bosch . robert bosch gmbh logo since 2002 type gmbh private company industry conglomerate founded november 15 1886 ; 129 years ago 1886 11 15 founder robert bosch headquarters gerlingen germany area served worldwide key people volkmar denner ceo products automotive parts power tools security systems home appliance engineering electronics revenue 70.6 billion 2015 owner robert bosch stiftung 92 % 1 number of employees 375 000 as of december 31 2015 subsidiaries bosch ltd. website bosch.com footnotes references accounting methods changed from 2012 to 2013 2 robert bosch gmbh pronunciation help info or bosch is a german multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in gerlingen near stuttgart germany . it is the world s largest supplier of automotive components measured by 2011 revenues . 3 the company was founded by robert bosch in stuttgart in 1886 . 4 bosch is 92 % owned by robert bosch stiftung . 1 bosch s core products are automotive components including brakes controls electrical drives electronics fuel systems generators starter motors and steering systems industrial products including drives and controls packaging technology and consumer goods and building products including household appliances power tools security systems and thermotechnology . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 1886 1920 1.2 until 1945 1.3 until 2000 1.4 21st century 2 operations 2.1 locations 2.2 india operations 2.3 activities 2.3.1 automotive components 2.3.2 industrial technology 2.3.3 consumer goods and power tools 2.3.4 security systems 2.3.5 mobile phones 3 joint ventures 3.1 bsh bosch und siemens hausger te 3.2 purolator filters 3.3 sb limotive 4 corporate affairs 5 accreditations 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit 1886 1920 edit the history of the company started in a backyard in stuttgart west as the werkst tte f r feinmechanik und elektrotechnik on november 15 1886 . one year later bosch presented the first low voltage magneto for gas motors . twenty years later the first magneto for automobiles followed . the first factory was opened by bosch in stuttgart in 1901 . in 1906 the company produced its 100 000 th magneto . in the same year bosch introduced the 8 hours day for workers . in 1910 the feuerbach plant was founded and built close to stuttgart . in this factory bosch started to produce headlights in 1913 . in 1917 bosch was transformed into a corporation . until 1945 edit in 1926 bosch started to produce windscreen wipers and in 1927 injection pumps for diesel . bosch bought the gas appliances production from junkers & co. in 1932 . in the same year the company developed its first power drill and presented its first car radio . in 1937 bosch was transformed into a limited liability company . bosch s subsidiary dreilinden maschinenbau gmbh dlmg was an arms manufacturer in kleinmachnow . this subsidiary employed forced laborers prisoners of war and concentration camp detainees . there are two books published by angela martin and hanna sj berg that report about bosch s use of slave labor . since 2006 there is a commemoration in the former forced labor camp . on march 12 1942 the company s founder robert bosch died . until 2000 edit after the second world war bosch established a partnership with the japanese company denso . in 1964 the robert bosch stiftung was founded . bosch founded a new development center in schwieberdingen in 1968 and headquarters moved to gerlingen in 1970 . in 1981 the company participated on an equity basis in the telefonbau & normalzeit gmbh that was renamed telenorma in 1985 and acquired completely in 1987 . in 1994 this part of the company was renamed as bosch telecom gmbh . the most relevant inventions of the company until 2000 were the oxygen sensor 1976 the first electric antilocking system 1978 the electric motor control 1979 the traction control system 1986 the xenon light for cars 1991 the electronic stability control 1995 the common rail direct fuel injection 1997 and the direct fuel injection 2000 . in 2000 bosch sold the private networks area nowadays tenovis and avaya respectively . 21st century edit in 2001 bosch acquired the mannesmann rexroth ag which was later renamed to bosch rexroth ag . in the same year the company opened a new testing center in vaitoudden close to arjeplog in north sweden . a new developing center in abstatt germany followed in 2004 . important inventions in these years were the electric hydraulic brake in 2001 the common rail fuel injection with piezo injectors the digital car radio with a disc drive and the cordless screwdriver with a lithium ion battery in 2003 . bosch received the deutsche zukunftspreis german future prize from the german president in 2005 and 2008 . a new development center was planned in 2008 in renningen . in 2014 the first departments moved to the new center while the remaining departments followed in 2015 . in 2009 bosch invested about 3.6 billion euro in development and research . approximately 3900 patents are published per year . in addition to increasing energy efficiency by employing renewable energies the company plans to invest into new areas such as biomedical engineering . china has developed into an important market and manufacturing base for bosch . in 2012 bosch had 34 000 employees and a revenue of 41.7 billion yuan about 5 billion euro in china . 2012 purchased spx service solutions 2012 shanti auto electricals budaun 2012 bosch sold its foundation brakes activities to kps capital partners that led to the establishment of chassis brakes international 2013 bosch announced it will exit its solar business 2014 bosch entered talks to acquire red bend software . 6 2014 bosch takes over 100 % of the shares from the former bsh bosch and siemens hausger te gmbh joint venture 7 2014 bosch received the 2014 u.s. smart partner award for physical security from ingram micro inc. 8 2015 bosch takes over 100 % of the shares of the former zf lenksysteme steering systems gmbh joint venture was 50 50 with zf friedrichshafen 2015 bosch purchases seeo inc a start up working on solid state lithium ion batteries . operations edit bosch comprises more than 440 subsidiary companies . in addition to automotive components which generate around 60 % of its revenues bosch produces industrial machinery and hand tools . 9 locations edit the bosch world headquarters in gerlingen germany although most of the company s plants and employees are located in germany 112 300 employees bosch is a worldwide company . 4 in north america robert bosch llc a wholly owned bosch subsidiary has corporate headquarters in farmington hills mi . three research technology centers are located in pittsburgh pa palo alto ca and cambridge ma . 10 factories and distribution facilities are located in mt. prospect illinois ; hoffman estates illinois ; broadview illinois ; kentwood michigan ; waltham massachusetts ; clarksville tennessee ; anderson south carolina ; charleston south carolina ; south bend indiana to close 2011 11 ; and 11 other cities . there are also two corporate sites in brazil and ten in mexico where a central purchasing office for all divisions of bosch group is located in broadview illinois . in north america bosch employs about 24 750 people in 80 locations generating 8.8 billion in sales in 2006 . 12 in may 2015 bosch security systems opened its newly constructed distribution center in greer south carolina . the distribution center adds more than 50 new associates in the state and will receive store and ship more than 50 000 different products for video surveillance intrusion and fire detection access control and management systems and professional audio and conference systems . 13 there are other wholly owned bosch subsidiaries in india 26 000 brazil 14 190 china 12 370 france 9 720 including 70 long term short term assignees 14 czech republic 8 690 japan 8 130 spain 7 950 turkey 7 000 employees in bursa and istanbul 500 in manisa hungary 6 280 italy 5 160 united kingdom 4 920 portugal 3 940 romania netherlands 4 000 15 switzerland 2 780 australia 2 300 malaysia 2 220 austria 2 140 belgium 2 040 south korea 2 000 russia 1 730 poland 1 640 sweden 1 230 south africa 1 010 viet nam 1 000 tunisia 770 and other countries . bosch employs over 290 183 people in more than 50 countries supplying a complex distribution network of new products and parts . 16 india operations edit bosch entered india in 1922 when illies & company set up a sales office in calcutta . for three decades the company operated in the indian market only through imports . in 1951 bosch set up its first manufacturing plant in india . 17 currently bosch india has a turnover of over 2 billion and over 26000 employees spread across 10 locations and 7 application development centers . 84 % of bosch india revenues come from its automotive business with the remaining 16 % split between its non automotive businesses that include packaging energy and building solutions power tools and consumer retail . 18 bosch also has an r & d facility in coimbatore and bangalore india . this is bosch s largest r & d facility outside its home market of germany . 19 in september 2014 bosch announced the launch of a locally developed eye care solution in india . the company s new eye screening and detection system offers a combination of hardware and software and provides affordable eye care . bosch india is listed on the indian stock exchanges and has a market capitalization of over 12 billion . 20 activities edit automotive components edit the bosch r & d center in abstatt germany which is a major site for the development of automotive components . about 60 % of bosch s worldwide annual sales are produced in automotive technology . bosch invented the first practical magneto an early ignition electrical source which provided the spark to ignite the fuel in most of the earliest internal combustion engines and is still used in general aviation engines . bosch s corporate logo to this date depicts the armature from a magneto . bosch was an early manufacturer of anti lock braking system abs and as time passed bosch became a leader in such specialized fields as traction control systems tcs the electronic stability program esp body electronics such as central locking doors windows and seats and oxygen sensors injectors and fuel pumps . even in such humble technological areas as spark plugs wiper blades engine cooling fans and other aftermarket parts bosch has over 1 billion in annual sales . bosch is a leading player in car stereo systems and in car navigation systems . bosch is supplying hybrid diesel electric technology to automakers including psa peugeot 3008 . 21 bosch at the simonyi conference 2014 bosch at the simonyi conference 2014 the proposed settlement of consumer claims in the volkswagen emissions scandal explicitly excludes claims that might be made against bosch . 22 23 industrial technology edit bosch s subsidiary bosch rexroth is a supplier of industrial technology producing hydraulic electric and pneumatic machinery for driving controlling and moving machines in applications ranging from automotive to mining . 4 bosch s packaging technology division plans designs manufactures and installs packaging lines for manufacturers of pharmaceutical confectionery food and similar products . bosch is one of the largest suppliers of packaging technology . consumer goods and power tools edit bosch belt sander 1274 dvs bosch caters to the areas of consumer goods and building technology with its power tool thermotechnology and security systems as well as with its household appliances business within the bsh bosch and siemens hausger te gmbh joint venture . in the us power tools are provided by the robert bosch tool corporation based in mt. prospect illinois . 24 with its brands bosch hawera skil dremel rotozip freud vermont american and many more bosch