The České Budějovice company Robert Bosch is building a new building for development and laboratories. The cost is eight million euros (about CZK 203 million), it will be completed in 2022. This year, a year-on-year increase in turnover of 15 percent awaits, the problem is that the market lacks electronic parts for the automotive industry, according to the executive of the Budějovice plant, Milan Šlachta.
The company with 3,800 employees, which belongs to the group of the largest manufacturer of car components, ended up with a loss after tax of CZK 121.9 million last year. The year before, it had a profit of almost CZK 633 million. Revenues fell by 21.3 percent to CZK 17.4 billion. The reason was lower demand due to the coronary crisis, according to the annual report. According to Šlachta, this year’s turnover could be close to the year before last year, which was CZK 21.1 billion.
“The first half of this year followed the strong second half of 2020, where orders increased significantly. It looks like it will be a successful year (this year). In recent months, however, we have also felt a shortage of components in the supply chain market,” said Šlachta. According to him, last year the chip manufacturers redirected their capacities to consumer electronics customers, because the automotive industry experienced a strong slowdown, while sales of computers and phones grew.
“At the same time, it’s a far bigger business than automotive because cars aren’t made as much as mobile phones and other devices. The problem arose that when automotive returned to its numbers, capacity was gone. Carmakers cut production due to lack of chips. Many customers who had two to four weeks of stopped lines or limited production, so we had no one to supply and our turnover decreased. We had to cancel dozens of shifts, “said Šlachta, who is also the head of the Bosch Group in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The company will complete the new three-storey building next year. It strengthens departments that develop DNOX systems that reduce nitrogen oxide emissions – these are modules for diesel engines of cars and trucks. The development of fuel cells is also growing. Of the approximately 3,800 employees, developers now make up about a fifth in Bosch’s Bosch.
“Our new field in development is hydrogen technology. The second project that is running is the preparation of water for hydrogen production. The better water you use for its production, the less energy-intensive it is and the longer the equipment will last without maintenance,” said Šlachta.
The company had stricter coronavirus rules for wearing veils than prescribed by the government. During the summer, drapes in buildings will continue to be mandatory. “Our philosophy is to protect every employee who has not yet had the opportunity to get vaccinated and gain immunity,” said Šlachta. About a third of employees are now vaccinated.
Almost one hundred percent of products from the České Budějovice Bosch go to foreign markets, mainly to the EU. At the end of last year, the Bosch CR Group had about 8,000 employees and a turnover, including exports, of CZK 46.3 billion. The Bosch Group employs 395,000 people worldwide. Last year, it had a turnover of EUR 71.5 billion (roughly CZK 1.81 trillion).
Source:
