Manufacturing Excellence

Bosch expands factory automation business in Australia with a new proposed $17 million facility to be constructed at the Bosch Clayton campus that will see more than 30 new jobs to be created. Manufacturers’ Monthly explains.

IN February this year, the construction of a new facility for

Bosch’s Manufacturing Solutions and Rexroth businesses began. The company will invest $17million on the new facility. On completion, this will see the end of a five-year project to consolidate all of Bosch’s Victorian bus inesses to its 12-hectare Clayton campus.

Bosch’s Manufacturing Solutions division began as a growth initiative, and to redeploy highly skilled employees being impacted by the decline of the Australian automotive industry, to new endeavours.

Applying more than 40 years of experience in designing and building automation equipment and special purpose machines for Bosch factories in Australia and abroad, the division has established itself as a trusted supplier to the Australian manufacturing sector, as well as international customers.

Five years on, Bosch’s Manufacturing Solutions division services a diverse array of blue chip, mid-tier and early stage manufacturing companies as customers.

Peter Tyroller, member of the board of management of the Bosch Group responsible for Asia Pacific, who was at the commemorative soil-turning event mentioned that he was delighted that Bosch’s Australian team is playing such an important role in securing the future of manufacturing in this country.

“What we are doing here is quite unique within the Bosch Group,” Tyroller said.

Bosch’s history of manufacturing at this site dates back to the 1950s, when it established a plant to support a growing local automotive manufacturing industry.

The ensuing decades of production and engineering saw automotive customers come to depend on Bosch Australia’s expertise for the supply of quality components for local assembly.

However, as the volume of locally produced cars sharply declined the local Bosch manufacturing activities had to be restructured.

“It was a very difficult time. For most of the team supporting our manufacturing operations there really was no future. Then we realised, the capability we had in-house could easily be redirected externally. We gave them time and freedom to see what they could make of it, and now they are flying,” Gavin Smith, president of Bosch Australia, said.

Today, the Manufacturing Solutions team has done much more than just survive. They are now supplying complex turnkey solutions to the medical technology, food and beverage, and advanced manufacturing industries.

“M anufacturing is very much alive in Australia, and we are excited to be at the forefront of it,” said Smith. “For well over 100 years, Bosch has been at the forefront of manufacturing. Bosch’s commitment to Australia reinforces this country’s importance as a global manufacturing hub, underpinned by innovative organisations and a skilled workforce,” Jens Goennemann, managing director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, said.

The new building will comprise 4,156 sqm of industrial space and workshops, 896 sqm of offices, amenities and laboratories, and a further 833 sqm for truck and service areas, as well as 74 additional car parking spaces.

With the support of the Victorian Government, the new building brings with it a commitment to create at least 35 new jobs over the next four years.

Furthermore, Bosch Australia will continue to work towards its 2020 carbon neutrality goal by constructing fully insulated, temperature efficient workshops, and installing 1,125 solar panels on the roof of the new building. The 500kW of peak solar power they generate will help to supply approximately 10 per cent of the power consumed at the Clayton site.

Construction of the new facility is expected to be completed by October 2020.