increase this number and be the technology partner of choice for
automobile manufacturers, our strategy rests on
three pillars:
1. Systems expertise: Customers benefit from
Bosch’s expertise in intelligently linking all thecomponents in the powertrain. That is why wealso pursue broad systems expertise in thefield of electromobility: our portfolio encompasses the key components electric motors,
power electronics, and battery systems. Boschalso has extensive expertise in the entire electromobility ecosystem.

More than 1.5 million
electric vehicles
and hybrids with
Bosch technology

36Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

2. Energy efficiency: Bosch is already one of
the global market’s leading suppliers of electric motors and electric axle drives. To expand
this position, our engineers are working on
new generations of electric motors, inverters,
and battery systems. Next-generation thermal
management systems can increase the rangeof electric cars by up to 20 percent. That is
because the lower the power consumed by the
motor and powertrain, the longer the battery
lasts.
3. Standardization: We see standardization as
the basic condition for making mass-market
electromobility scalable and affordable. Take
our e-axle, for example: it integrates the motor,
power electronics, and transmission in a compact unit.
Electric drive with fuel cells
In the market for electric vehicles, start-ups arecompeting with established manufacturers. In
that constellation, Bosch sees itself not just as
systems supplier but also as an incubator forelectromobility across all vehicle classes. For
example, together with the U.S. start-up Nikola
Motor Company, we have developed a fuel celldrive for the Nikola Two Alpha heavy-duty electrictruck. The truck is equipped with the world’s firstelectrified dual-drive axle for heavy commercial
vehicles, combining the engine, drive electronics,
and transmission in a single unit.
We see great and lasting potential in fuel celldrive systems. According to our calculations, up
to 20 percent of all electric vehicles worldwide
will be powered by fuel cells by 2030. That is why
we are starting large-scale production of fuelcells for trucks and cars. For the production of
stacks – the heart of a fuel cell that converts
hydrogen into electrical power – we have been
cooperating with the Swedish manufacturer
Powercell Sweden AB since 2019. This techno­
logy is slated for market launch in 2023.

In the reporting year, we laid the foundation stone
for a new fuel cell center in Wuxi, China, with theaim of driving forward research and development
in all aspects of fuel cells and testing of components as well as complete systems. By the end of2021, we plan to set up a pilot production line forstacks there, which will be ready to start producing small series in 2022.

Energy efficiency andenergy management
Climate action and energy efficiency are core elements of our approach to sustainability. This isclearly attested to by our ambitious climate target(see the “Environment” section). Since almost all
our products require energy, however, there arealso numerous fields of action for us relating toenergy efficiency, which opens up new business
opportunities with both industrial customers andend consumers.
New business models with innovative energy
management are emerging, especially for the operators of networks and metering points, althoughservice providers and retailers likewise stand tobenefit. In the private sector, our energy-efficienthousehold appliances also contribute to energy
savings. Since 2001, the electricity consumptionof refrigerators has fallen by 55 percent, that ofwashing machines by as much as 68 percent, andthat of dishwashers by 36 percent.
Sustainable energy management
Bosch.IO sets new standards for simple andsmart energy management. With products suchas the Smart Meter Gateway Manager and software for networking distributed energy systems,
we create solutions for tomorrow’s energy market, which has to manage the fluctuating output
of renewable sources. By intelligently managing
demand and supply, it is possible to cushion

37| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

peaks in output or demand and to make the entire
energy system more efficient. The environmental
benefit is evident: the system can absorb more
renewable energy, CO₂ emissions are reduced,
and fewer power lines are needed.

Bosch Intelligent Microgrid Asia

Bosch Rexroth supports machine manufacturers
and industrial users with their efforts to improvetheir energy efficiency. The “4EE – Rexroth forEnergy Efficiency” concept comprises four levers:
systematic comprehensive analysis of complete
automation, energy-efficient products and systems with optimized efficiency, recovery and storage of excess energy such as heat recovery, andconsistent demand management.

With our technologies, we contribute to astable power supply worldwide – even inremote areas – and thus improving people’squality of life. For example, in the small village of Nimasi in eastern Indonesia, the village has the region’s only hospital, which has
been plagued by power outages. In response,
Bosch’s Corporate Research team in Southeast Asia developed a smart, off-grid power
solution – Bosch Intelligent Microgrid Asia,
or BIMA for short. Since 2017, BIMA has
been combining electricity from a variety ofsources, among them solar panels, batteries,
and generators, while managing the flow ofelectricity using cloud systems and AI. The
project now guarantees the hospital a stable
and inexpensive electricity grid, enabling thepermanent provision of healthcare for thepeople in the region.

Energy and building technology
Energy and building technology offers great
potential for Bosch. The biggest lever for achieving the climate targets for residential and industrial real estate is thermotechnology. At present,
only about 17 percent of all industrial plants inGermany are state of the art, and in residentialbuildings, only 19 percent of all installed heating
systems work efficiently or use renewable energies. Using modern heating technology across theboard in Germany alone could save approximately
31 million metric tons of CO₂ annually – roughly
equivalent to the volume produced by Berlin eachyear. With our products, we want to make a con­tribution to leveraging this potential. Bosch condensing boilers are already operating at their
physical limits, with a seasonal energy efficiency
ratio of 94 percent, and with the corresponding
controls, they satisfy the requirements of energyefficiency class A+.

On an industrial level, our energy management
dovetails the evaluation of energy and processdata with connected manufacturing solutions.
At the heart of the approach is the cloud-based
software solution Energy Platform, which collects
and analyzes energy data. For this purpose, measured values from power meters and sensors,
information from building management systems,
and production metrics such as unit volumes are
combined and key figures are calculated to evaluate energy and resource efficiency. The platform
is already being used at over 80 of our plants.

Bosch Thermotechnology focuses on the efficientand low-emission generation of steam, heat, electricity, cooling, and compressed air and theirseamless integration into processes. The technological components are optimally matched toeach other so that they can be combined to form
an efficient energy system. In addition, we offer aholistic approach from planning support and project planning to worldwide service.

Read more about theEnergy Platform in
Spotlights magazine38
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

The stationary fuel cell
Bosch is driving fuel cell technology forward– not only as a mobile solution in cars andtrucks, but also for stationary use. Since
2018, we have been researching possible
applications for what are known as solid-oxide
fuel cells together with Ceres Power from theUnited Kingdom. The technology is steadily
gaining in importance as a micro power plant
due to its flexible application options andscalability. It can be used for the distributed,
low-emissions supply of electricity to charging
points, factories, data centers, hospitals, andentire cities. In 2019, we commissioned a first
prototype at the Homburg site in order to test
the technology in our own environment anddevelop it to production readiness.

Read more about BSH’s
leasing projects forhousehold appliances in
Spotlights magazine

Smart-home owners can realize further efficiency
gains if, for example, smart thermostats incorporate regional weather data in temperature control
systems. Bosch Thermotechnology provides support here with its Energy Manager. The software
ensures that energy consumption, power generation, and energy storage are managed efficiently
across different components such as heat pumps,
photovoltaic arrays, and, in the future, electricvehicles. In this way, it intelligently combines thevarious components and enables both the useof self-generated electricity and efficient heatgeneration.

Conservation of
resources and acircular economy
In many divisions, we have made great progressin terms of resource and energy efficiency. We
are now turning our attention to the opportunities
of a closed-loop or circular economy (also see
Fig. 2 | 05). Here, too, we want to drive development forward and offer our customers products
and services that are high quality, sustainable,
and environmentally friendly at the same time.
We have sent a clear signal underlining the importance of the topic by incorporating our subsidiary C-ECO (Circular Economy Solutions GmbH).
It exploits the opportunities presented by aclosed-loop or circular economy and offers related services. In 2019, 24 associates versed inremanufacturing and reverse logistics generated
sales revenue of 15.5 million euros (previous
year: 14.3 million euros). In the Netherlands andBelgium, BSH Hausgeräte is offering its customers a leasing concept for refrigerators, washingmachines, and dryers as part of two pilot projects
and can thus also ensure that the appliances arerecycled.

2 | 05
Changing perspectives: household appliances as an example
Avoid risks 
1992
Avoid
hazardous
substances(e.g. CFCs)

Use opportunities
2006
Improve energy
efficiency

2015
Improve resource
efficiency

202X
Circular economy

39| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

A circular economy
and product longevity
A long product life is important to us,
although it can sometimes conflict with othersustainability-related objectives. New household appliances are generally much moreenergy efficient than older ones. And in theautomotive sector, new cars typically outperform predecessor models in terms of fuelconsumption and safety. Where repair work
is feasible and advisable, we stock suitablereplacement parts. In the industrial business,
we keep replacement parts in stock, enabling
repairs and maintenance work on production
systems over very long periods of time.
As part of a dissertation in the field of thermotechnology, Bosch is also currently investigating how value creation can be designed
to achieve a closed-loop or circular economy.
The study focuses on different approaches fora more efficient use of energy and resources
and analyzes the relationship between lifetimeand efficiency. In addition, it explores how
recycling can be factored into product design
and the extent to which remanufacturing –that is, the overhaul of used equipment tomeet newer standards – can have a positiveeffect on the environment.

Resource efficiency
One focus of the LCAs for our products is placedon the efficient use of resources. This starts withhow the products are made (also see the “Environment” section) and covers their packaging anduse right through to recycling. Along the entire
value chain, we are continuously looking forpotential to further reduce the use of resources.
Time and again, new solutions are found in thevarious divisions:▶▶ Bosch Power Tools is the first manufacturer
in the industry to offer a toolbox that is madeof 90 percent recycled material. The highproportion of recycled material reduces CO₂
emissions in production. In 2019, Power Tools
already produced over 1,000,000 of theseenvironmentally friendly cases.
▶▶ The Jet Wiper windshield wiper dispenses andplaces washing fluid so effectively that around50 percent of the amount previously used issufficient. This enabled us to downsize the tankfor the washing fluid and to reduce CO₂.
▶▶ As part of the eXchange program, we haveestablished a sustainable exchange of series
components for vehicles: we take back worn ordefective replacement parts from repair shops
and recondition them or replace them.
▶▶ Bosch Power Tools has been able to reduce theuse of steel, aluminum, and plastic in two drills
and one grinder. The modifications save about
200 metric tons of raw materials annually andwon first place in the category “sustainableproducts” of the company’s internal EHS
Award.
▶▶ Our modern washing machines have an intelligent i-DOS dispensing system that recognizes
load, type of textile, and degree of soiling oflaundry and then decides on the required
amount of detergent. This saves up to 38 percent of detergent and up to ten liters of water
per wash cycle.

40
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

SafetySafety is an elementary component of our quality
standards. Together with our partners from theautomotive industry, we work on solutions tomake the roads even safer. In buildings, our sensors ensure fire protection and safety. And anyone
working with tools from Bosch can feel sure to beon the safe side.

Read more about
Pyrofuse in Spotlights
magazine

Safe mobility
With its electronic vehicle safety systems, such as
ABS, ESP®, and the emergency braking assistant,Bosch is one of the pioneers in active and passive
driving safety. We also create extra safety throughour expertise in digitization. For example, we offera cloud-based solution that is designed to warn
wrong-way drivers and other road users within ten
seconds via push messaging. Our “Pyrofuse” system ensures that the power in the electric vehicle
is switched off within fractions of a second in theevent of an accident. And our Virtual Visor transparent digital sun visor is also set to make driving
safer: thanks to AI, the transparent LCD only darkens windshield areas through which sunlightwould shine into the driver’s eyes. The rest of thedisplay remains transparent without obscuring
the driver’s view of the road.
In addition, we are continuously further developing our camera technology for driver assistancesystems and will use AI in the future to deliver
even more reliable results. For example, our new
camera technology increases the reliability withwhich surroundings are perceived and makes roadtraffic safer through intelligent object recognition.
This new camera technology is used in vehicles
since 2019.
Occupational health and safety
In the Power Tools division, solutions for greater
health and safety are important criteria that set
Bosch apart from the competition. With Boschprofessional power tools, customers expect towork efficiently and without harm to their health.
To give an example: when dismantling scaffolding, several working steps usually have to be completed simultaneously. Our new cordless impact
wrench is programmed to stop the motor before anut is completely loosened. This prevents nuts
from falling off.
The GSA 18V-32 Professional cordless reciprocating saw also offers long-term protection against
health hazards by means of active vibration control: with an opposite movement, a counterbalancing weight constantly reduces vibrations sothat virtually none are transmitted to the user’s
body. The same anti-vibration principle is also
used for hammer drills.
Safety in building technology
The Bosch Twinguard system combines a smarthome smoke detector and an air-quality sensor.
This system not only serves fire prevention purposes but also measures room temperature,humidity, and air quality – and sends a notification to the user’s smartphone when any of thereadings are outside the optimum range. The
Bosch Smart Home Alarm system also provides
reliable protection against burglary by providing
information in the event of an alarm via acoustic
signals on-site and via notification to the smartphone. In order to quickly clear escape and rescue routes in the event of fire, all connected
blinds are opened automatically.

Health and nutrition
In view of planet Earth’s limited resources,
population growth poses a challenge. The mainconcern in this regard is safeguarding healthy
livelihoods. With our core competencies in sensor
technology as well as software and services, weoffer connected products and services in thefields of healthcare and medical technology and41| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Product development| Sustainable products

develop new solutions for agriculture that dovetail economy and ecology in a meaningful way.
And we also contribute to improving health in ourother business sectors.
Innovative therapy management
The subsidiary BHCS entered the market for medical technology in 2016 with the objective of making a contribution to people’s health. Its range of
products and services is based on the BoschGroup’s core competencies: sensor-based data
harvesting, software for evaluation, and services
for analysis. Bosch’s research and development
corporate sector provides the scientific basis,
while the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart
lends its support in development and testing.
With the world’s first Vivatmo breath analysis
device from BHCS, asthma patients can also measure the degree of airway inflammation at homeand – similar to how diabetics monitor their blood
sugar levels – monitor their condition closely andprecisely and share the results with their physician using an app. BHCS makes it possible toquickly obtain laboratory results with Vivalytic, auniversal platform for molecular diagnosis that
performs fully automated tests.
Reduced noise emissions
Noise can negatively affect concentrated work
and well-being. For this reason, we are constantly
working to reduce the noise emissions of our products, especially our household appliances. Extractor hoods and dishwashers with EcoSilence Drive
and vacuum cleaners with the SilenceSound system keep noise emissions to a minimum. Thanks
to Bosch ProSilence technology, our high-performance lawnmowers are also the quietest on themarket. In the Advanced Rotak models, for example, we were able to lower the guaranteed soundpower level from 90 to 86 decibels – cutting mowing noise by 60 percent.

Sustainable agriculture
Efficient agriculture that is mindful of the envi­
ronment can secure a balanced diet for people
worldwide while reducing pressure on the environment and resources. Sustainable agriculture
and high yields are not mutually exclusive. This isdemonstrated by our solutions in the field of sustainable agriculture, which range from drive systems for tractors and hydraulic solutions for agricultural vehicles to connected solutions for smart
farming. New business models such as Deepfield
Connect help farmers to optimize harvests or
make operating processes more efficient. For
instance, the Field Monitoring system relays temperature and humidity data directly from the field
to the smartphone. Algorithms combine weather
data with scientific knowledge so that users
always know the current growth phase of theirplants and receive recommendations for the efficient use of water and fertilizer.
With our Plantec sensor system, it is possible topredict with 92 percent accuracy whether a disease will befall tomato plants in a greenhouse:sensors installed in the greenhouse measuretemperature, sunlight, and carbon dioxide levels.
AI is used to analyze the various factors and linkthem to weather forecasts. If there is any uncertainty, users are sent an app-based risk notification.
With NEVONEX, we offer a comprehensive
strategy for digitization agriculture. The open
platform enables more efficient processes byconnecting and automating devices and workflows. The platform will initially be offered inselected European regions in 2020 and will later
be launched in North and Latin America. Together
with eight partners from the agricultural sector,
we received the silver Agritechnica Innovation
Award 2019 for NEVONEX.

Read more about smart
agriculture in Spotlights
magazine42
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Supply chain

Our supplier base is as heterogeneous and international as ourrange of products is varied and diverse. Against the backdrop of
global challenges, we recognize and assume our responsibility for theentire supply chain. It is important to us also to involve our suppliersin this respect. Together, we advocate climate action, environmental
protection, and conservation of resources. Fair working conditions
and competitive practices as well as respect for human rights are
likewise at the center of our attention and in line with the maximof our company founder Robert Bosch: “Be human and respecthuman dignity.”

43| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society

39.2


billion euros
in purchasing volume from around

40,000suppliers

1,600
4,500

suppliers surveyed
on conflict minerals

CSR quick scans44
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

3.1 Management approach

Business models, products, and materials
requirements are changing across markets worldwide and new supply chains are being established. At Bosch, we address these challenges
together with all parties involved – through closeand concerted collaboration beyond company
boundaries and national borders. We believe thattrust-based partnerships with our suppliers within the framework permitted by law are a basic
prerequisite for supply chain excellence.
By anchoring the aspect of sustainable supply
chains in the issue of globalization within our target vision of sustainability, we accord it strategic
importance. As a company that acts responsibly,
we look beyond the use of materials and resources at our locations. We support the German federal government’s National Action Plan (NAP) for
Human Rights.
Based on a functional, overarching strategy, we
ensure opportunity and risk management in the
supply chain and structured sustainability activities. Worldwide, some 37,000 associates work in
the Bosch purchasing and logistics organization.
They are involved in the entire product evolution
process – from the innovation phase to the startof production right through to the end of aftermarket supplies.

Some 40,000 suppliers

Purchasing volume ofaround 39.2 billion euros

Bosch has supply relationships in some 50 countries. We purchase direct and indirect materials
from a total of around 40,000 suppliers. Each day,more than 300 million parts – ranging from highprecision components to simple packaging materials – are delivered to the logistics bays of thearound 270 Bosch production facilities.
In total, the Bosch Group’s global purchasing volume is around 39.2 billion euros. Purchased components made of steel, aluminum, and plastic
account for a large part of the resources used inour supply chain: in most cases, these are semi-

finished products or finished components.
We purchase only a small proportion directly
as raw materials – around 1.8 billion euros of
our purchasing volume.
As part of our total cost of ownership (TCO)
approach, which takes into account significant
cost components such as freight costs and customs duties, we optimize transportation and keep
CO₂ emissions to a minimum.

Reducing CO₂ emissions in the
supply chain
In connection with joining the Science Based
Targets initiative (SBTi), Bosch also analyzed
emissions in the upstream and downstream
stages of its value chain. In our supply chain,
we have set ourselves the target of cutting
CO₂ emissions by 15 percent by 2030. We
will only be able to achieve this goal in close
cooperation with our suppliers.
For more information about how we cut
carbon emissions, see the “Environment”
section.

Minimum standards insupplier selection
We take into account sustainability aspects
already at the stage of selecting potential
suppliers.
Our business partners are checked against current sanctions lists in the course of the Sanctioned
Party List Screening. In addition, an automated ITbased compliance check has been applied since45| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Social and environmental requirements for suppliers| Supplier assessments| Further development of sustainability performance

3 | 01
Responsible supply chain management at Bosch

Requirements

Assessment

Further development▶▶ Basic principles of social
responsibility at Bosch▶▶ Sanctioned Party List▶▶ Individual measures▶▶ Supplier classification▶▶ Whistleblower system▶▶ Risk analysis▶▶ Reassessments▶▶ Supplier assessments▶▶ Training▶▶ Purchasing terms and conditions▶▶ Code of Conduct for Business
Partners▶▶ Supplier days▶▶ Agreements on quality andcorporate social responsibility

2017. It checks our potential business partners
against external compliance lists to identify any
potential violation of national and international
legislation and other standards. In case of any
doubt on completion of the check, the compliance officer initiates suitable measures together
with the purchasing officer. These can range fromtalks with the business partners through to withdrawal from the business relationship.
The supplier selection process also comprises
classification based on criteria such as quality,
cost, and supply reliability. Suppliers must havethe requisite classification to be eligible for nomination for a given contract. At the same time, theclassification is the starting point for continuous
development. If an active supplier is found to beengaged in unlawful conduct or its sustainability
performance is insufficient, it is excluded fromfurther contract awards.
Bosch relies on partners who share the company’s long-term competitive objectives. Our topperforming suppliers with whom we work together particularly closely are awarded the status of
preferred supplier. They are involved at an earlystage in strategies and development projects,
which gives them the opportunity to prepare forthe future. Both direct and indirect suppliers canbecome preferred suppliers for Bosch.
Bosch’s sustainable supply chain management ismade up of three elements (see Fig. 3 I 01):▶▶ We communicate our requirements to our suppliers via the basic principles of social responsibility, the Code of Conduct for Business Partners, and appropriate contractual clauses.
▶▶ To assess whether the requirements are complied with, we use systematic processes. We
regularly analyze the environmental and social
risks in our supply chain and derive measureson that basis.
▶▶ By developing our suppliers’ sustainability performance, we aim to achieve effective, sustainable changes.

Cooperation withorganizations
We are active in initiatives, associations, and organizations and also work directly with scientificinstitutions to further promote sustainability inthe supply chain. One focus of our commitment
is on designing universally valid and international
standards. For example, in a working group of theGerman Association of the Automotive Industry(VDA), we elaborated guidelines for social andlabor standards to achieve broader coverage ofsuppliers in assessments. The findings madeduring on-site checks are to be shared and recognized in the supplier network in the future. Since
2014, we have also contributed to the crossindustry Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI;
formerly Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative, CFSI).

46
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

3.2 Social and environmental
requirements for suppliers
Purchasing terms andconditions
Code of Conduct for
Business Partners


Conflict Raw Materials
PolicyThe basic principles of social responsibility atBosch and the ten basic principles of the United
Nations’ Global Compact are the foundation for
our understanding of sustainability. We describe
these requirements that apply for all Bosch suppliers in our purchasing terms and conditions andin our Code of Conduct for Business Partners.
In addition, the Code of Conduct for Business
Partners stipulates that our suppliers pass theserequirements on to their sub-suppliers. If there
is any indication of a breach, the supplier isrequired to resolve the matter – if necessary, bydisclosing the supply chain. The code of conduct
is handed out to all suppliers at the start of ourbusiness relationship. It is publicly available on
the Bosch website.
In detail, we demand that our suppliers comply
with the Ten Principles of the Global Compact
and apply the universal labor standards – including freedom of association, no forced labor orchild labor, and zero tolerance of discrimination.
In addition, they must undertake to pay minimum
wages in accordance with the respective applicable laws – a commitment to which they must also
hold their business partners.
With respect to how they treat their employees,
environmental protection, and occupational healthand safety, we refer to local law. In addition, we
expect our suppliers to set up and further develop, within reason, an environmental management
system certified according to ISO 14001 that goesbeyond what is required by law. In 2019, around
5,500 of our suppliers already had such a certificate. Non-manufacturing suppliers are not required
to introduce an environmental management system, but they do have to implement measures
suitable for satisfying the objectives of ISO 14001.
Where wastewater treatment and hazardous
waste are concerned, our business partners mustcomply with legal regulations and pursue the aimof conserving resources and reducing their environmental impact to a minimum. When working
on Bosch premises, they must also follow Bosch’ssafety and accident prevention regulations.

In addition to the standard contracts, we havealready concluded agreements on quality andcorporate social responsibility with some 9,000
suppliers today. They set out requirements forthe declaration of substances in accordance with
Bosch standard N2580 “Prohibition and Declaration of Substances,” which must also be passed
on to sub-suppliers (also see the “Products”
section).

Handling of conflict minerals
Whereas Bosch itself purchases only a small
number of resources from mineral-processing
companies, the electronics of Bosch products do, however, contain what are known as
conflict minerals. That is why we issued the
Bosch Group Policy for Conflict Raw Materials
in 2019 that describes our approach to theconflict minerals cassiterite (for tin), coltan(for tantalum), wolframite, and gold. Boschvoluntarily takes part in the conflict minerals
reporting system provided for by the DoddFrank Act in the United States. In this context,
we ask our suppliers to make an annual declaration regarding the origin of the conflictminerals. We surveyed 4,500 of our suppliersin 2019 and achieved a six-percentage-point
increase in the response rate with smelter
declarations to 88 percent. With respect tothe conflict minerals for tin and tantalum,
as well as wolframite, more than 90 percentof the smelters have obtained certification
under the cross-industry standard of the
Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), whichis accepted both by the U.S. Securities andExchange Commission and by our customers(OEMs). For gold, the rate is 71 percent.

Bosch is currently developing a systematic process for the regular identification of human rights
risks that covers all stages of the value chain,including the supply chain.

47| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Social and environmental requirements for suppliers| Supplier assessments| Further development of sustainability performance

3.3 Supplier assessments

Responsible supplier management is possible
only on the basis of transparency about compliance with social and environmental standards. By
making such disclosures, our suppliers enable us
to support them in a targeted manner and continuously increase their sustainability performance.
One key component of the assessments is the onsite inspections at suppliers.

Sustainability-related
assessments ofexisting suppliers
For the regular assessment of our suppliers interms of their sustainability performance, wehave established two processes: the CSR quick
scans and the more comprehensive CSR drilldeep assessments.
CSR quick scans
CSR quick scans are based on a checklist containing criteria relating to the environment, occupational health and safety, and human rights. They
are carried out by qualified Bosch associatesfrom purchasing or quality functions as part ofregular on-site visits to suppliers. These scans
mainly consist of a visual assessment by associates trained to identify potential issues. The
around 1,600 CSR quick scans performed in 2019
revealed irregularities at some 50 suppliers, whothen had to take measures such as making safety
installations in the workplace or improving evacuation routes. It is our aim to scan all new suppliers this way, with a renewed scan every two to
three years.
We have developed a dedicated app for the performance and documentation of the CSR quick
scans, which contains up-to-date checklists andbackground information. It facilitates the procedure and makes it possible to add images andcomments directly. Since 2019, we have made thisapp available via econsense (Forum Nachhaltige
Entwicklung der Deutschen Wirtschaft e. V.) for
other companies to download free of charge.
CSR drill-deep assessments
CSR drill-deep assessments are used mainly inpotentially high-risk regions or when there are any
specific indications of potential issues. To assess
the regional risk propensity, we refer, among other things, to the United Nations Human Development Index and the Corruption Perceptions Index
published by Transparency International. Any
suppliers that are of strategic importance arealso subject to such assessments.
Irrespective of any other visits to suppliers,
these are carried out by licensed assessors overa period of one to two days. Besides an in-depth
assessment of the three areas covered by the
CSR quick scan – the environment, occupational
health and safety, and human rights – they also
include an analysis of sustainability management,compliance management, and working conditions.
Categories with corresponding criteria reflect our
expectations of suppliers. The assessment covers
the practical implementation on the basis of documents – such as payroll slips – as well as systembased requirements such as guidelines. These
are a measure of the organization’s maturity level.
The findings of the CSR drill-deep assessments
are documented in our supplier database. If adevelopment plan is needed, the assessor provides assistance with its preparation and sub­sequently accompanies and monitors implementation of the measures.
Since their introduction in 2011, Bosch has carried out more than 1,000 CSR drill-deep assessments at some 900 suppliers. The number of suppliers covered by drill-deep assessments is toincrease to 1,000 in 2020. In a small number ofcases, the deviations were not remedied andBosch consequently terminated the business relations. This affects about five suppliers each year.

1,600 CSR
quick scans

48
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Complaints
mechanism andincident response
Whistleblower system

Noncompliance and incidents can be reported
using our Compliance Hotline. In addition, there
is a system available for all associates, business
partners, and other third parties to submit suchreports, with a link to it provided on the Bosch
Internet pages for Purchasing and Logistics andfor Sustainability (also see the “Company | Corporate governance and compliance” section).

ment of the purchasing function responsible, andwe support and monitor their implementation –also by rigorously requesting documentation or
performing reassessments on-site. Appropriate
certificates can also be provided as evidence.
If the development measures are unsuccessful
and the supplier repeatedly breaches the codeor legal requirements, Bosch has the right toterminate the business relationship.

If a breach of the Code of Conduct for Business
Partners occurs in an existing business relationship, we seek to remedy this in cooperation withthe supplier and take appropriate precautions forthe future. Measures are defined with the involve-

 
 
 








 















 














 










49
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Social and environmental requirements for suppliers| Supplier assessments| Further development of sustainability performance

3.4 Further development ofsustainability performance
Bosch endeavors to systematically further develop its suppliers. For example, when contamination was found in late 2018 at a lead-acid battery
recycler in Nigeria that was part of the Bosch supply chain, we took immediate action, including
blocking the sub-supplier. In addition, Bosch has
established a long-term improvement process toprovide transparency about the supply chain. It
provides for risk-based CSR drill-deep assessments and expanded quick scans, among othermeasures.
The insights we have obtained from all assessments, however, show that suppliers mostly meet
our requirements. In a small yet important number of aspects, remedial action was necessary
and is being tracked by Bosch. Priority areas in2019 concerned areas of occupational health andsafety, such as preventing hazards in transportand high-bay warehousing processes, and environmental protection aspects.
We held central purchasing events in 2019 toaddress and discuss the topic of sustainability –for example, at the Mobility Solutions division’s
Suppliers Day, which focused on sustainablemobility, and the Bosch Supplier Quality Forumin Brazil. Every two years, we also confer on ourbest suppliers the Global Supplier Award, forwhich a positive sustainability assessment is amandatory criterion. It was presented for the 16th
time in 2019. The next award will include a separate category for sustainability.

Training for further
development
Bosch works with its suppliers in partnerships,
some of which have been in existence for many
decades. In this context, we offer our suppliers in
all regions extensive training opportunities andassist them in meeting our requirements with

Sustainability and quality
Quality is an important criterion in purchasing at Bosch. It has meanwhile
been established by academic studies that there is a connection between
quality and sustainability performance. Suppliers with a good sustainability
performance ultimately also tend to have a high maturity level in terms of
quality. Bosch purchasing officers are aware of this correlation. They aresensitized to purchase goods and services from suppliers with positive
sustainability performance. Joint activities continuously improve the quality
produced by our suppliers. In 2019, the already very low level of complaints
was reduced by a further 14 percent.

respect to environmental protection, occupational health, and safety. The same applies for social
challenges within the supply chain, such as
respecting rights at work and strict occupational
health and safety. In 2019, for example, training
on the topic of sustainability was held in China
for suppliers of the Power Tools division.
Some 300 in-house trainers regularly hold Webbased training and classroom-based events on
topics including relevant sustainability aspects
in purchasing and logistics. The target audience
includes suppliers, who can select and booktraining at Bosch themselves. Furthermore, weoffer supplier development projects that are carried out by qualified Bosch experts with many
years of experience at selected suppliers tofurther their development. These development
projects include an analysis of processes aswell as discussing and highlighting potential for
improvement. On this basis, the supplier pinpoints, together with the Bosch experts, specifictechnical and organizational changes. In addition
to competitiveness, this approach also helps toenhance sustainability performance – for example,
as a result of lower energy consumption brought
about by improved internal transport capacity
utilization and the more efficient use of machinery.

50
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Environment

For Bosch, protecting the basis of our existence is an obligation to
future generations and an act of common business sense. After all,an intact environment is essential to remain successful in businessin the long term. We are making our contribution toward limiting therise in temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere to a maximum of
2 degrees by 2100, or ideally to 1.5 degrees. In 2020, we will therefore be the first industrial company worldwide to make our locations
around the globe carbon neutral. In regions where water is scarce,
we aim to cut the volume used by our sites by 25 percent by 2025.

51| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society

1,500

projects
to reduce energy consumption
by



210

GWh

69

GWh
own power generation from renewables

50

 rojectspthat can potentially cut water consumptionby

200,000

m³

Cooling lubricants and washing water reducedby almost

50

%

52
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

4.1 Management approach

The key importance of environmental protection
for our future success is also reflected in our target vision for sustainability: five of the six issues –energy, climate, water, urbanization, and health –are directly related to the protection of our livelihoods and the conservation of natural resources.
We have been working to reduce our ecologicalfootprint for many years. Our global environmental management ensures that we consistently
pursue the goals we set ourselves. These efforts
are coordinated by the EHS (Environment, Health,and Safety) and Sustainability corporate sector.

89 percent of sites
certified according to
ISO 14001

A total of 89 percent of all manufacturing sites
and development sites with more than 50 associates have an environmental management system
based on the international standard ISO 14001(also see Fig. 4 | 01). The system is already certified at most sites. By the end of 2020, certification will be mandatory for the Bosch Group’s
entire consolidated group. We have also implemented our energy management systems at
19 percent of our manufacturing and development sites, some of which are certified according
to ISO 50001.
We have introduced environmental criteria forthe design, planning, and acquisition of buildings, plant, and manufacturing equipment –including energy efficiency, use of renewableenergy, and water use in regions with water scarcity. These also serve as a decision-making basis
when selecting new locations.

 

 





 













 






  













 





4 | 01
Environmental and energy management
systems
Bosch Group 2019296

262 56242 48Manufacturing
and development
sites

Implemented

Certified nvironmental management system according toE
ISO 14001
Energy management system according to ISO 50001

As a globally operating supplier of technology,
Bosch complies with a large number of laws andrequirements relating to environmental protection, among them the Regulation on Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction ofChemicals (REACH) adopted by the European
Union and the EU Directive on the Restriction ofHazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS), as well as national legislation such as the Renewable Energies Act (EEG)in Germany. Add to this various regulations anddirectives governing energy efficiency, packaging,
and waste treatment as well as the customer
requirements that need to be observed. In addition, we have numerous internal environmental
and quality specifications in place that apply
worldwide and are usually stricter than the rules
formulated by legislators. The experts in thecompetent Bosch departments ensure that all
specifications, standards, and requirements areobserved and that our activities comply withapplicable law.

53
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

To this end, regular briefings, workshops, andaudits on EHS topics are carried out at the sites.
Sites are selected on a case-by-case basis or byreference to their size in terms of headcount or
the site’s share in consumption of resources.
Audit findings are documented in the Bosch EHS
database. As a result, it is also possible to trackcorrective actions in the event of deviations.

Development of skills
and training
As part of our competence management, we aim
to optimally qualify our associates in EHS andsustainability. Web-based training and classroom
courses promote their methodological and technical competence, thereby creating the conditions
for safe work processes.
Our globally standardized EHS training programs
are supplemented by training modules that
address the specific requirements of individual
operating units, sites, and regions. We use internal media such as the digital in-house newspaper,
newsletters, wikis, blogs, and online forums toregularly sensitize and inform the entire workforce about EHS issues.
Since our executives play a central role in theimplementation of EHS activities and should
serve as role models, EHS is an integral part of
executive development. In addition, there is a
Web-based EHS training module that more than
28,000 executives have completed since it was
introduced in 2014.
Workers of external companies and other visitors
to our locations are trained and instructed inhealth, safety, and environmental protection atBosch.

Stakeholder dialogue
Since effective environmental protection isdependent on the cooperation of various stakeholders, Bosch is intensifying its continuing
exchange with key stakeholder groups – in particular, the scientific community, policymakers, andnongovernmental organizations. Seeking to jointly
discuss solutions, we have taken part in the United Nations World Climate Conferences in recent
years. We are a member of the Alliance for Development and Climate, which was launched by theGerman Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in the autumn of 2018.
We are also involved in the executive board andsteering committee of the econsense association(Forum Nachhaltige Entwicklung der Deutschen
Wirtschaft e.V.) and contribute to the Industrial
Resource Strategies think tank of the BadenWürttemberg state government. Equally important to us is dialogue with our suppliers and customers, which we have intensified in recent years,
particularly on the subject of climate action.

Awards for environmental protection andclimate action
Within the Bosch Group, the EHS Award highlights and recognizes outstanding projects forenvironmental protection and climate action (alsosee the “Company” section). Our commitment
has also been recognized externally for years.
Last year, the Power Tools division received theenvironmental award from the Brazilian Automotive Engineering Association (AEA) in the “Technology” category for the significant reduction
achieved in materials used as a result of modifying three tool types in production. In addition,
the Bosch “Aterro Zero” project, which has significantly improved waste separation and recycling,
took first place in the “Processes” category of theBrazilian ECO Award.

EHS training for 28,000
executives

54
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

4.2 Energy and climate action

Bosch wants to shape climate action – an aim
that is firmly anchored in our sustainability target
vision through the issues of climate and energy.
Since the 1970s, we have viewed energy efficiency and emissions reduction primarily as opportunities for innovation and have been driving theseissues forward at the board level. The central
body in this regard is the CO₂ steering committee,
which meets every six months and makes decisions with respect to the implementation of theCO₂ strategy. In addition to one member of theboard of management, the committee includes
representatives from the specialist units for realestate and facilities, manufacturing, and environmental protection, and board members from thedivisions. Reports are also submitted to theboard of management at regular intervals.
As part of our regular intracompany risk assessment, climate risks are assessed at least at sixmonth intervals with a horizon of six years or
more. This is based on the scenarios of the International Energy Agency and the energy scenariosof the Bosch corporate sector for Research andAdvance Engineering. The internal climate changereport plays a central role in the assessment: prepared by the corporate sector for Research andAdvance Engineering every two years with a highlevel of scientific rigor, it highlights fundamental
developments and their significance for Boschand society. In 2019, the report addressed thetipping points in the climate system and set out
how the end of fossil fuels is being heralded inall sectors. The report was presented to theboard of management and can be accessed by
all interested associates on the intranet.
The risks identified as part of the climate changereport and the energy scenarios of the corporate
sector for Research and Advance Engineering
serve as a basis for the divisions to derive concrete implications, to make market forecasts,
and to plan. They are also the basis for working
together with our business partners on the strategic and sustainable expansion of the supply chain
and the further development of our suppliers(also see the “Supply chain” section).

Opportunities and challenges ofclimate change
For Bosch, climate action and energy efficiency are driving forces for innovation. Thatis how we are tackling climate change, oneof the greatest challenges facing humanity.
We see the main opportunities arising for
Bosch from climate change in the need for
new building-related technologies – such as
electric heating systems, energy management,
and room cooling – and in electromobility.
We are confident that we can make a decisive
contribution toward a successful cross-sectoral approach spanning mobility, buildings,
and industry, as we offer attractive products,
which we connect and take to a new level.
The challenges for Bosch posed by climatechange include water scarcity and extreme
weather events, the frequency of which are
increasing, as is the damage caused. They
can endanger production at our locations andthe stability of the supply chain. Other risks
include the shortage of raw materials andchanges in the regulatory framework, such asa ban on internal-combustion engines or thetightening of CO2-emission standards for vehicles. Customer preferences can also change
rapidly as a result of climate change.

55| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

Our goal:climate neutrality
Bosch plays a pioneering role in climate action –out of conviction and out of a sense of responsi­
bility for society. The board of management madea decision to this effect in 2018 and adopted an
ambitious CO2 strategy: we aim to be climate
neutral worldwide as of 2020. In this way, we
are already making a concrete contribution in the
short term to the 2015 Paris Agreement of theUnited Nations with the aim of limiting global
warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius if possible – andcertainly well below two degrees. Because weknow that time is running out and that manychanges, new approaches, and innovations areneeded quickly. Yet we also see major opportunities there.
Our climate goal refers to the energy we generate
ourselves and the volume we purchase for manufacturing and administration (scopes 1 and 2 of
the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, GHG). This iswhere we can directly influence the reduction ofgreenhouse gases and make a big impact in ashort time. We also set ourselves a target for the
upstream and downstream stages of the value
chain (scope 3) in the reporting year (see page58). In addition to this specific goal, we want tomake an active contribution to ensuring that thestages of the value chain that we do not influencealone will also be climate neutral by 2050.

Bosch climate goals
Purchased goods and logistics
Scope 3

Own generationand purchased energy
Scopes 1 and 2

Climate neutrality as of 2020
Energy efficiency

New clean power– 15%
by 2030

Green electricity

Carbon offsets

Use of products soldScope 3

Science Based Targets
initiative (SBTi)

56
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Four levers forclimate neutrality
We have defined four levers for the implementation of our climate goal, which we are now consistently using: firstly, to increase energy efficiency;
secondly, to expand the supply of renewableenergy; thirdly, to purchase more green electricity; and fourthly, to offset unavoidable CO₂ emissions with carbon credits. It is important for us to
be climate neutral as early as 2020 and to continuously optimize the use and mix of our four leversby 2030 in order to make a significant contribution to climate action.

Over 1,500 energyefficiency projects since
2018

Energy efficiency
By 2030, we aim to save 1.7 terawatt-hours (TWh)of energy by making energy-efficiency improvements at our locations. In order to finance corresponding measures, the board of management has
approved an annual budget of 100 million euros
through 2030. In 2018, we already launchedaround 500 projects worldwide, followed by over
1,000 more in 2019. Together, they are savingaround 0.21 TWh.
New clean power
We intend to increase our own power generationfrom renewable sources of energy such as photovoltaics and wind from 0.05 TWh in 2018 as baseline year to 0.4 TWh. This corresponds to the output of a photovoltaic system the size of around
300 soccer fields. With 69 gigawatt-hours (GWh),
we were already able to install 17 percent of thetarget capacity by the end of 2019. At the sametime, we encourage business partners with longterm sourcing contracts to install new renewableenergy capacities. In Germany and Mexico, we are
already making a substantial contribution to theenergy transition in this way.

Green electricity
In order to implement carbon neutrality quickly,
Bosch will initially focus on purchasing green
electricity from existing plants. In 2019, we therefore began to significantly expand our purchasevolume of electricity from renewable sources
with corresponding guarantees of origin. In Germany, for example, we already exclusively purchased green electricity in 2019 – 1,831 GWh in
total.



Carbon offsets
We intend to reduce the use of carbon credits toa minimum in the coming years. However, they
will be necessary on a transitional basis to offset
unavoidable CO₂ emissions from combustion
processes (heating, process heat) and to offset
electricity sourced in countries with only limited
availability of green electricity. In 2019, we usedcarbon credits to offset emissions – totaling
0.26 million metric tons of CO₂ – caused by combustion processes and district heating at Germansites. When selecting carbon-offsetting projects,
we are guided by internationally recognized independent certifications such as the Gold Standard.
It is important to us that the projects promote
both social and ecological development.
Implementation
In order to achieve the company-wide climate
goal, all Bosch divisions are pursuing specifictargets, for example, for energy-efficiency measures. An internal global energy map indicating
the corresponding potential provides the basis fordetailed targets for renewable energy generation
at our sites. On the basis of the respective targets,the divisions and sites decide independently on
the measures to be implemented, taking into
account geographical conditions and economic
parameters.

57| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

As the availability and quality of green power andthe legal conditions for the expansion of renewable energy differ between countries, the regionalorganizations are responsible for green power
and new clean power projects. Carbon offsets are
regulated centrally to ensure the quality of projects. The sites themselves order and transact themeasures.

cent of total energy consumption at 5,431 GWh(previous year: 71 percent, 5,554 GWh), natural
gas for 19 percent (previous year: 19 percent),
and other energy sources such as heating oil, district heat, or coal/coke for 11 percent (previous
year: ten percent).

Energy consumption
and emissions

Selected energy projects in 2019
In order to achieve our goal of climate neutrality,
we are implementing a wide range of measures toincrease energy efficiency and in-house renewable generation capacity. In the following we
present some examples.

A large share of CO₂ emissions stems from theenergy we need: Bosch consumes energy primarily for the operation of manufacturing plants andmachinery and in the form of thermal energy toheat and air-condition buildings and operatefoundry furnaces. Electricity accounts for 70 per-▶▶ Smart energy management with the Bosch
Energy Platform is enabling significant savings
at over 80 locations. In Campinas, Brazil, roughly
1,400 megawatt-hours (MWh) are now saved
every year, equivalent to the energy consumption of a community with about 500 inhabitants.

4 | 02
Energy consumption
Bosch Group 2017–2019, in GWh▶▶ The site in Feuerbach, Germany, saves
3,100 MWh each year thanks to shutdown
management of the cleaning system and thesalt evaporator as well as the optimization of
the ventilation system.

2017

2018

2019

Bosch Group

7,803

7,844

7,762

Natural gas

1,517

1,512

1,511

Heating oil

104

86

89

LPG

44

40

34

Coal/coke

130

141

123

Renewable energies

51

54

69

Other

252

258

313

Direct energy(own combustion)

2,098

2,091

2,139

Electricity

5,510

5,554

5,431

195

199

193

5,705

5,753

5,623

District heat, steam,cooling energy
Indirect energy(purchased)

Energy intensity
in MWh/million euros of sales revenue
Bosch Group

2017

2018

2019

99.96

99.97

99.87

Bosch Energy Platform
in operation at over
80 locations▶▶ The Reutlingen site in Germany has reduced its
consumption by 5,500 MWh by using the waste
heat from the cold-water production plant.
▶▶ Wuxi, China, reports a 6,700 MWh reduction in
consumption per year having switched from a
gas-operated to an electrically operated coolingsystem and smart shutdown management for
the air-conditioning system.
▶▶ A total of 50,000 solar panels on roofs, in parking lots, and in open areas generate around 20
percent of the energy needed annually at theNashik site in India.

   
 



  

58
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Scope 3 emissions at
a glance

In 2019, the Bosch Group companies consumed
a total of approximately 7,762 GWh of energy(previous year: 7,844 GWh). This corresponds
to emissions of 1.94 million metric tons of CO₂(previous year: 3.26 million metric tons; also see
Table 4 | 03). We were able to achieve a significant
reduction in our emissions by making our Germansites carbon neutral. The calculation of emissions
is based on the standards of the International
Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change (IPCC). Currently, the presentation is still location-based, but we intend toswitch to the market-based approachfor 2020.

4 | 03
Greenhouse gas emissions
Bosch Group 2017–2019,
in 1,000 metric tons of CO₂e
2018

2019

Bosch Group

3,225

3,259

1,9431

Production

396

394

182

Vehicle fleet

64

65

58

Volatile GHG

7

8

0

Scope 1

467

466

240

Electricity

2,650

2,689

1,652

107

104

51

2,757

2,792

1,703

Scope 2Emission intensity
in metric tons/million euros of sales revenue
Bosch Group

2017

2018

2019

41.30

41.53

25.00

1 The figure represents emissions after deducting
offsets of 255,230 metric tons of CO₂.


 










 

 

 Upstream emissions in the Bosch value chain
concern categories such as purchased goods andservices, logistics, associates’ commutes, andbusiness trips. Our downstream emissions aremainly caused by the use and disposal of our
products. To calculate our carbon footprint, wehave analyzed all scope 3 categories of the GHG
Protocol and then focused on those that accountfor the largest share of CO₂ emissions. These arepurchased goods, logistics, and the use of our
products sold. In order to assume our responsibility in these areas in line with our self-imposed
standards, we want to reduce our CO₂ emissions
by at least 15 percent by 2030.



2017

District heat, steam,cooling energy

Upstream anddownstream emissions

Recognition by the Science Based
Targets initiative
Bosch is the first automotive supplier in theworld to join the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a group of partners committed
to ambitious and scientifically sound climate
targets. In the autumn of 2019, it reviewed
and approved our targets in accordance with
its strict criteria: in addition to our target ofcarbon neutrality for 2020, which applies toscopes 1 and 2, we have also set ourselves
a target to reduce scope 3 emissions (i.e. in
upstream and downstream stages of the value
chain).

59| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

This goal, to which we have also made a commitment in connection with the Science Based Targets initiative, is now being tackled strategicallyfor each of these three categories:▶▶ Close cooperation with our suppliers is necessary to reduce the CO2 emissions of purchased
goods. To achieve this, we will identify the supplier groups causing the largest volume of CO2
emissions in order to work with them on mitigation measures. For more information, see the“Supply chain” section.
▶▶ In the field of logistics, we will focus on transport. A holistic supply chain network design isintended to strengthen the regional procurement and production of goods and avoid airtransport. In addition, by increasingly combining freight, we want to reduce transport, optimize routes and capacity utilization, and thus
avoid CO2 emissions. For this purpose, we canrecord transport data on a data platform anddetermine the carbon footprint according to DIN
EN 16258.
▶▶ Product design geared to energy efficiency
already contributes to the reduction of emissions with regard to how products sold areused. In 2020, we want to identify additional
potential for further reducing the CO2 emissions of our products. For more information,
see the “Products” section.
We have also already decided on a measure forthe category of associates’ transport: starting in
2020, we will make the air travel of all associates
carbon neutral using carbon offsets. The cost ofcarbon offsets will be included directly in the airfare. As we worked toward this solution with thetravel agencies, other companies will also be able

to use this process in the future. In addition, we
sensitize our associates to make greater use ofdigital communication formats or – as far as possible – to make use of alternative mobility offers.

Mobility campaign
Bosch employs more than 50,000 associates
in the greater Stuttgart area, Germany, manyof whom drive to and from work every day.
Our “Go for mobility” campaign aims to makeit easier for associates to switch to alternative means of transport or to avoid commutes
altogether. They can lease a bicycle or e-bikeas a company bike or use an app to carpool.
In addition, on days with air-pollution alerts,
they can take the bus or train free of charge.
The fact that 13,000 bicycles were leased in
the first year already is a great success for our
multimodal concept. This is our contribution
to relieving traffic and improving air quality as
one of the largest employers in the region.

Air pollution
Air pollutants can affect human health andshould therefore be effectively reduced. In 2019,
Bosch launched a project to analyze which air pollutants are produced and at what levels in the relevant business processes in manufacturing, suchas surface treatment, foundry processes, andbuilding heating. The results show that there areno significant effects on people and the environment from air pollutant emissions.

60
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

4.3 Water and wastewater

The conscientious use of water has been adeclared goal of Bosch for many years – and one
we are emphasizing by anchoring the issue ofwater in our sustainability target vision. Today,
climate change scenarios predict that the risks
that already exist today regarding the scarcity andpoor quality of water will become even moreacute. The United Nations estimates that by 2050
more than 40 percent of the world’s population
will live in regions exposed to high water risks.

Here again, Bosch is taking a proactive stance.
Back in 2018, we analyzed our sites using theWWF’s Water Risk Filter. The result shows that
61 sites, accounting for 14.4 percent of our total
annual water withdrawal in 2019, are located inareas with the severest or severe water scarcity.
We have therefore decided – also after discussions with the WWF – to focus on combatingwater scarcity. By systematically saving water,
we can quickly achieve significant improvements
in regions where water is a particularly valuable
resource.

4 | 04Sites with water scarcity

3
2

2

2

11

5

1 13

1
9

16

1 2

1

1

NumberWithdrawal in
millions of m3

Share in total
water withdrawal

Sites with the severest
water scarcity

17

0.67

3.4%

India, United States,
Mexico, China, Turkey,
ThailandSites with severe
water scarcity

44

2.17

11.0%

India, China, Mexico,
United States, Italy,
Thailand, Turkey, Peru,
UAE, South Africa

Affected regions

61| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

Our goal is to reduce absolute water withdrawal
at the 61 sites in regions with water scarcity by
25 percent by 2025 compared to 2017. To support the corresponding measures, an annual budget of ten million euros is available until 2025.
To this end, water coordinators in the Bosch divisions identify local savings potential and implement suitable measures together with the persons responsible at the locations. Best practice
examples are available to all locations via agroup-wide “Water Wiki.”
By the end of 2019, we had already achieved a
reduction of 11.5 percent and launched some 50
additional projects that will enable us to save up
to 200,000 cubic meters (m³) of water at our sites
in the future:▶▶ In Mexicali, Mexico, improved circulation ofcooling water led to a 14 percent reduction inwater withdrawal.
▶▶ In Wuxi, China, process optimizations lowered
water withdrawal by 20 percent while also
reducing the use of chemicals.
▶▶ In Ahmedabad, India, an 18,000 m3 water reservoir with 23 infiltration shafts was built to channel water to groundwater during monsoon rains
and prevent flooding.

Water withdrawal
Bosch uses fresh water in many processes, especially for cooling. In water-stressed regions, we
already use recycled water whenever possible.
Since 2015, the Bosch Group’s water withdrawal
has increased from 19.34 million m3 to currently
19.77 million m3. In relation to sales revenue,
however, this constitutes a relative decrease of
6.3 percent (also see Table 4 | 06).

4 | 05
Water withdrawal
Bosch Group 2019 by region,in millions of cubic meters19.77

Total
Asia Pacific(including othercountries, alsoin Africa)
5.71

Germany
6.96

Americas1.46Europe (without Germany)
5.64

4 | 06
Water withdrawal
Bosch Group 2017–2019,in millions of cubic meters
Bosch Group

2017

2018

2019

19.30

19.80

19.77

Surface water3

3.23

3.91

Groundwater3

2.55

2.21

Public/private waterworks3

14.01

13.59

Fresh water1, 3

19.79

19.72

Public/private waterworks3

0.01

0.05

Other sources2, 3

0.01

0.05

Water intensity
in cubic meters/million euros of sales revenue
Bosch Group

2017

2018

2019

246.6

252.3

254.4

1 <1,000 mg/l total dissolved solids
2 >1,000 mg/l total dissolved solids
3 Detailed data collected for the first time in 2018

62
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Wastewater
Wastewater at our sites is mainly generated by theuse of cooling water (34 percent). It also comesfrom sanitary facilities and canteens (40 percent)and is generated as part of manufacturing by, forexample, electroplating, washing facilities, andprocessing centers (26 percent). In 2019, Bosch’s
wastewater volume decreased to 16.2 million m³(previous year: 16.3 million m3). Within the scopeof our strategically relevant topic of water, we areworking on further reducing wastewater flows
and continuously improving quality.

ments of local authorities. At some sites, we carryout wastewater treatment ourselves, using processes such as ultrafiltration to separate solids
and liquids or physical-chemical treatment methods, such as precipitation or distillation, depending on local conditions.

4 | 07
Wastewater
Bosch Group 2017–2019,in millions of cubic meters
14.9

16.3

16.2

2017

2018

2019

In a first step, we have recorded centrally whatquantities are involved where, how they aretreated, and where they are discharged (also see
Fig. 4 | 08). Negative impacts from wastewater are
mainly caused by foreign substances or excessive
temperatures. We have defined globally binding
standards for wastewater quality and monitor
them accordingly and pursuant to the require-4 | 08Wastewater flows and discharge routes
Wastewater flows
Cooling tower
Cooling water 34%

Water withdrawal

Wastewater

19.8 mn m3

16.2 mn m3

Untreated facility
wastewater29%

Reuse
Treated facility
wastewater11%
Untreated processwastewater

7%

Treated processwastewater19%

Irrigation

Leaks

Effluents

Sewerage65%

Directdischarge
33%

Infiltration
2%

63| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

4.4 Materials and waste management

In all its divisions, Bosch seeks to reduce the useof resources and recycle materials wherever possible. In so doing, we are guided by the idea of acircular economy.

4 | 09Key materials used
Bosch Group 2019,
in 1,000 metric tons

In order to reduce the relative amount of raw
materials used as product sales increase, webegan defining our requirements for environ­mentally friendly design in 2000. With the DfE
process as a component of the environmental
management system, we start as early as the
product development stage. In this way, we wantto ensure the efficient use of materials or energy
and avoid or minimize the impact on people andthe environment in all phases of a product’s life
cycle to the greatest extent possible.

Total

A particular focus is placed on avoiding SoC
that are harmful to people and the environment,
irrespective of whether they are used during production or in products (also see the “Products”
section).

The use of recycled plastics can make a valuable
contribution to the conservation of resources.
They are obtained from, among other things, carpet fibers, manufacturing rejects, start-up waste,
waste fiber, or waste packaging. Bosch uses
polyamides such as PA6 or PA66 with a recycledcontent. However, the use of recycled materials
is not always possible, as the qualities fluctuate,
permanent availability is often not guaranteed,shelf life is reduced, and color options are limited. That said, since 2013, we have been able toincrease the proportion of materials made fromor containing recycled materials by around50 percent.

Use of materials
In 2019, Bosch purchased some 2.2 million metric tons of key materials (steel, aluminum, andplastics) from suppliers, around three percent
less than in the previous year (2.3 million metrictons). Steel made up the largest share of materials, totaling 1.7 million metric tons, followed by
0.3 million metric tons of aluminum and 0.3 million metric tons of plastics. The above-mentioned
material fractions purchased in 2019 represent
CO₂ emissions of 5.0 million tons.

2,224
Aluminum
291
Plastics
273
Steel
1,660

Bosch is either not active in the areas of application in which nanotechnology is used in quantities of relevance or it uses alternative substances
and technologies. The only exceptions are asmall number of applications in our household
appliance activities, although the nanoparticles
are firmly bound in the product in those cases.
Even though we do not need to take action in thisrespect at present, we continually follow the
related discussions and analyses, for example,of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

64
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Measures for acircular economy
In order to strengthen the circular
economy, Bosch plans to launch a strategic project in 2020 that combines theoperating units’ approaches and provides
an overarching framework. Because themore materials we can reuse, the lower
the costs for procurement or disposal.
Numerous examples from the Bosch world
already show how this is possible:▶▶ The Bursa site in Turkey has developed
a process for reconditioning cutting
tools. Every year, 23,000 tools can bereused this way, saving four metric tonsof metal in addition to energy and oil.

Read more about
BlueMovement in
Spotlights magazine▶▶ With the BlueMovement project, BSH
Hausgeräte GmbH is testing leasing in
the Netherlands: customers receive amodern, resource-efficient appliance,
while BlueMovement remains the owner
and is therefore responsible for maintenance, reconditioning, and recycling.
The BSH pilot project “Papillon” in
Belgium extends this offer and helps
socially disadvantaged households touse efficient household appliances.
▶▶ The Bosch eXchange program offers
used, but valuable, car parts and accessories as remanufactured parts. They
are subject to the same quality requirements as new products and have thesame guarantee. As a result, we savearound 90 percent of materials, halve
energy consumption, and can reduce
CO2 emissions by around 25,000 metrictons a year compared with new production.

Waste
With respect to waste management, we apply
the principle of “avoid, then reuse, then dispose.”
A company-wide guideline ensures that the legal
regulations for the transport and disposal ofwaste are complied with locally. All manufacturing sites have established a waste management
organization in charge of sorting, classifying, andhanding over waste to disposal companies.
An analysis of waste at sites that together accountfor around 80 percent of our waste volume has
shown that around half our waste consists of metals. Packaging waste accounts for one quarter;
foundry sand and hazardous waste each accountfor around 13 percent. The analysis also showedthat significant progress can still be made in thearea of hazardous waste, which would allow us tothus make an important contribution to protecting the environment and people – in addition to
reducing disposal costs.

4 | 10Waste volume and disposal
Bosch Group 2017–2019, in 1,000 metric tons
Bosch Group

2017

2018

2019

717.4

711.4

701.2

Recyclable waste

585.1

594.1

562.3

Waste for disposal

132.4

117.3

138.9

of which hazardous
waste

93.0

89.5

80.6

Waste intensity
in metric tons/million euros of sales revenue
Bosch Group

2017

2018

2019

9.2

9.1

9.0

65
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Energy and climate action| Water and wastewater| Materials and waste management

We therefore set two priorities during the reporting period: reducing hazardous waste and minimizing the amount of waste going to landfills. We
identified potential in both areas in the reporting
year and derived measures:▶▶ At Bosch, hazardous waste mainly consistsof cooling lubricants, washing water, oils,
and fuels. In 2019, their volume decreased byalmost ten percent to 80,562 metric tons. Specific reduction measures have been developed
at sites with comparatively large quantities ofhazardous waste. In particular, the use of vacuum distillation and ultrafiltration has allowed
us to reduce cooling lubricants and washingwater by almost 50 percent each, while theoil to be disposed of was reduced by almost
ten percent through centrifugal treatment.
▶▶ In order to further reduce the amount of waste
going to landfills, we want to increase the recycling rate. With this in mind, we implemented
the Zero Waste to Landfill campaign in various
Asian countries and in the United States in thereporting year. Our Koramangala Campus in
India, for example, operates a biogas plant that
also uses food leftovers from the canteen, thus
also saving energy.

In the 2019 reporting year, the relative volume
of waste decreased by one percent (also see
Table 4 | 10). The absolute volume of waste
decreased by 1.4 percent year on year to701,190 metric tons (previous year: 711,403 metric tons). Of that amount, it was possible torecycle 80 percent.

Read more about Zero
Waste to Landfill in
Spotlights magazine

 



   
   

  


   













 



  
























   
    


66
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Associates

Our world – and with it industry, business, and standardpractice – is changing fundamentally. That is why Bosch has
initiated a far-reaching transformation that is being actively
accompanied by HR management. In the process, our values
provide firm guidance for our actions in a challenging
environment. With our people strategy, we are empowering ourassociates to shape the company’s digital transformation.

67| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society

398,200
694,000

associates attended

training days267
million euros
invested in training

7,000


trainees and apprentices

Accident rate
lowered to

1.9

 ccidentsaper 1 million hours worked

68
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

5.1 Management approachBasic principles of social
responsibility at Bosch
Code of BusinessConduct

As an employer, we want to shape the future witha high pace of innovation, passion, and the courage
to embrace change. People are the key to success.
That is why we have placed them at the center ofthe strategy we have designed to remain successful in a business and market environment that is
experiencing both fast and massive changes.
Bosch is well on its way to becoming a leading
solutions provider for the internet of things andthe mobility of the future. To be in a position toactively shape change and adequately respond tovolatility, complexity, and disruption, it is essential to develop the corporate culture further andfor our associates to acquire new competencies.
At the same time, we need to win new talent for
innovative growth areas, including on highly competitive international labor markets.

Our foundation
The Bosch values, originated by our company
founder, inform the actions of all associates. With
respect to new challenges as well as opportunities – as a result of digitization and a focus onsustainable mobility in particular – they are a
cardinal point of reference. Our “We are Bosch”
mission statement combines our strengths with
our strategic approach (also see the “Company”
section).

   






 

 Guidelines and standards
In the “Basic principles of social responsibility atBosch,” which have been made publicly available,
the board of management and the employee representatives commit, among other things, to complying with human rights, equal opportunities,
fair working conditions, and global standards in
occupational health and safety. The 11 principles
are based on the core labor standards of theInternational Labour Organization (ILO) and they
are likewise binding for our suppliers. Responsibility for their implementation lies with the management of the divisions, regional subsidiaries,
and company locations. Every associate is familiar with the basic principles and can report violations.
The same applies to violations of the Code ofBusiness Conduct, which is applicable to associates and business partners worldwide. It builds
on the “Basic principles of social responsibility,”
sets out the requirements of associates and business partners for fair and responsible businesspractices, and contains additional, internal company rules on the topic of compliance in particular (see the “Company” section).

Our people strategy
The transformation at Bosch involves changing
skills profiles and also taking measures to adapt
skills and capacities accordingly (also see the“Company” section). At the same time, we wantto support our associates so that they have thecourage to make the right decisions themselves.
To this end, we are aligning our HR management
consistently to their needs and also preparing
them for the transformation.

69| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety▶▶ Employer of choice: As an employer of choice,
we want to win talented new staff and further
our associates’ development. For further
details, see the “Associates | Employer ofchoice” section.

5 | 01
People strategy

Transformation
Transformation of business

Learning& Transformation of HR

Employer ofchoiceDigitization

Leadership &collaboration▶▶ Leadership and collaboration: We encourage astrong culture of leadership and collaboration,
thereby creating the conditions for our associates to enjoy job satisfaction and unfold theirpotential. For further details, see the “Associates | Leadership and collaboration” section.
▶▶ Learning: We provide the learning content fora successful transformation, strengthen thelearning culture, and make learning more timeand cost-effective, flexible, and attractive. For
further details, see the “Associates | Learningand development” section.

Excellence

Strategic core topics
Our strategy revolves around six core topics thatguide our actions:▶▶ Transformation: We are contributing to thetransformation through the way we shape working and employment conditions, along withappropriate HR processes, policies, and formats in the context of leadership and cooperation. At the same time, we are adapting ourstructures to the changed environment in the
short and medium term in as socially acceptable a manner as possible.

▶▶ Excellence: We support associates in their
responsibilities and the development at all levels as a professional partner, offering personalized advice and efficient services.
▶▶ Digitization: We develop and establish state-ofthe-art methodologies and IT tools to automate
processes, use data efficiently, and design systems and services that are intuitive and readily
accessible for all our associates.

5 | 02
Management process
CULTUREVISIONMISSION
TRENDS, BUSINESSPERSPECTIVE, SWOT

STRATEGYACTIONPLAN

ORGANIZATION

IMPLEMENTATION

70
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Organization and responsibilities
The director of industrial relations of Robert
Bosch GmbH is responsible for human resourcesmanagement in the Bosch Group. He is respon­sible for human resources and social welfare,including senior executives. He is assisted by the
HR corporate sector, whose areas of responsibility include diversity and equal opportunities. The
digitization of processes in HR management in
the future will empower our HR consultants andallow them to dedicate more time to value-added
services for our people and concentrate on supporting the transformation.
In the countries where Bosch operates, HR
management is the responsibility of the respective regional management, which reports to central HR management. In the future, regional
management will be consulted more closely on
global projects.

Employment at BoschAs a global supplier of technology and services,
Bosch has 398,150 associates worldwide –the majority of whom are directly involved in
manufacturing products and services (directly
employed: 97 percent). Around 11 percent of theworkforce have temporary contracts for reasonsof deployment flexibility. The same qualification
opportunities are open to them as to associateswith permanent contracts. This allows them toimprove their skills at Bosch and, in turn, theirprospects in the labor market. Less than one percent of our associates are temporary workers, andit goes without saying that we give due regard tocompliance with legal frameworks and respecting
any collective bargaining agreements.

How Bosch is shaping themobility transformation in asocially responsible manner
The path toward sustainability involves aseismic shift in the automotive industry thatbrings with it considerable challenges, also
for Bosch. We need ten associates to manufacture a diesel injection system, three fora gasoline system, and one for an electricmotor. Added to this are economic trends
that leave Bosch with no choice but to adjust
its workforce.
Our objective is to make this transition inas socially acceptable a manner as possible.
This approach is also in line with the cornerstones of our people strategy. As a responsible employer, we want to work with theworks councils and the unions in our associates’ interest and find constructive solutions
to preserve as many jobs as possible. As thedifferent business units and locations areaffected in different ways by current developments, individual solutions are called for.
Above all, we opt for natural attrition and voluntary redundancy on the basis of severance
pay, early retirement, and partial retirement.
In order to keep as many people – and theirskills and expertise – on board as possible,
we also make use of the possibility to reduce
weekly working hours. In addition, we offer
qualification programs and offer associates
the opportunity to transfer to growth areas.
At the Bamberg location, for example, plant
management and employee representation
have reached an agreement to secure thefuture of the location. This provides for a
reduction in working hours for the around
6,200 associates with collectively bargained
contracts for a period of six years. At thesame time, we are setting up new operating
units at the location, such as the developmentof stationary fuel cells. We will also maintainour high level of training in Bamberg in the
future. Redundancies have been ruled out forthe duration of the agreement.

71| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

5.2 Employer of choice

We want to continue to be an attractive employer– an employer of choice. In a highly competitive
labor market and above all in light of the digitaltransformation, it is vital for us to be able to win
and retain the best talent. Besides acquiring newtalent, we continuously further our associates’
qualifications, making adjustments on a needs
basis, so that they can accompany us on our journey into new business fields. We analyze changes
in skills profiles and pursue the aim of positioning Bosch as an employer of choice for digital talent. The “moments that matter” project that we
carried out at some pilot locations in the reporting period helps us to achieve this aim. It enables
associates to give us quick and direct feedback on
HR tools such as onboarding, for example. To
address digital talent in particular, we have developed a systematic approach based on market
analyses, benchmarks, and surveys.

time. Owing to the low number of associates
handing in their notice, Bosch does not record
this metric or the turnover rate in detail.

We create conditions for all associates that allow
them to reach their full potential and unfold theircreativity. We accompany each individual in theirdevelopment (for further details on development,
see the “Associates | Learning and development”
section) and support them in reconciling theirprofessional and personal commitments andmastering the various requirements of different
life stages.

Basic principles of the remuneration system
The principles underlying the remuneration
system at Bosch are governed by a central directive that is applicable worldwide. It is intended
to ensure an attractive remuneration level in linewith market conditions for all associates andstrengthen our competitive position. It makes it
possible for us to adjust our remuneration systems in light of the increasing volatility of markets. For this reason, there may be differences in
the remuneration systems of individual operating
units, regions, countries, and locations. Worldwide standards also apply to management remuneration at Bosch. With attention increasingly
shifting to achievements at team level, individu­
alized bonus systems have become outdated.
Individual bonuses were already discontinued
at Bosch back in 2016 and replaced with a collective profit participation model.

The fact that our associates rarely terminate theiremployment relationship speaks for itself, andthe number of associates who hand in their noticeis also very low compared with the industry as awhole. However, there are regional differences.
While associates in India and China switch employers more frequently, associates in Germany
remain loyal to their employer for a very long

Remuneration andsocial benefits
Bosch sees itself as a hands-on social partnerthat actively helps shape agreements, sets
parameters, and offers its workforce pay thatreflects performance and the market. Company
pension benefits are generally paid worldwide,
but there are regional differences in their terms
and conditions. In addition, we offer our associates other social benefits, such as under the company healthcare scheme (also see the “Associates| Occupational health and safety” section).

72
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Collectively bargained innovationagreement
A shift is taking place toward creative workin mixed teams with greater responsibility awarded to each individual. Accordingly,
associates need a great deal of latitude. In
response to these conditions, Bosch enteredinto a new collective bargaining agreementwith the German metalworkers’ union IG
Metall Baden-Württemberg applicable from2019 for the associates of the Connected
Mobility Solutions division. Referred to as
the collectively bargained innovation agreement, this structure transfers a high degreeof responsibility and autonomy to associates –for instance, by allowing them to choose
when they work, giving them a personal training budget they can appropriate themselves,and offering numerous models for paid leave.
At the same time, it places a strong emphasis on performance that is anchored in fair
and transparent remuneration based on thecollectively bargained salary. In mid 2019,
we evaluated initial experience with the new
regulations, and the outcome was very positive overall. Discussions and preparations areunderway at the moment to roll out the collectively bargained innovation agreement toanother unit.

Work–life balance
More than 100
different working-timemodelsBosch wants to support its associates in striking
a balance between their individual career goals,
personal lifestyle, and private objectives. To that
end, we are continuously working to make when
and where associates work flexible. One determinant of success is the continuous evolution of ourwork culture. This is supported by sharing bestpractice examples via internal communication

channels to provide orientation for executives andassociates on how to achieve a successful work–
life balance.
Our guidelines for a flexible and family-friendly
working culture cover, among other aspects, afast return to work or the topic of part-time leadership. In the interim, they have been adopted inmany countries or adapted to country-specificrequirements. In this context, various working
time models have also been introduced (espe­
cially mobile working and part-time models), forexample, in China, India, Mexico, and the UnitedStates.
As part of its mobility initiative launched in
the Stuttgart region in Germany in 2018, Boschoffers shuttle buses for associates, allowing themto use the commute to the office productively.
Associates are also choosing to take advantage
of co-working spaces offered, for example, in thevicinity of their home or on the way to businessappointments (also see the “Environment”
section).
Working-time models
Bosch is a pioneer in rules on mobile and flexible
working. We want to empower our associates tostructure their working time as individually as
possible while optimally catering for business
requirements. Accordingly, more than 100 different working time models are used in the BoschGroup across all hierarchy levels, including parttime work, telecommuting, and job sharing. Associates can arrange these models individually inconsultation with their line managers. Back inearly 2014, we already introduced in a combined
works agreement the right of associates to mobile
working to the extent that it is compatible with
their tasks. In 2018, these rules were adopted in
the collectively bargained regional agreement forthe metal industry and are disseminated internationally as a fundamental principle today.

73| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

Other agreements and benefits
By creating a work environment that is as flexible
as possible, we help our associates to strike awork–life balance. But we also offer otherarrangements and options such as parental leave,
leave of absence to care for family members, sabbaticals, special leave, and paid leave in special
circumstances. Especially with families in mind,
Bosch offers a broad spectrum of measures inorder to arrange care services in emergencies,
for instance. For example, associates are active
in “Elder Care,” a working group that offers a platform on the “family@bosch” forum dedicated tothe exchange of information on, and experience
with, taking care of family members and that supports affected colleagues with advice and assistance.

Diversity
Bosch values the diversity of its associates’ perspectives, experience, and lifestyles. We are convinced that mixed teams often produce better
results and that appreciation of individuality isbeneficial for the working atmosphere. That is
why diversity is a fixed element of our corporate
strategy and anchored in our mission statement“We are Bosch” as one of our values. Our Codeof Business Conduct also reflects that Boschrespects and protects the personal dignity of eachindividual, tolerates neither discrimination nor
harassment of associates, and promotes diversity. It is very important to us that – irrespective ofgender, age, background, or any other aspects –all associates around the globe feel valued andcan devote their individual strengths, experience,and potential to the company.

Diversity initiative
The diversity initiative, launched as a projectin 2011, brings the topic to life by highlighting
positive examples. Its approach and message
that “diversity is our advantage” is communicated worldwide through a variety of channels. It illustrates the benefits for Bosch andevery individual and encourages participation.
We want to include all associates and are also
exploring unusual avenues in this context. For
example, Bosch is paying greater attention
in its diversity management to unconscious
bias, which is one of the causes of stereotyping. Since 2015, we have held close to
250 workshops with over 4,000 multipliers
at some 40 company sites in Germany. Thisis supplemented by numerous workshops inover 20 countries worldwide at which associates have also been made aware of their own
unconscious patterns of thought and action.
Unconscious bias was also the focus of thesixth Bosch Diversity Day held in 2019 inwhich more than 200 company sites worldwide took part.

Dimensions of diversity
In order to do justice to the different dimensionsof diversity, we have established a wide variety ofmeasures. In the following we present someexamples.
Gender: Mixed gender teams can capture thepotential inherent in having different vantage
points and solution strategies. That is why weencourage mixed teams at all levels and act on
the principle that is of elementary importance for
equality that the same work deserves the same
pay. Driven by these convictions, we want to further increase the proportion of women in ourDiversity website

74
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

total workforce, which is currently 27.4 percent(previous year: 27.0 percent). Above all, we wantto further increase the proportion of women in
leadership positions, which is currently 17.2 percent (previous year: 16.6 percent). In line withlegal requirements in Germany, Bosch has also
set targets for the proportion of women memberson the supervisory board and the board of management. The current deadline for reaching thetargets is December 31, 2021. For further details,
see the 2019 annual report (page 22 et seq.).
To achieve our target, we support women in
leadership positions in their careers throughmentoring and seminar programs such as theBusiness Women’s Program. Added to this, there
are numerous internal diversity networks, including the women’s network women@bosch andthe “Frauen in Technik” (women in technology)
forum. As of 2019, together with our strategic
partner PANDA, we offer female executives across-industry network and a professional andpersonal development platform.

5 | 03
Proportion of womenBosch Group 2017–2019, in percent

26.9

27.0

27.4

16.1

16.6

17.2

0

0

2017

2018

0

Bosch GroupManagement

Board ofmanagement
2019

Generations: We work with all generations,taking account of their various needs and adjusting our leadership tools accordingly. To this end,
we use professional training and flexible working(time) models adapted to the associates’ life
stages. Through Bosch Management Support, asubsidiary founded in 1999, we also temporarily
assign project and advisory tasks to former associates. Our former specialists and executives, whohave up to 40 years of experience at Bosch, aredeployed above all where professional advice isneeded at short notice. Training on demographic
change and cross-generational cooperation
rounds out our efforts. For example, together
with the Swiss association Generationentandem(generation tandem), we encourage communication between younger and older generations
through a variety of activities.
Internationality: People from around 150
nations work together for Bosch. This diversity
allows us to successfully collaborate with ourinternational customers, partners, and suppliers.
We have also organized international diversity
networks such as afric@bosch, chinese@bosch,“For Bosch abroad,” and the Bosch Turkish Forum.
With over 3,000 international assignments eachyear, we also encourage international exchange
within our workforce. Added to this, there are
numerous seminars on the subject of internationality, global collaboration, and various cultures.
Culture: Diversity can be achieved if we are theemployer of choice for people who think out of
the box and come to us from nonconventional
career paths. This calls for a courageous andopen leadership culture that permits authenticity.
We aim for a working culture based on mutual
respect and trust where all associates cooperate
openly and respectfully with each other. We areworking to continuously develop our culture fur-

75
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

ther in order to prevent unconscious bias in decision-making processes, such as when fillingvacancies.
People with disabilities: We increase our innovation power by focusing on the unique abilitiesof our associates – and not on their limitations.
That is why we create an inclusive working environment that takes into consideration and appreciates everybody’s special needs and skills. Representatives for disabled persons at the company
sites give the interests of our associates with disabilities a voice. In cooperation with workshops
for people with disabilities, we offer additional
work participation opportunities. With this inmind, we are also active in Germany in the asso­
ciation Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Werkstätten
für behinderte Menschen e. V. (National Working
Group Workshops for Disabled People).
At our Campinas site in Brazil, associates areactively involved in inclusiveness work. In the
project “Ambassadors of Inclusion,” more than
300 specifically trained ambassadors work toaddress the needs of associates with disabilities.
They help increase visibility in the daily work of
the roughly 200 colleagues with disabilities, they
drive projects to improve infrastructure designed
to be accessible for people with disabilities, andthey motivate the workforce, for example, toremove mental barriers or attend sign language
courses.
LGBT: At Bosch, all associates are valued –irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender
identity. We help associates network and encourage dialogue and mutual understanding between
people of different sexual orientations and iden­
tities. We support the foundation PrOut@Work,
which advocates equal opportunities in the workplace, and corresponding networks are also en-

couraged within the company, such as the global
LGBT diversity network RBg (Robert Bosch gay),which contributes to our open corporate culture.
The network is also active outside the company.
In 2017, it launched the LGBT Ally initiative. The
allies are associates from all business sectors
who are called on to openly address possible
incidents of bias or discrimination to help shape
the transition to an open working culture.

AwardsVarious awards that we received in the reporting
period are proof that our measures to attract andretain associates are effective – and that Bosch isthe employer of choice for a wide range of target
groups. For instance, we came third in the 2020
ranking of Germany’s best employers, which isregularly conducted by Glassdoor, and came second in the Young Professionals Barometer 2019
published by Trendence. In the Diversity & Inclusion Index 2019 compiled by Universum, whichmeasures the perception of students in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, andmathematics) in 31 countries, Bosch ranked 11thand is the first company in the automotive industry to make it on to the index.

Second place in the
Young Professionals
Barometer 2019

76
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

5.3 Leadership and collaboration

Our understanding of good leadership and collaboration is defined in the “We LEAD Bosch”
leadership principles, which address both exe­
cutives and associates. These principles set out
the form of leadership and collaboration that wewant at Bosch. “We LEAD Bosch” is also the company-wide template for leadership principles inthe divisions, regions, and plants.
Our executives shape the conditions such that
our associates can each develop and achieve theirpotential (for further details on development, see
the “Associates | Learning and development” section). This is a demanding task, in particular withregard to expectations on executives to be rolemodels. One key job of executives is to support
associates in independently making progress ontheir work and reaching decisions quickly and ona sound basis.

Working Out Loud
Complex tasks can frequently only be solved
by brainstorming and team effort. The Working Out Loud methodology is intended toenable associates to collaborate in networks,
learn from others, and share knowledge. Associates who wish to explore this opportunity
register with a community – and then circles
of five associates are created in which eachparticipant chooses a specific topic of study.
The circles meet every week over a certain
period of time to work on these individual
topics. This form of exchange helps participants to assume different perspectives andgradually reach their objective.

Feedback andsurveyThe 360° Leadership Feedback gives our executives feedback on their leadership skills from different perspectives. In general, participation isvoluntary, although some divisions have mandatory targets. The tool is available to all Boschexecutives worldwide. The aim is the continuous
improvement of leadership and collaboration as
well as a feedback culture in the spirit of “WeLEAD Bosch.”
To measure employee satisfaction and identify
specific improvement potential in the company,
we regularly survey our associates. The concept
is currently being revised and in the future will
involve the use of different survey elements forthe individual entities depending on what insights
they want to gain. The first survey based on the
new overall concept will be carried out in 2020.
Leadership survey
In the Executive Pulse Check once a year, Boschasks executives around the world for their opinions and views on current strategic topics. This
allows us to systematically recognize sentimentsin the company at an early stage and identify
where there is any need to change our strategicalignment. The survey results are put together
with recommended actions for discussion on
the board of management, and key insights areshared transparently with all participating executives and communicated to all associates in the
Bosch Business Dialog. Some 60 percent of executives invited took part in the most recent Executive Pulse Check in May 2019. The content focus
was placed on the business situation, technological and cultural change at Bosch, and corporatesocial responsibility. The responses show that

77
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

our executives support the decision in favor ofgroup-wide carbon neutrality (95 percent) andare motivated to make a contribution with theirteams to energy efficiency (98 percent). At thesame time, executives understand that the technological and social changes necessitate a farreaching transformation of the company. The vast
majority of executives have a clear picture of thecurrent economic situation (96 percent) andactively take opportunities to acquire new knowledge so that they can better integrate topics offuture importance in their own area of responsibility (91 percent).

Employee rights
Bosch has always maintained open and constructive dialogue with employee representatives tomake decisions based on consensus to the greatest extent possible. We are convinced that we
can implement the change processes needed tosecure our competitiveness only in cooperation
with employee representatives – that is, if associates and the company equally share the responsibility for the future of Bosch.
The framework for cooperation with employee
representatives as well as the corresponding
agreements is defined by a central directive
applicable worldwide. This is based on the “Basicprinciples of social responsibility,” which havebeen in effect since 2004 and govern the relationship between entities of the Bosch Group andemployee representatives. In accordance with
ILO conventions 87 and 98, which guarantee
workers’ freedom of association and the rightto collective bargaining, the directive sets out,
among other things, that workers can form independent trade unions and join them of their own
free will or participate in the election or formationof employee representation. In addition, nobody

in the company receives preferential treatment or
is disadvantaged on account of their membershipin a trade union or employee representation.
Cooperation with works councils and tradeunionsWith the exception of only a few, small units,practically all Bosch locations in Germany have aworks council. Collective bargaining agreements
are in effect for practically all units at Bosch inGermany, covering some 100,000 associates.
Combined works agreements additionally govern
cohesion and cooperation in the company. For
institutionalized cross-border employee repre­
sentation in Europe, there are European works
councils. In addition, Bosch promotes dialogue
between employee representatives worldwide.
In accordance with the respective national regulations, there are local employee representatives in
China and India, for example.
Agreements with the International Trade
Union Confederation
Based on the ILO core labor standards, Boschalready entered into agreements with the International Trade Union Confederation as early as 2004
on the “basic principles of social responsibility”
at Bosch. We rigorously pursue their implementation in our regions. In this ambit, we face challenges time and again on account of our highly
heterogeneous organization and broad footprint.
Particularly the colleagues responsible in theregions maintain dialogue with local employee
representatives and the relevant organizations.
In this process, we relentlessly strive to improveconditions in the respective countries. If any
problems arise locally in the process of implementing our standards, the HR corporate sector
deals with the issue and works toward finding asolution that achieves the greatest possible consensus and is consistent with our principles.

78
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

5.4 Learning and development

The rapid technological progress and new working processes and methods make lifelong learning crucial for all associates. For Bosch, a qualified workforce is a strategic success factor. We
see ourselves as a learning organization in whichlearning is integrated into day-to-day work. This
includes building up the competencies that will
be relevant in the future and strengthening theability of associates to acquire knowledge fasterand more flexibly. As a result, our associates benefit from increased employability and the company secures its competitive position.
Launched in 2016, the Bosch Learning Company
initiative seeks to prepare our associates for thedigital transformation by 2022. We are shaping
our future as a learning organization on the basisof three core elements: besides providing qualification programs on subjects such as digital transformation, software development, and electrification, we offer a modern learning infrastructure
and promote a learning culture that strengthens
self-managed learning.
The board of management and combined works
council at Bosch see it as their joint responsibility
to support professional training: the combined
works agreement on digital qualifications governs
the use and areas of application of digital learning tools throughout the group.

ual careers in line with their abilities and interests. Our innovative and inspiring development
formats aim to match the passion and skills of ourassociates with the needs of the company. A wide
range of options are available to associates, executives, and HR business partners to discuss individual development goals together and agree on
suitable measures to achieve these goals.
The competence model
Competence management at Bosch is a systematic process for identifying professional and methodological competencies and helping associates
to develop. The aim is to ensure that the rightabilities are available in the right place at the righttime. By “competencies” we mean our attributes,
skills, and behavior that are key to successfully
dealing with current and future tasks.
Our competence model sets the framework forrecruitment, goal and performance dialogue,
assessment of potential, and support programs.
It comprises four competence areas, each ofwhich has two competencies assigned:▶▶ Entrepreneurial competence(results orientation, forward-looking)▶▶ Leadership competence(leading myself, leading others)

Associate development▶▶ Interpersonal competence(collaboration, communication)

In response to ever-changing framework conditions and requirements, we adapt and optimize
all associate development formats on an ongoingbasis. We create a framework and promote a culture to help our associates to shape their individ-▶▶ Professional competence(breadth of experience, depth of knowledge)

79| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

The competence model is applied in different formats that support our associates in their individual development:
Goal and performance dialogue: As part of
the annual goal and performance dialogue, exe­
cutives and associates look back over what wasachieved in the past year, discuss targets for theyear ahead, and give each other feedback.
Career and development dialogue: The careerand development dialogue takes place between
associates and their line manager, the next higher
executive, and their HR business partner anddeals with the associate’s medium- and long-term
development goals and sets out the course for
their achievement. Some 4,700 associates took
part in career and development dialogue sessions in 2019.
Career advancement discussion: The careeradvancement discussion is a tool for talent poolmembers. It gives associates the opportunity to
discuss their next career and development steps
and arrange appropriate measures with their line
manager, the next higher executive, and their HR
business partner. Some 2,000 career advancement discussions were held in 2019.
Talent and associate review: Once a year,
supervisors and HR business partners discuss
the potential of their staff so as to identify andadvance talent at an early stage.
Talent pool: Associates in the talent pool takepart in training programs to prepare for therequirements of the next-higher level. This membership gives them the opportunity to network
across sectors.

Bosch Learning Company initiative
Lifelong learning is a key success factor for
Bosch. The Bosch Learning Company initiative
aims to anchor this understanding within thecompany and support associates in their learning
activities. It is driven by numerous executives andlearning stakeholders. The program is available at
all company sites worldwide and provides learning opportunities for associates across all organizational levels. Developed by international teams
that combine various perspectives, the content
offered is based on three pillars:▶▶ Training: We aim to give associates practicalsupport in meeting new challenges and havedeveloped learning opportunities tailored totheir needs. Examples include training in thefields of electrification and digitization.
▶▶ Digital learning: A whole range of digitalformats is available to individual associates orcomplete teams to quickly and flexibly take up
training opportunities tailored to their needs.
To provide an overview of the diverse range
offered, the learning portal has been set up asa kind of “Google for learning” with a searchalgorithm that finds all suitable courses.
▶▶ Self-managed learning and a culture oflearning: With the aim of creating an awareness for the importance of lifelong learning,in the reporting period we initiated the global
campaign “There’s a Bosch inside each of us.”Information about the culture of learning iscompiled on an internal website, and our associates can publish their own instructive videos
on an internal platform.

80
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

694,000 training days
attended

267 million euros
invested in training

Support program for specialists
As part of our support program for specialists,
we provide training for technical and commercial
jobs in our company to associates without university qualifications. The associates are empoweredto assume some of the tasks of engineers, business graduates, and IT specialists in their current
unit or factory. The program increases the appealof the vocational training courses for specialists
and makes a contribution toward covering thecompany’s need for specialists. Eligible for the
program are associates with high subject-matter
qualifications and an interest in advancing theircareers. Participation is premised on a willingness to attend some of the training measures outside of official working hours. Participants are
generally preselected in the talent and associatereview.
Investment in training
In 2019, we invested 267 million euros in training
for our associates. Our associates attended roughly 694,000 training days, including seminars andwebinars. On top of that, they worked throughabout 803,000 online learning courses (previous
year: 598,000).

Self-managed learning
At Bosch, we promote self-managed learning by offering our associates incentives toautonomously pursue informal training during
their working hours. In Germany, up to three
workdays a year can be dedicated to learning.
Associates can, for example, choose to test
their own digital skills using a self-assessment
tool and then start learning by selecting relevant content from an extensive portfolio ofdigital media and portal rooms.

These training measures are based on targetgroup-specific curricula set for associates withstandardized roles. At present, there are about
3,800 (previous year: 3,700) target-group-specificcurricula, and roughly 149,000 (previous year:
139,000) associates have at least one such learning curriculum assigned to them.
5 | 04Training activities
Bosch Group 2017–2019

671,000

560,000

680,000

Training
694,000 days

611,000
Training
523,000 attendance

256

2017

283
Expenditure
267 on training[EUR million]
2018

2019

5 | 05
Target-group-specific curricula
Bosch Group 2017–2019

125,000

139,000

3,700
3,200

2017

2018

Associates with
149,000 a curriculum
assigned

Number of
3,800 target-groupspecificcurricula

2019

81
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

Vocational training
and university studies“All together” for refugees

For over 100 years, Bosch has been using apprenticeships and traineeships as a means of covering
its needs for qualified young talent, while also
assuming its corporate social responsibility. Backin 1913, Robert Bosch founded the first apprentices’ workshop. Since then, more than 100,000
young professionals worldwide have been trainedat Bosch’s facilities.
Bosch’s vocational training measures are offeredat about 50 sites and 100 branches in over 30
countries. A choice of over 30 career profiles isavailable to young talent. At present, more than
7,000 Bosch apprentices and trainees around theworld are preparing for their future careers, 4,500
of those in Germany.

5 | 06
Training and study at Bosch
Global overview

As part of the integration initiative of the German economy, Bosch prepares young refugees
for living and working in Germany and supports them in their new environment. Since
2016, we have reached roughly 1,000 refugees
with career-orientation and training measuresat about 30 company sites. Programs havebeen developed as needed in cooperation
with local authorities and other institutions.
The focus here is on education, language
acquisition, and work experience. Bosch
generally assumes responsibility for the work
experience element. These offers are supplemented by local leisure activities in which ourassociates participate on a voluntary basis inmany different ways.

Europe: some 5,500 trainees and apprentices in
20 countries

Americas: some
500 trainees andapprentices in
4 countries

Dual education
programs similar toGerman concept in
China, India, Vietnam,
Brazil, Turkey
Training locations

Asia-Pacific,
Africa: some
1,500 trainees
and apprentices
in 7 countries

More than 7,000 trainees
and apprentices at Boscharound the world

82
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Hiring rate of around
90 percent

For years, Bosch has been training more can­didates than it needs, offering roughly 1,400
apprenticeships and traineeships every yearin Germany alone, with about 300 of those aspart of programs with universities of cooperativeeducation. The over 18,000 applications on average for these training positions are testament tojust how appealing training at Bosch is for career
starters. For about 20 percent of a year’s trainee
intake, we offer the opportunity to take part in ourinternational trainee exchange so that trainees
can obtain international experience, improve theirability to work in a team, take on responsibility,and become independent early on. Once theirtraining is completed, we usually offer suitable
young talent a permanent job. In recent years,
the hiring rate was around 90 percent.
As a globally operating supplier of technology,
Bosch is a role model in the concept of dual
education and training in cooperation with uni­
versities, including in Asia and Latin America. In
cooperation with the Chamber of Industry andCommerce (IHK) and the German chambers ofcommerce abroad, we are helping establish dual
training programs based on the German system ina number of countries, among them China, India,
Vietnam, Brazil, and Turkey. For instance, since2013 Bosch Vietnam Co., Ltd. in cooperation with
the Delegate of German Industry and Commercein Vietnam (AHK Vietnam) and the vocational education center LILAMA2 International Technology
College (Dong Nai) has been offering a 3.5-year
course to qualify as an industrial mechanic andhas recently introduced another course as mechatronics engineer.
Dual education and PreMaster program
Back in 1972, Bosch together with other companies founded the model of the universities ofcooperative education in the state of Baden-Württemberg (today Baden-Württemberg Cooperative
State University), making it one of the pioneers ofthe dual university program in Germany. Today, itoffers about 20 different programs in commercial,technical, and IT fields.

Our PreMaster program allows BA graduates oftechnical or business programs to obtain practical experience while they pursue an MA course.
In this way, we can identify suitable students whomeet our requirements and advance their professional and personal development. The program
comprises a phase at the company and an MA
course phase. Participants are assigned to a specialist department that individually structures thecontent of the phase served at the company and –together with a personal mentor – supports participants during the complete duration of the
program.

Southern Europe apprenticeshipinitiative
With our “Prepare for the Future” project,which we have been running in Italy since2015 and in Spain since 2018, we have todate been able to reach more than 305,000
students at about 1,800 schools and universities. The program gives them initial insights
into the working world and possible career
profiles. In 2018, Bosch created 75 new traineeships for young talent from Italy and Spain,
50 of those in Germany, 15 in Spain, andten in Italy. Since the project’s start, Boschhas provided support to a total of 175 trainees with language courses, company mentors,
and assistance from social counseling professionals.

83| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

5.5 Occupational health and safety

At Bosch, promoting the health of associates
and a safe working environment is a high priority,
which is why it is an integral element of our strategic sustainability target vision. The well-beingof our associates is also anchored in the principles of Bosch leadership culture. Our effective
occupational health and safety system supports
our associates’ performance capabilities.
Using a central core process for the entire BoschGroup, the EHS corporate sector is in charge ofoccupational health and safety management. The
EHS officers in the regions and at company sites
are responsible for compliance with the centrally
set requirements and goals. We report the statusof goal achievement to the board of management
as part of the semiannual sustainability reporting. In addition, as of 2018 we issue an EHS Cockpit Chart every quarter to all associates responsible for EHS issues that provides the key metrics
and relevant information at a glance. In the eventof any particularly serious incidents, we also
issue ad hoc reports (also see the “Company |Sustainability strategy and organization” section).
The central directive issued in 2019 and applicable throughout the group sets out our principles
relating to occupational health and safety for eachtarget group and details the requirements of our“Work safety, fire protection, environmental protection, and emergency control” guidelines.
As early as 2007, Bosch introduced an occupational health and safety management system
based on the globally recognized standard
OHSAS 18001, which has since been developed
further and today satisfies the new ISO standard
45001. We have defined a specific target in thisambit as well: by the end of 2020, all manufacturing sites and all development sites with morethan 50 associates are to introduce occupational
health and safety management systems and havethem certified externally. As of the end of 2019,245 of the 296 manufacturing and development

sites had already implemented occupational
health and safety management systems, ofwhich 64 percent had been certified (also see
Fig. 5 | 07).
5 | 07
Occupational health and safety
management systems (OHSMS)
Bosch Group 2019
296

245

189

Manufacturing
and development sites

OHSMS
implemented

OHSMS
certifiedAward for greater safety
Every year, our EHS Award is conferred on
innovative projects (also see the “Company”
section), and it has a separate category foroccupational safety. In 2019, a total of 63
projects from 18 countries were submitted. The winner was a project from our sitein Wuxi, China, that developed an app forreporting near accidents. The second andthird places went to associates in Brazil andVietnam for an occupational safety video andan IT program for reporting accidents andnear accidents.

64 percent of sites
have certified OHS
management systems

84
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Occupational safety
Bosch takes responsibility for its associates andwants to promote and safeguard their health –and a safe working environment is essential inthis respect. That is why we place a particularfocus on occupational safety.
Bosch has set itself a clear target in order tostrengthen occupational safety even more: by
2020, we want to reduce the accident rate within
the Bosch Group to 1.7 accidents per one million
hours worked. Key areas of action to achieve thistarget include minimizing hazards and how tohandle substances of concern. Compliance withmaterials prohibitions and the reduced use ofhazardous substances play an important role inthis respect. To ensure they are managed safely,
we use our central MaCS system (also see the“Products” section).
Every year, we identify and assess potential occupational safety risks and classify them by priority.
For this purpose, we refer to accidents reported
in the Incident Management System as well as
findings from internal audits under ISO 45001 or
the audits of the internal audit department. On
this basis, we develop specific risk mitigation programs and define key audit matters for subsequent audits.

Read more about
the Safety Basics in
Spotlights magazine

In the event of any particularly serious accidents– involving Bosch associates or third-party
employees – we perform an analysis and introduce appropriate measures. We have identified
potential for improvements with regard to thefollowing topics in particular and will therefore
focus on these: hazard awareness and identifi­
cation (in particular when coordinating external
companies), making changes to plants andmachinery, and preventive emergency control.

Based on an internal Bosch standard applicableworldwide, workplace or activity-related hazard
assessments are carried out regularly. Workplace
instructions and the use of protective equipment
round out our measures.
We have defined clear regulations governing
responsibilities and processes in order to ensure
occupational safety also when using external
companies. These apply right from the outset
when we select the service provider. As of 2019,
we have set down in our purchasing terms andconditions significant EHS requirements for suppliers, such as sufficiently qualified employees
and safe working equipment. In addition, our service providers agree to name a person in charge
who ensures the supervisory and control duty.
This person must also consult our coordinators
on-site before the work is carried out. We checkon a sample basis whether the requirements anddefined protective measures are being compliedwith. If any irregularities are identified, the work
can be discontinued and the purchasing department considers the possible implications.
Training andawareness-raising measures
We believe that the awareness and conductof individuals holds the greatest potential foranchoring occupational safety even more firmly.
Measures to raise awareness among associates
therefore play an important role.
With six memorable principles, our Safety Basics
initiative calls on all executives and associates toalways consider occupational safety in their daily
work. Communication measures such as newsletters, posters, and videos help to reinforce oursafety culture and incorporate the principles instandard processes. Regular assessments ana-

85
| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safetylyze how safety basics are practiced and implemented at our company sites. To reinforce theprinciples, we also develop campaigns with adifferent focus each year.
As we were able to identify, based on audit findings, potential for improvement in recognizing
hazards, the 2020 campaign will focus on thisarea. Company locations will be issued with toolkits containing tried-and-tested procedures andsupporting materials.
As a large share of accidents are due to humanerror, we want to raise awareness among ourassociates for occupational health and safety
matters as part of our EHS competence management and through occupational safety instructions and training. We are also using new technologies for this purpose: a virtual safety training
course using augmented reality was rolled out in
April 2019 and has since been available at several
company sites.

Relative to the baseline year 2007, the numberof accidents per 1 million hours worked in thereporting year is down 74 percent, at 1.9. Thishas brought us a big step closer to our target of
1.7 occupational accidents per 1 million hours
worked by 2020 (also see Fig. 5 | 08). There were
no fatal occupational accidents in 2019.
5 | 08Work accidents
Bosch Group 2017–2019
1,649



1,567

1,306
2.3

2017

2.2

2018

1.9

Work accidents

Work accidents[per 1 million
hours worked]
2019Road safety initiative
On September 26, 2019, the “European
Day Without A Road Death” (EDWARD) was
launched – a road safety initiative of the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL). We
took this occasion to call on our associates inour “Sicher unterwegs” road safety initiative
to reflect on how they behave on the road –also outside company premises. Regions andcompany sites were provided with relatedmaterial for internal communication purposes.

Occupational health
Health is of vital importance both for a motivatedand contented workforce and for a responsible,
high-performing company. We have therefore
anchored occupational health in our fundamental
principles of work and made them a fixed elementof our corporate culture. As a person’s healthdepends on many factors, associates and thecompany work together for a holistic approach tooccupational health. As good leadership culture
and team spirit among colleagues are key in thisrespect, protecting health is also defined as aleadership task at Bosch and firmly anchored in
the “We LEAD Bosch” leadership principles.

86
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Our occupational health management ranges
from preventative medical care and physical andmental fitness to mental health and right throughto tips on a healthy diet and workplace design.
Moreover, our reintegration management as wellas leadership, training, and competence development in relation to individuals’ health, and theintegration of people with reduced capacity towork and severe disabilities play an importantrole. At many company sites, associates can consult our in-house medical services, workplacedesigners, social services professionals, andhealth managers.
In order to meet the different needs and chal­lenges in the regions and at company sites, inthe reporting year we published a global recommendation for health management as a holistic
approach. The basic aim is for all health experts
to work together as a network and to establish acentral point of contact for health issues at thecompany sites. The recommendation includes
setting up a working group to develop site-spe­cific and needs-based programs.
In order to reduce the number of absentees due
to sickness, occupational health management
at Bosch sets specific priorities based on theexperience of the medical service and safetyengineers as well as the health report issued
by the Bosch company health insurance fund.
Insights from occupational reintegration management, the global associate survey, and hazard
assessments are also considered. As a result,conditions affecting the musculoskeletal andrespiratory systems as well as mental ill­nesses
were identified as focus areas.
In Germany, the health working groups are
responsible for on-site implementation. They
comprise representatives from different internal
specialist departments – including the representatives for disabled persons, occupational healthand safety, social services, works council, medical

services, canteens and cafeterias, HR, and ourcooperation partner – the Bosch health insurance
fund – and are available to answer all healthrelated issues of our associates. In addition, we
cooperate closely with external specialists andinstitutions. These are consulted where required –for example, as part of the OncoCure programthat in cooperation with Robert Bosch Hospitalin Stuttgart, Germany, enables associates withcancer to get a second opinion and a genetic
diagnosis. In 2019, we rolled out OncoCure in
Spain and are currently examining the possibilities of including other countries.

befit health managementin Germany
We group all measures related to health andwell-being under the “befit” program. Within
this holistic, workforce-oriented health management program, health experts, executives,and associates work together as partners. Its
main focus is preventive medical care, which
includes measures such as medical screening,ergonomic workplace inspections, sports andnutrition offers, and seminars on mental stressmanagement. An online portal that associates
can refer to for information about the whole
range of services offered was revised in 2019.
Company sites have the possibility to offer
their associates further content on the platform. In order to continuously further develop
health management at our company sites, wemeasure quality in Germany using a capability
maturity model and agreed-upon targets. If
these are achieved, the Bosch health insurance fund pays out a bonus. In 2019, anamount of roughly 680,000 euros was thus
channeled into occupational health at thecompany’s sites in Germany. There are similar
initiatives in other countries.

87| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Employer of choice| Leadership and collaboration| Learning and development| Occupational health and safety

Occupational health measures
Occupational health measures and projects at
the individual company sites are tailored to theirsize and respective needs. As the challenges differ from one country to the next, we manage theactivities locally – in particular in countries suchas Brazil, China, India, the United Kingdom, andRomania. Our company sites also frequently
cooperate with each other so that they can use
synergies and offer associates the most appealing
options possible. The health center opened at our
Abstatt location in 2019 serves as a central portof call for associates with respect to medical matters, including preventive medical care, as well as
fitness and social services. Another center is toopen in 2020 in Cluj, Romania.
Our preventive medical care offers for associates
include free screening for skin and colon cancer,
for instance. Sports groups help to keep our associates fit. In countries without full medical coverage, associates at many Bosch locations have theoption of visiting clinics located directly on-site.
In addition, we offer a broad range of training
courses on topics such as work–life balance,
metabolic disorders, exercise, and health.
India is one example of extensive measures outside of Europe: here, services offered on-site
range from vaccinations to blood donations andfirst-aid courses through to health checkups – anoffer taken up by 9,062 associates in the reporting year. By promoting preventive medical care,we were able to reduce stays in hospital and sickleave of our associates there.
Bosch knows just how important the mental
health of its associates is, and the company was
one of the first employers in Germany to introduce in-house social services back in 1917. Since
2017, our associates can also take advantage ofthis offer online to get support for all personal
and professional matters. Over 100,000 associates in Germany can contact our in-house social

Occupational health in connected
manufacturing
If we are to play a responsible role in digitalchange, we must always also consider the
impact on our associates’ health. That is what
motivated Bosch to inspect different company
sites to see which repetitive or monotonous
work could be left to robots working hand inhand with associates. For instance, we introduced an exoskeleton at the company site inLohr in the reporting year to support associates with overhead work in the paint shop.

services department through a portal at any time –and anonymously if they wish. Based on a works
agreement in Germany, we also hold training
courses on mental health designed for executives. The Psyga portal provides associates andexecutives with additional information and tests
on mental health and, when needed, indicates
who the best person to talk to is.
In order to further expand our mental healthmeasures, we are currently conducting threeresearch projects together with the University
of Ulm, Germany. Besides psychological stressin the start-up culture and executives’ mental
health, these projects also analyze associates’
heart rate variability.
In 2019, we launched the Bosch Heart Power
program at various locations in China. It offers
professional psychological support for morethan 17,000 associates and their families throughpersonal talks, training courses, and a hotline.

88
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Society

As a company active worldwide, we also bear responsibility for
local communities in the places where we operate. We want topromote social progress and make a continuous contribution to
improving people’s quality of life through our social commitment.
One of our priorities is the promotion of education and science –which we consider an investment in the future.

89| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society

22.7

million euros

in donations by the Bosch Group

830,000

euros for the Bosch
Research Foundation

5

regional charitable institutions

90
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

6.1 Management approach

As a corporate citizen, we get actively involved,
even beyond the scope of our own business activities. We distinguish between donations, politicallobbying, and sponsorship:▶▶ Our donation work focuses on the common
good, and we do not expect anything from therecipients in return. The focus is on educationand supporting young professionals. Guidelines ensure compliance with the law.
▶▶ Through political lobbying work, we want toactively contribute with our arguments to thepolitical decision-making process. Our guiding
principle is fact-based and technology-oriented
policy advice aimed at making technologicalprogress available to benefit people. To thisend, we want to engage in dialogue with decision makers in order to contribute toward developing society and stand up for our values, whileleaving political interests aside.
▶▶ Sponsorship at Bosch mainly serves advertising objectives – that is, strengthening our brandor the level of awareness among specific target
groups, such as prospective customers or
associates.
Robert Bosch Stiftung demonstrates its com­mitment to society worldwide by supporting or
implementing innovative and lighthouse projects(for more information on Robert Bosch Stiftung,see the “Company” section). At the same time,
the company is also committed to communities at
its locations around the world. In addition to theirfinancial commitment in the form of donations,many of our associates actively serve as volunteers in numerous projects.

Voluntary work
We support the social commitment of our asso­
ciates because they embrace our values, demonstrate team spirit, and develop creative solutions –qualities that also strengthen the innovative
power of our company. That is why our programfor prospective executives in Germany involves
supporting a project of a local social organization.
We encourage the extensive commitment of ourassociates, for example, by allowing them temporary leave and by setting up regular volunteer
meetings. Such initiatives are always organized
at individual companies rather than centrally.
As part of the initiative Wissensfabrik – Unterneh­
men für Deutschland e. V. (Knowledge Factory –Companies for Germany), several hundred Bosch
associates are involved in some 300 educational
cooperation arrangements with preschools,
schools, and start-ups in their free time. Boschwas one of the network’s founding members in
2005. Since then about 140 companies and foundations affiliated to corporations have joined the
network. The aim of the initiative is to spark theinterest of young people in technology and business and thereby strengthen Germany’s future
prospects. Bosch is represented on the steeringcommittee, on the executive board, and on various task groups of the initiative.

Bosch Research Foundation
The Bosch Research Foundation was established in 1986 to coincide with the company’s
centenary. The foundation funds its support
program from the income it generates with
its assets and from Bosch donations. For
example, Bosch provided 830,000 euros tothe research foundation in 2019. The Bosch
Research Foundation supports outstanding
young scientists who are working to obtain
their doctorates at top research institutes
in fields such as algorithms, big data, andmachine learning, materials science, andmedical technology.

91| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Global commitment| Political lobbying| Sponsorship

6.2 Global commitment
Donations
Our social commitment in the form of donations
is carried out by the respective companies and, insome countries, through dedicated institutions.
In the reporting year, the Bosch Group donated a
total of 22.7 million euros worldwide (previous
year: 24.5 million euros) for charitable purposes,
including donations in kind. A group guideline setsout corresponding principles, assessment criteria, and responsibilities. The guideline also governs funding for political parties. Depending on
the amount involved, either the managers of theoperating units or the members of the board ofmanagement of Robert Bosch GmbH decide how
the funds raised should be spent. All donationtransactions must be documented in writing. In
addition, the persons responsible keep an annual
ledger of donations that is accessible for audit
purposes. At a minimum, this ledger must indicate
the recipient of the donation, the amount of the
donation, the reasons for the donation, and thedate on which confirmation of receipt was received.
The purposes of the donations are clearly definedwith the focus on education and supporting
young professionals. Bosch is convinced that
good education is the key element in providing forthe future and therefore a central concern for any
company. As a technology group, we support universities and research institutions in fields relevant to our company. In this way, we want to play
our part in advancing progress in the sciences
and support the education of qualified future
talent. In the regions surrounding our company
sites, we make donations to schools and childcare centers as well as social and cultural institutions. There, we support nature conservation andenvironmental protection as well as popularsport and other nonprofit organizations to which
our associates volunteer their time. More thanthat, we also make donations to help survivors ofnatural disasters, particularly in the regions
where Bosch operates.

Donations by associates
In Germany, associates can voluntarily
take part in the Cents for help initiative anddonate the cent amounts from their monthly
take-home pay; Bosch then doubles theamount accumulated. A committee with equal
representation from the combined works
council and the combined executives’ committee decides on the use of these funds. The
company is represented as an employer by
HR staff and staff from the donations department. All associates in Germany can apply forfunds for a charitable project that is close to
their heart.
Associates in France can participate in a similar program, solidarité@bosch. Here, too, ourFrench regional company generously rounds
out the contributions of associates.

Regional support
Some Bosch regional companies have established their own charitable institutions for theirsocial commitment in accordance with therespective national regulations. They are usuallyactive in the vicinity of company sites and havecountry-specific focuses. Despite regional andcultural differences, such charitable activities
must be recognizable as concerted actions byBosch. In addition, they must also document theirwork in order to make their actions transparent
and enable an evaluation of their activities.

22.7 million
euros in donations

92
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook▶▶Instituto Robert Bosch
Instituto Robert Bosch in Brazil mainly supportssocial projects dedicated to the education ofchildren and adolescents from socially disadvantaged families. In 2019, the institute spent a totalof around one million euros to this effect. Startingin 2018, Instituto Robert Bosch extended its funding priorities to include the development of socialand emotional skills for young people. The number of projects on this topic grew almost threefold in 2019. As part of its volunteer program,the institute also supports the voluntary workof Bosch associates who build personal relationships with young people and thereby effectively
motivate them to complete their school education. Vocational training projects contribute to theintegration of young people into the labor market.
▶▶Bosch China Charity Center
Founded in 2011, the Bosch China Charity Center
coordinates the social initiatives of our sites in
China and, true to its guiding principle “Charity
for A Better Life,” primarily pursues educational
programs for reducing poverty. Roughly 160 projects have thus been promoted so far, from whichmore than 300,000 people have benefited in total.
In 2019, the Bosch China Charity Center issued
grants totaling 1.98 million euros. For instance,
the Bosch University Freshman Bursary Program
now provides financial support for students at 12
universities, with Bosch associates also serving
as mentors. Since 2011, a total of around 3,500
young people have received direct support. In thelast two years, the Charity Center has also been
involved in the promotion of small rural schools.
In 2019, basic language and art courses were alsooffered in seven schools throughout the country
for people who are blind and were attended by
142 visually impaired young students.

▶▶Bosch India Foundation
Since 2008, the Bosch India Foundation has
been using its education offers to help people
lead independent lives, whatever their background. The offering spans computer training
courses for unemployed young people fromrural areas through to language and self-defense
courses and bicycle repair workshops for street
children. In cooperation with local organizations,the institution also helps to finance medical carefor sick children and pregnant women. In addition, the Bosch India Foundation supports disadvantaged women in more than 300 villages andpromotes education and health among young
people. The BRIDGE initiative was launched especially for young people with a low level of education who have economically challenged backgrounds. The initiative is active in private and public organizations with over 270 centers and hashelped some 26,000 young people to train in thePrimavera –Hilfe für Kinder in Not e. V.
Primavera was founded in 1990 by ten associates with the aim of offering disadvantaged
children new prospects. These children livein the slums of developing and emerging
countries where Bosch operates. Many of the
now almost 1,500 members are active or former Bosch associates, but Primavera is also
increasingly gaining supporters outside thecompany. At present, the association supports
over 50 projects and roughly 19,000 children
in 17 countries. The projects are supervisedby associates of the Bosch locations or theirrelatives on a voluntary basis. Bosch supports Primavera both with donations and withadministration work. This means that every
euro donated goes directly to the projects.
In addition to the basic care of the children,
Primavera also supports school and vocational training activities that will enable them tolead independent lives in the long term.

93| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Global commitment| Political lobbying| Sponsorshipservice sector since 2013. In 2019, the institution
opened a center that trains disadvantaged young
people as plumbers. In the wake of the floods inthe states of Kerala and Maharashtra, the Bosch
India Foundation also helped more than 2,200
affected families by supplying them with medicine
and clothing.

6 | 01
Expenditure by regional institutions
in millions of euros▶▶Bosch Community Fund
The Bosch Community Fund pools the charitable commitment of 45 Bosch sites in the UnitedStates, Canada, and Costa Rica. The funded projects are in the fields of natural sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics, environmental protection, and disaster relief. In 2019, theinstitution spent funds of roughly four million
euros in total. One project of central importance
was the Girls at Work program in Londonderry,
New Hampshire (United States). Some 500 girls
from difficult backgrounds made items out ofwood in the course of the project, which lifted
both their team spirit and self-confidence. The
fund also supports the Autonomous Boat Program of Clemson University in South Carolina.
The program allows some 100 students to learn
about autonomous mobility coupled with environmental protection. They build self-propelledboats that collect plastic waste from the water.

Bosch India
Foundation(Bengaluru,
India)▶▶Fundación Robert Bosch México
Founded in 2016, Fundación Robert Bosch México supports the education of disadvantaged children and adolescents in the vicinity of our company sites in Mexico. In 2019, the institution undertook more than 30 projects and Bosch associates
volunteered more than 1,500 hours of work. The
project and the volunteer work reached over
25,000 children and adolescents. In order to getschoolgirls interested in science and technology,
the institution held workshops on robotics in
2019, reaching around 240 schoolchildren aged
13 to 18. In addition to donations from the Mexican regional subsidiary, Fundación Robert Bosch
México also receives financial support from third
parties.

Total project grants

Instituto
Robert Bosch(Campinas,
Brazil)9.87
Fundación
Robert Bosch
México(Mexico City,
Mexico)1
Bosch Community Fund
(Farmington
Hills, UnitedStates)Bosch China
Charity Center(Shanghai,
China)

1 Fundación Robert Bosch México also accepts
donations from third parties

Social responsibility at our locations
At our locations in many countries, associates
are committed to improving social conditions. In
2019, for example, around 100 associates at oursite in Jihlava, Czech Republic, once again took
part in the Vysočina cleaning campaign and collected waste in public places and green spaces.
In Romania, 200 associates renovated two local
schools as part of a team event, creating a pleasant learning environment for 180 children. For
seven years now, part of the workforce in Australia has been committed to helping homeless people by collecting donations or participating in
the annual Bosch Community Sleepout in Melbourne. The participants spend the night outside,which is part of everyday life for most homelesspeople. In 2019, we worked together with a catering company on this project: for every meal thatwas served that evening, a local women’s shelter
also received a donated meal.

94
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

6.3 Political lobbying

We believe it is our responsibility to put our technology expertise to work for the benefit of society
and to indicate concrete opportunities and solutions. With this in mind, we help shape opinions
at a government policy level, in associations, andin various social forums. This work is driven by
our ambition “Invented for life” and Bosch’s general stance on environmental and social issues.
We are in favor of standards that are both ambitious and as consistent as possible. For instance,
carefully considered EU legislation is preferable tohaving a large number of different requirements
at the national level, and it can frequently serve
as a global benchmark. New business fields inthe realm of connecting things and services also
create a need for new regulations. In their efforts
to design the corresponding framework conditions, policymakers have valued Bosch as a reliable partner for years and routinely ask the company to share its knowledge.
Our aim is to lobby for technical and technology
solutions in the fields relevant to us with a focus
on technical feasibility. We also want to do justicein this regard to the complete spectrum ofrequirements of our stakeholders. For instance,
we take a differentiated view on the discussion
regarding tomorrow’s mobility and pursue a broad
solution corridor. That includes a new – and, inparticular, complete – view of CO₂ emissions inroad traffic that considers all sources of emissions from well to wheel and factors them into
the assessment.

The political activities of Bosch are split into technical areas of competence. The Policy and Governmental Affairs department is active in Berlin
and Brussels, where it represents the politicalinterests of the Bosch Group vis-à-vis EU institutions, the German Federal Government, the German Bundestag, and wider society.

Transparency
We want to make our lobbying activities
transparent. To this end, we strictly adhere
to the various requirements in the respective
regions. For instance, Bosch is entered with
its Brussels office in the Transparency Register of the European Commission and publishes its responses in connection with EU consultations. A total of 10.2 full-time equivalents(FTE) at Bosch are directly assigned to EU
legislation activities, with five of them directlyin Brussels. In the reporting year, we spent
just over one million euros on our activities as
defined by the European Transparency Register including personnel and lease expenses.
In the regions with relevant business activities, Bosch additionally employs governancecoordinators (about 25 FTEs). In the UnitedStates, we are also subject to an obligation
to publish and document political activities.
There, only accredited lobbyists are permitted
to engage in talks with political representatives.

Worldwide, we uphold a strict policy with regard
to donations to political parties. The corresponding guidelines stipulate that only the shareholders
in combination with the board of management are
authorized to make political donations. Beyond
that, Bosch has a central directive that is binding

95| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Global commitment| Political lobbying| Sponsorshipworldwide and governs donations in dealings
with third parties. It is only permitted to offer,
grant, or accept donations in strict compliancewith numerous prerequisites. The rules relating
to officials and elected representatives are especially restrictive. Here, it must be ensured that any
appearance of influence being exercised is ruledout and that the internal rules of public authorities
are adhered to. Should local law in some regions
prescribe stricter or more specific requirements,
these must be adopted and complied with. Another central directive specifically dealing with government policy and affairs regulates interactions
with political officials – for instance, in the runup to elections. We are committed to remaining
politically neutral and seek to engage in dialogue
with all relevant political parties, particularly inGermany.
Bosch regularly makes donations to political parties in Germany in order to make a contribution
toward functional political discourse. The purpose and amount of the donations are fixed. Robert Bosch GmbH supports the following parties:
CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, and Bündnis 90/Die
Grünen. All donations are disclosed in the parties’ statements of accounts.

Political lobbying
activities
Our political lobbying activities aim to identify
at an early stage debates and developments concerning political regulation and initiatives that canaffect our products, our company sites, and ourbusiness operations in general. After all, due toour highly diversified product portfolio, we areaffected by a large number of legislative projects,
including in climate, energy, and environmental

conservation policy; transport policy; international trade policy; data protection laws; and laborand social policy.
As a company with operations worldwide, weare often directly affected by policy decisions
and are dependent on constructive dialogue with
policymakers. Although we generally only enter
into business operations if they are viable without
subsidies, we believe temporary government
assistance can be a suitable instrument to help
new technologies achieve a breakthrough or to
implement strategic decisions in the realm ofindustrial policy. In this sense, we see the funding
approval by the EU and the German government
for our semiconductor plant in Dresden within
the framework of the first Important Project ofCommon European Interest (IPCEI) to be a successful milestone for the project and for safeguarding the location of operations in Europe.
At the EU level, we are members of the high-levelworking groups of the EU Commission on key
technologies and artificial intelligence (AI). To
achieve clear cybersecurity rules within the EU,
we played a major role in drafting the Horizontal
Product Regulation for Cybersecurity white paperissued by the German Electrical and Electronic
Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI). Among otheractivities in Germany, Bosch is a member of various working groups of the National Platform
Future of Mobility and the advisory committee ofthe sustainable mobility initiative Agora Verkehrswende.
As part of a new series of stakeholder dialogue
sessions, which we launched in the reporting
year, we want to promote exchange, transparency,
and the joint search for solutions. In 2019, we
held a roundtable discussion with members of
the European Parliament, the European Commis-

96
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

sion, and representatives of NGOs on the needfor a guidance on AI “made in the EU.” We also
took part in the Citizens’ Dialogue at the 2019
International Motor Show and discussed thefuture of mobility with politicians and society.
Further dialogue sessions are planned for 2020
on the topics of technology neutrality, technological sovereignty, and climate-action technologies.
Aside from direct dialogue with policymakers,
Bosch engages in numerous associations and isactively involved in establishing positions on topics. In Germany, at the EU level, and in a numberof other countries, we are members of the industry associations relevant to our business activities. In Germany, for example, we are members of
the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI), the German Associationof the Automotive Industry (VDA), the German
Federal Association for Information Technology,
Telecommunications, and New Media (BITKOM),
and the German Mechanical Engineering Industry
Association (VDMA). In Brussels, we are members of the European Association of Automotive
Suppliers (CLEPA) and Digital Europe. At theinternational level, we are members of the Inter­national Chamber of Commerce and the United
Nations Global Compact. We also inform policymakers, NGOs, and the general public at eventson relevant topics. In the reporting year, we organized what are known as “real driving” trips in
London and Rome for this purpose, in which politicians, NGOs, and journalists took part. The aim
was to discuss air quality and to show how diesel
vehicles can achieve emissions standards.

Priority topics
Aside from the priority agenda of political activities set by the board of management, the regions
can set additional specific topics and formulate
corresponding objectives. The feedback obtained
from the regions also gives Bosch an indication of
the extent to which priority topics are of relevanceworldwide. When selecting topics, we also consider regulation that might have a major influenceon our business activities or future topics thatconcern our company.
The following topics were deemed particularly
important for Bosch in 2019: CO₂ reduction, andelectric mobility, hydrogen and synthetic fuels,
air quality and driving restrictions in cities, IoT,
AI, cybersecurity, and research and innovation
policy. A special focus is also placed on trade
policy, especially in view of Brexit as well as negotiations for various trade agreements. For 2020,
we expect AI, especially at the European level, as
well as climate protection legislation, a new emissions standard (Euro 7), and the ecological transition of society in industrial nations to continue
to gain in importance.
Aligned policy papers define the Bosch Group’s
position on relevant topics. They form the basis
for political lobbying and, depending on their relevance, are released by the board of management. In what we refer to as Bosch policy pointsof view, we summarize facts and arguments andprovide them systematically to external contacts.
Discussions are only held on topics for which policy documents are available. Activities are clustered by topic in order to assess their impact.

97| Company | Products | Supply chain | Environment | Associates | Society| Management approach| Global commitment| Political lobbying| Sponsorship6.4 SponsorshipA central directive governs the Bosch Group’s
sponsorship activities. Individual measures haveto be logically integrated in an overall communication strategy or a corresponding concept. The
objective of measures also has to be clearly
defined and focused on increasing brand recognition and reputation, promoting sales, winningcustomers, and attracting associates. For any
sponsorship measures in excess of 30,000 euros,
corporate headquarters must be consulted. Whensponsorship measures exceed a certain amount,benchmark criteria have to be defined to allow anassessment of the measure’s success. Binding
criteria apply to the selection of sponsorshipcommitments, such as the principle of customer
neutrality: we do not engage in sponsorship withindividual customers, unless we cooperate withthem in the development of key technologies.
Moreover, only sponsorship measures are pursued that directly communicate the strengths of
the Bosch brand or other brands of the BoschGroup and in which these are clearly profiled.

One focus of our sponsorship activities is motor
sports: since the end of 2018, Bosch has been an
official partner (initially for three years) of Formula E, a racing series for formula cars with electricmotors. As a technology partner, Bosch has sponsored the DTM for many years, and from 2020 wewill be the official sponsor of the Japanese SuperGT, initially for three years.

  

 






 





  





 



 



98
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

Annex

99
| Annex| GRI content index| Independent auditor’s assurance report| About this report and publication details

GRI content index

GRI indicators

KeywordReference*

General disclosures
Organization profile
GRI 102-1

Name of the organization

GRI 102-2

Activities, brands, products, and services

GRI 102-3

Location of headquarters

GRI 102-4

Location of operations

GRI 102-5

Ownership and legal form

GRI 102-6

Markets served

GRI 102-7

Scale of the organization- Number of associates- Subsidiaries and regional companies

8 – 10

GRI 102-8

Information on employees and other workers- Forms of employment- Terminations

8, 70

GRI 102-9

Supply chain- Purchasing volume- Logistics and transportation

44, 63

GRI 102-10

Significant changes to the organization and its
supply chain

GRI 102-11

Precautionary principle or approach

GRI 102-12

External initiatives

15/16, 45, 53, 58

GRI 102-13

Membership of associations

15/16, 95/96

Statement from senior decision maker4107- Business sectors

8 – 10
Stuttgart
8- Shareholders of Robert Bosch GmbH8
8 – 1044- Design for Environment- Life cycle assessments

19, 26 – 28, 30,
52/53

Strategy
GRI 102-14

Ethics and integrity
GRI 102-16

Values, principles, standards, and norms of behavior - Code of Business Conduct- Code of Conduct for Business Partners- Mission- Product Development Code- Basic principles of social responsibility

12, 20 – 22, 26,
45, 68, 72/73

Governance structure

14/15, 19, 74

Governance
GRI 102-18- Board of management and supervisory board

Stakeholder engagement
GRI 102-40

List of stakeholder groups

GRI 102-41

Collective bargaining agreements

GRI 102-42

Identifying and selecting stakeholders

GRI 102-43

Approach to stakeholder engagement

GRI 102-44

Key topics and concerns raised

16/17- Works council- Trade unions77
16 –18- Forms of dialogue- Materiality analysis

16 –1818

100
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

GRI indicators

KeywordReference*

Reporting practiceGRI 102-45

Entities included in the consolidated financial
statements- Consolidated group107

GRI 102-46

Defining report content andtopic boundaries- Materiality analysis

18

GRI 102-47

List of material topics- Materiality analysis

18

GRI 102-48

Restatements of information

107

GRI 102-49

Changes in reporting107

GRI 102-50

Reporting period107

GRI 102-51

Date of most recent report107

GRI 102-52

Reporting cycle

107

GRI 102-53

Contact point for questions regarding the report107

GRI 102-54

Claims of reporting in accordance with the
GRI standards

107

GRI 102-55

GRI content index

99

GRI 102-56

External assurance

105/106

Economic performance indicators
Economic performanceGRI 201/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 201-1

Direct economic value generated
and distributed

GRI 201-2

Financial implications and other risks andopportunities due to climate change- Economic KPIs
- Climate change adaptation- Position on climate change

1111; AR p. 45
54/55

Market presenceGRI 202/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 202-1

Ratios of standard entry level wage by gendercompared to local minimum wage

- Remuneration- Social benefits

71/72- Code of Business Conduct- Code of Conduct for Business Partners- Compliance training- Risk management

20/21- Code of Business Conduct- Code of Conduct for Business Partners- Compliance training- Risk management

20/21

71

Anti-corruption
GRI 205/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 205-1

Operations assessed for risks related to corruption

GRI 205-2

Communication and training about anti-corruption
policies and procedures

20/21
22

Anti-competitive behavior
GRI 206/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 206-1

Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior,anti-trust, and monopoly practices

20/21, 23;
AR p. 58

101
| Annex| GRI content index| Independent auditor’s assurance report| About this report and publication details

GRI indicators

KeywordReference*- Key materials- Materials efficiency- Hazardous substances- Nanotechnology

26 – 28, 30, 63- Energy management system- Reduction targets- Energy consumption- Energy efficiency, own generation, green power, offsets- Sales-related energy consumption- Energy efficiency of the products

52 – 55- Wastewater management- Water-stressed regions- Reduction targets- Use of water- Sales-related water consumption- Wastewater- Products with positive water-related effects

60/61- Reduction targets- GHG emissions- Energy efficiency, own generation, green power, offsets- Sales-related GHG emissions- Mobility concept- Logistics and transportation- Other air pollutant emissions

52 – 55

Environmental performance indicators
Materials
GRI 301/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 301-1

Materials used by weight or volume

GRI 301-2

Recycled input materials used

63
39, 63/64

EnergyGRI 302/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 302-1

Energy consumption within the organization

GRI 302-3

Energy intensity

GRI 302-4

Reduction of energy consumption

GRI 302-5

Reductions in energy requirements of products andservices

57/58
57
56/57
36 – 38

Water and effluents (2018)
GRI 303-1

Interactions with water as a shared resource

GRI 303-2

Management of water discharge-related impacts

GRI 303-3

Water withdrawal

GRI 303-4

Water discharge

62
61
62

Emissions
GRI 305/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 305-1

Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions

GRI 305-2

Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions

GRI 305-3

Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions

GRI 305-4

GHG emissions intensity

GRI 305-5

Reduction of GHG emissions

GRI 305-7

Nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX), andother significant air emissions

58
58
58
58
56 – 59
59

Effluents and waste
GRI 306/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 306-1

Water discharge by quality and destination

GRI 306-2

Waste by type and disposal method

GRI 306-4

Transport of hazardous waste- Waste management- Waste disposal- Sales-related waste- Hazardous waste

52/53, 64
62
64/65
64/65

Environmental compliance
GRI 307/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 307-1

Noncompliance with environmental laws andregulations- Compliance management- EHS management- Environmental management

13 –15, 20 – 23,
52/53
23

102
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

GRI indicators

KeywordReference*

Supplier environmental assessment
GRI 308/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 308-1

New suppliers that were screened using
environmental criteria- Supplier standards
44/45, 47- Code of Conduct for Business Partners
47- Supplier risk management- Selection, assessment, and development of suppliers

Social performance indicators
Employment
GRI 401/103
GRI 401-2

Management approach disclosures- Work-life balance- Remuneration and social benefits
Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not- Forms of employment
provided to temporary or part-time employees- Employee rights

68/69, 71
71 – 73

Labor/management relations
GRI 402/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 402-1

Minimum notice periods regarding operationalchanges- Leadership and collaboration- Associate survey- Works council and trade unions- Terminations

68/69, 77
77

Occupational health and safety (2018)
GRI 403-1

Occupational health and safety management system - Occupational health and safety management system- Safety basics- Occupational accidents and ill health
Hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident- Preventive healthcare and occupational healthinvestigation

83

GRI 403-3

Occupational health services

86/87

GRI 403-4

Worker participation, consultation, andcommunication on occupational health and safety

83 – 87

GRI 403-5

Worker training on occupational health and safety

85, 87

GRI 403-6

Promotion of worker health

GRI 403-7

Prevention and mitigation of occupational healthand safety impacts directly linked by business
relationships

84 – 87

GRI 403-9

Work-related injuries

85

GRI 403-2

84/85

Training and education
GRI 404/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 404-1

Average hours of training per year per employee

GRI 404-2

Programs for upgrading employee skills andtransition assistance programs

GRI 404-3

Percentage of employees receiving regularperformance and career development reviews- Personal development process- Education and training- Support program for specialists

68/69, 78/79
80
78 – 8079

103| Annex| GRI content index| Independent auditor’s assurance report| About this report and publication details

GRI indicators

KeywordReference*- Equal opportunities- Nondiscrimination- Dimensions of diversity

68/69, 72/73- Equal opportunities- Nondiscrimination- Dimensions of diversity- Complaint mechanisms

73 – 75

Diversity and equal opportunity
GRI 405/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 405-1

Diversity of governance bodies and employees

GRI 405-2

Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women
to men73/74
71, 73/74

Nondiscrimination
GRI 406/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 406-1

Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions
taken

23

Freedom of association and collective bargaining
GRI 407/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 407-1

Operations and suppliers in which the right tofreedom of association and collective bargaining
may be at risk

- Code of Business Conduct
19 – 21, 44 – 46,- Works council and trade unions
77- Code of Conduct for Business Partners
19 – 21, 44 – 46
- Selection, assessment, and development of suppliers- Compliance management

Child labor
GRI 408/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 408-1

Operations and suppliers at significant risk forincidents of child labor- Code of Business Conduct
19 – 21, 44 – 46,- Code of Conduct for Business Partners
77- Selection, assessment, and development of suppliers
19 – 21, 47/48- Compliance management

Forced or compulsory labor
GRI 409/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 409-1

Operations and suppliers at significant risk forincidents of forced or compulsory labor- Code of Business Conduct
19 – 21, 44 – 46,- Code of Conduct for Business Partners
77- Selection, assessment, and development of suppliers
19 – 21, 47/48- Compliance management

Human rights assessment
GRI 412/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 412-1

Operations that have been subject to human rights
reviews or impact assessments

GRI 412-2

Employee training on human rights policies orprocedures- Code of Business Conduct
19 – 21, 44 – 46
- Code of Conduct for Business Partners
19 – 21, 47/48- Selection, assessment, and development of suppliers- Compliance management
22

Supplier social assessment
GRI 414/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 414-1

New suppliers that were screened using social
criteria- Code of Conduct for Business Partners
44/45, 47- Selection, assessment, and development of suppliers
47

Public policy
GRI 415/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 415-1

Political contributions- Political lobbying- Contact with policymakers

94 – 96
95

104
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

GRI indicators

KeywordReference*- Product quality- Product safety- Life cycle assessments

28/29- Responsible advertising- Product information

29- IT security and data protection- Compliance management

34- Code of Business Conduct- Code of Conduct for Business Partners- Compliance management

19 – 21

Customer health and safety
GRI 416/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 416-1

Assessment of the health and safety impacts ofproduct and service categories

28/29

Marketing and labeling
GRI 417/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 417-1

Requirements for product and service informationand labeling

29

Customer privacy
GRI 418/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 418-1

Substantiated complaints concerning breaches ofcustomer privacy and losses of customer data

23

Socioeconomic compliance
GRI 419/103

Management approach disclosures

GRI 419-1

Noncompliance with laws and regulations in thesocial and economic area

* The references indicate the pages on which the respective GRI content is mentioned within this report.
References marked “AR” refer to our 2019 annual report.

23; AR p. 58

105| Annex| GRI content index| Independent auditor’s assurance report| About this report and publication details

Independent auditor’s assurance report1
on selected performance indicators and statements in thesustainability report

To the Robert Bosch Gesellschaft mit beschränkter
Haftung, Stuttgart
We have performed a limited assurance engagement
on selected performance indicators of 2019, as well ason the statements regarding the CO₂-neutrality programof the Bosch Group within the sustainability report of theRobert Bosch Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung,
Stuttgart, and its subsidiaries (hereafter: “Bosch Group”)
for the reporting period from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019 (hereafter: “sustainability report”).
Our assurance refers exclusively to the performance indicator “greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2)
in 1,000 tons CO₂ in the year 2019” (part of table “4 | 03
Greenhouse gas emissions Bosch Group 2017–2019” ofthe sustainability report), the performance indicator“work accidents in the year 2019” (part of table “5 | 08
Work accidents Bosch Group 2017–2019” of the sustainability report), and the statements of the CO₂-neutrality
program within the Bosch Group in the sections “Ourgoal: climate neutrality” and “Four levers for climate neutrality” in chapter “4.2 Energy and climate action” of thesustainability report (hereafter: “selected performanceindicators and statements in the sustainability report”).
The assured selected performance indicators and statements in the sustainability report are marked with thesymbol “.” Our engagement did not include any disclosures for prior years.

have considered necessary to enable the preparation of asustainability report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
B Auditor’s declaration relating to independence
and quality control
We are independent from the Company in accordancewith the provisions under German commercial law andprofessional requirements, and we have fulfilled our other professional responsibilities in accordance with theserequirements.
Our audit firm applies the national statutory regulations
and professional pronouncements for quality control, inparticular the bylaws regulating the rights and duties ofWirtschaftsprüfer and vereidigte Buchprüfer in the exercise of their profession (Berufssatzung für Wirtschaftsprüfer und vereidigte Buchprüfer) as well as the IDW
Standard on Quality Control 1: Requirements for Quality
Control in audit firms (IDW Qualitätssicherungsstandard
1: Anforderungen an die Qualitätssicherung in der
Wirtschaftsprüferpraxis (IDW QS 1)).
C Auditor’s responsibility
Our responsibility is to express a limited assurance conclusion on the selected performance indicators andstatements in the sustainability report based on theassurance engagement we have performed.



A Management’s responsibility
The legal representatives of the Company are responsible
for the preparation of the sustainability report in accordance with the “GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards,”
option “Core” (hereafter: “reporting criteria”).
This responsibility includes the selection and applicationof appropriate methods to prepare the sustainability
report as well as making assumptions and estimates
related to individual disclosures, which are reasonable inthe circumstances. Furthermore, the legal representatives are responsible for such internal controls that they

We conducted our assurance engagement in accordancewith the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised): Assurance Engagements
other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). This standard requiresthat we plan and perform the assurance engagement toobtain limited assurance about whether the selected performance indicators and statements in the sustainability
report of the Company have been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria. In
a limited assurance engagement, the assurance procedures are less in extent than for a reasonable assurance
engagement and therefore a substantially lower level of

1 Ernst & Young GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft has performed a limited assurance engagement on selected performance indicators andstatements in the German version of this sustainability report and issued an independent assurance report in German, which is authoritative.
The text presented here is a translation of the independent assurance report.

106
Bosch sustainability report 2019 | factbook

assurance is obtained. The assurance procedures selected depend on the auditor’s professional judgment.
Within the scope of our assurance engagement, which
has been conducted between October 2019 and April
2020, we performed, among others, the following assurance and other procedures:▶▶ Inquiries of employees regarding the CO₂-neutrality
program within the Bosch Group,▶▶ Inquiries of employees responsible for data capture
and consolidation as well as the preparation of the sustainability report to evaluate the reporting processes,
the data capture and compilation methods, and internal
controls to the extent relevant for the assurance of theselected performance indicators and statements in thesustainability report,▶▶ Identification of likely risks of material misstatement,▶▶ Inspection of relevant documentation of the systems
and processes for compiling, aggregating, and validating data in the relevant areas of energy/climate protection and work safety/health protection in the reporting
period and testing such documentation on a sample
basis,▶▶ Analytical evaluation of the selected performance indicators in the sustainability report,▶▶ Inquiries and inspection of documents on a sample
basis relating to the collection and reporting of selected performance indicators and statements in the sustainability report,▶▶ Conducting site visits in Feuerbach and Lollar (bothin Germany), Charleston (in the United States), andCerkezköy and Bursa (both in Turkey) to evaluate theprocesses for collecting, aggregating, and validating
the data as well as the reliability of the reported data
at group level,from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019, have notbeen prepared, in all material respects, in accordancewith the reporting criteria.
E Intended use of the assurance report
We issue this report on the basis of the engagementagreed with the Robert Bosch Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, Stuttgart. The assurance engagement has been performed for the purposes of the Company and the report is solely intended to inform the Company as to the results of the assurance engagement andmust not be used for purposes other than those intended. The report is not intended to provide third parties
with support in making (financial) decisions.
F Engagement terms and liability
The “General Engagement Terms for Wirtschaftsprüfer
and Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaften (German Public
Auditors and Public Audit Firms)” dated January 1, 2017,
are applicable to this engagement and also govern our
relations with third parties in the context of this engagement (www.de.ey.com/general-engagement-terms). In
addition, please refer to the liability provisions containedin no. 9 and to the exclusion of liability toward third parties. We assume no responsibility, liability, or other obligations toward third parties unless we have concluded awritten agreement to the contrary with the respective
third party or liability cannot effectively be precluded.
We make express reference to the fact that we do not
update the assurance report to reflect events or circumstances arising after it was issued unless required to do
so by law. It is the sole responsibility of anyone taking
note of the result of our assurance engagement summarized in this assurance report to decide whether and inwhat way this result is useful or suitable for their pur­poses and to supplement, verify, or update it by meansof their own review procedures.
Munich, April 3, 2020
Ernst & Young GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft▶▶ Evaluation of the presentation of selected performanceindicators and statements in the sustainability report.
D Assurance conclusion
Based on our assurance procedures performed andassurance evidence obtained, nothing has come to ourattention that causes us to believe that the selected performance indicators and statements marked with thesymbol “” in the sustainability report for the period

Nicole Richter
Wirtschaftsprüferin(German Public Auditor)

Yvonne Meyer
Wirtschaftsprüferin(German Public Auditor)

107| Annex| GRI content index| Independent auditor’s assurance report| About this report and publication details

About this report

Publication details

The Bosch Group’s sustainability report has been published annually
since 2011. The present report describes the progress made in terms ofsustainable business practices in the 2019 fiscal year (January 1, 2019,
to December 31, 2019).

Published by:Robert Bosch GmbH
Corporate Communicationsand Governmental Affairs

As in previous years, the report observes the internationally recognized
guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). To the best of ourknowledge, the report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI
Standards: Core option. Ernst & Young Wirt­schaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
performed a limited assurance engagement on selected performanceindicators and statements on climate action and occupational safety.
.”
Assured content in this sustainability report is marked “

Postfach 10 60 50
70049 Stuttgart
Germany
Phone +49 711 811-0

Unless otherwise stated, all information in this report refers to the fullconsolidated group. Besides Robert Bosch GmbH, the consolidated
group comprises a further 438 (previous year: 462) fully consolidated
companies. Details of the scope of consolidation and the developmentsin the fiscal year relating to it can be found in the annual report (see2019 annual report, page 71 et seq.). Key environmental and occupational health and safety indicators cover 428 (previous year: 414) reportablelocations.
The information was requested electronically and the data was mainlycompiled using software specific to each division. A three-year trend is
not yet feasible in individual cases, but it is our aim to render such a presentation in the future. In individual cases, facts relating to previous periods were corrected. Discrepancies in the totals are possible due torounding differences.
All forward-looking statements in this report are based on the assumptions valid as of the copy deadline. Due to unknown risks, uncertainties,
and other factors, the actual results, developments, and performance ofthe company may differ from our forecasts, assessments, and announcements.
German and English PDF versions of the sustainability report 2019are available online. Further information can be found at
sustainability.bosch.com and in the 2019 annual report. The next
sustainability report is scheduled to be published in spring 2021.

Corporate Communications andGovernmental Affairs (C/CG)
Executive Vice President: Prof. Christof Ehrhart
Health, Safety, Environmental andFire Protection as well as Sustainability(C/HSE)
Head: Torsten Kallweit
Sustainability and Ideas Lab (C/HSE2)
Head: Annette Wagner
annette.wagner@de.bosch.com
Concept, text, and layout
akzente kommunikation und beratung GmbH,
MunichPrint
Elanders GmbH, WaiblingenRobert Bosch GmbH
Postfach 10 60 50
70049 Stuttgart
Germany
www.bosch.com