In the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, the company has thus returned to pre-crisis levels. "Despite the pandemic and economic challenges, we have succeeded in increasing sales and reliably supplying our customers," emphasizes Rolf Najork, Member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch GmbH with responsibility for Industrial Technology and Chairman of the Board of Management of Bosch Rexroth AG. "We have achieved a record level of incoming orders."

Sales: strong growth worldwide

Sales growth for 2021 was driven by significant double-digit growth rates in all regions of the world. At 23.5 percent, Bosch Rexroth recorded the largest increase compared to the previous year in Europe outside Germany. Turnover there amounted to around 2 billion euros. In Germany, sales rose by 18.2 percent to 1.3 billion euros. In North and South America, sales increased by 18.3 percent to 1.1 billion euros, in Asia by 15.9 percent to 1.8 billion euros. At 6.2 billion euros, total sales are therefore back at the level of 2019, the year before the pandemic began.

Incoming orders: record figure as the basis for further growth

Bosch Rexroth achieved an order intake of 7.5 billion euros. This is around 800 million euros more than the comparable record figure from 2018. Compared to the previous year, Bosch Rexroth increased its order intake volume by 43.1 percent. Growth accelerated over the course of the year, particularly in the fourth quarter. The strong order intake offers potential for further growth. The high-volume hydraulics business showed strong demand, while factory automation activities also grew strongly.

Expenditure on research and development and investments increased significantly

A total of 344 million euros was invested in research and development - an increase of 5.8 percent. The focus was on the electrification of mobile machinery, the factory automation portfolio based on the "ctrlX Automation" automation platform and integrated axis systems in the field of industrial hydraulics.

The company spent around 180 million euros on its international production network, 78.2 percent more than in the previous year. Investments were made primarily in the optimization, expansion and renewal of production capacities in Germany, Turkey, China and Italy. The medium-term plan envisages further significant investments in production and logistics. "With our extensive investments and development activities, we want to increase our competitiveness, enable further growth and secure attractive jobs," explains Rolf Najork.

Team grows, further need for specialists

The Bosch Rexroth team grew worldwide in 2021 by around 1,400 associates or 4.7 percent to around 31,100, mainly due to the high capacity utilization in production. The highest absolute growth was recorded in Germany (+410 associates or 3 percent). Proportionally, the workforce in North and South America grew the most (+15.5 percent and 384 associates respectively). Bosch Rexroth continues to have a strong demand for specialists, particularly for activities in factory automation, production-related areas and software development, as well as sales engineers.

Award-winning innovations

According to Bosch Rexroth, the world's most compact electric Subsea Valve Actuator SVA R2 was honored with the 2021 Hermes Award at the Hannover Messe. The actuator for safely opening and closing valves is used on the seabed and helps to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from process plants as well as environmental risks. In addition, the SVA R2 is suitable for use in future process plants, for the production of green hydrogen and for applications that can be used to store carbon dioxide. Initial pilot applications are currently being prepared with various plant manufacturers and operators.

The automation platform ctrlX Automation won the German Innovation Award 2021. The control technology combines previously separate worlds in a consistently open and modular system: machine control, information technology and the IoT. The platform is already being used by several hundred customers and is being continuously expanded.

Thanks to the modular and scalable eLION platform from Bosch Rexroth, manufacturers of mobile machinery can quickly implement locally emission-free concepts for driving or working the machines, hybrid or fully electric, using an electric drive train. For this purpose, Bosch Rexroth offers highly efficient and powerful electric motors, generators and inverters combined with transmission technology and hydraulics, supplemented by modular software.

Sustainability for customers and in our own processes

Sustainability not only plays a major role in the innovations in the product portfolio. Bosch Rexroth's 47 production sites have been climate-neutral since 2020. In a further step, the company is reducing indirect CO₂ emissions along the entire product life cycle. This includes the consumption of raw materials, emissions from the manufacture of preliminary products by suppliers and actual product use. The aim is to reduce CO₂ emissions along the supply chain by 15 percent by 2030.

Outlook for 2022: optimism with restrictions

"We are generally optimistic about the future and anticipate further significant sales growth - but the war in Ukraine and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic are clearly factors of uncertainty due to their global impact," says Rolf Najork. "The safety of our teams worldwide is always our top priority. We maintain close contact with our customers both digitally and in person - for example at our new customer and innovation center in Ulm. And we are doing everything we can to continue supplying our customers reliably."

Bosch Rexroth is therefore continuing to adapt to the general conditions in light of the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, for example, the development of demand is being closely coordinated with customers and suppliers. To safeguard supply capability, long-term agreements are concluded where necessary and secondary suppliers are established to enable local procurement in the markets. Teams of experts continuously assess supply risks and take preventative measures. This also applies to the global transport networks.