Bosch India unveils first smart campus with capacity to house 10k experts

Bosch, the leading supplier of technology and services, is expanding its AIoT (artificial intelligence of things) activities in India. It is doing this by transforming its headquarters in Adugodi, Bengaluru, into a new smart campus called Spark.NXT. AIoT is the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure, where devices communicate with each other intelligently.

Over the last five years, Bosch has invested Rs 800 crore in developing the campus, which has the capacity to potentially house 10,000 associates. The 76-acre site is Bosch’s first smart campus in India. It features multiple smart solutions based on sustainability, security, and user experience for associates, visitors, and facility management.

Inaugurating the Bosch Smart Campus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that this campus will take lead in developing futuristic products and solutions for India and for the world. “I urge Bosch to think of doing more in India and set goals for the next 25 years.”

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During his inaugural address, Modi said that it is a special year for both India and Bosch India, as the nation celebrates 75 years of Independence and Bosch celebrates a century of its presence in India.

“100 years ago, Bosch came to India as a German company and now it is as much Indian as German,” said Modi. “This is a great example of German engineering and Indian energy.”

As an AIoT company, Bosch India leveraged its AI, IoT, automation, and digitalisation capabilities to develop its smart campus. To further enhance its research and development (R&D) capabilities for the new way of working, Bosch India has also trained over 10,000 associates through a comprehensive reskilling initiative over the past two years.

“As a global player, Bosch brings together associates from more than 150 different countries,” said Filiz Albrecht, member of the board of management and director of Industrial Relations at Robert Bosch GmbH with responsibility for India from July 1, 2022. “This (campus) empowers us to remain an employer of choice while driving sustainability in everything we do.”

The company has invested Rs 50 crore (6 million euros) in the reduction of energy consumption at the new Adugodi campus over the long term. The campus will meet up to 85 per cent of its total energy needs with in-house solar panels and the purchase of green group captive power. Almost two-thirds of annual domestic water demand at Bosch in India is set to be met through rainwater harvesting projects. An enhanced green cover with 9-million-litre capacity underground tanks for rainwater harvesting reduces water demand by 60 per cent.

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Soumitra Bhattacharya, managing director of Bosch Limited and president of the Bosch Group, India, said the world is today looking at collaboration within companies and outside the organisations. He said the rate of transformation for change in businesses is unbelievable and agility and collaboration play a key role.

“The only certainty today is uncertainty,” said Bhattacharya. “This smart campus is an example of being ahead of its time with people at the centre.”

This includes empowering them to have collaborations within the organisation as well as suppliers and customers globally and creating solutions. “With our new campus, the company continues to invest in smart and sustainable solutions which support the government’s vision for an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” said Bhattacharya. He also said that Bosch is looking at total gross hiring of about 6,000 people this year across its group companies.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the State, primarily Bengaluru has been a technology hub and houses the largest number of R&D centres across the globe.

“This campus showcases R&D capabilities in both automotive and non-automotive products and services," said Bommai.

Bosch said it has applied multiple smart, sustainable, and user-friendly solutions that move the campus towards the future of work. It has deployed an ambient air-quality monitoring solution to constantly monitor key noise and air pollutants. This data will be shared with associates in real-time to enhance their well-being.

“This campus is built only for 70 per cent of attendance,” said Karsten Mueller, executive vice president, manufacturing and quality, Bosch India. “We encourage hybrid-working models. It is not about attendance, but performance.”

There is an AIoT-powered analytics platform for Industry 4.0 that provides smart energy and water management to bolster sustainability. It helps in optimising resources and managing utilities. While saving up to 6 per cent energy per annum, the platform also improves operational efficiency by 8 per cent.

The firm has developed an intelligent air-conditioning and comfort assistant solution to improve employee comfort at the campus and reduce the latter’s carbon footprint. By optimising heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning operations (HVAC) based on occupancy and thermal preferences, the solution can reduce HVAC energy consumption by 30 to 50 per cent.

There are solutions to maximise the security of people and premises. These discrete applications combine access control, intrusion detection, and intelligent surveillance with advanced video analytics featuring two-factor authentication.

There is also a smart parking solution. It helps in 3-4 mins of lesser time for parking, resulting in annual savings of over 1500  man-days, 2500 litres of fuel, and 5000 kgs of CO2. This solution also reduces manual security efforts by 50 per cent.