A glimpse at the future of connected living — an interview with Frank Wolf, Head of Bosch Engineering Center Cluj
Investing in a better future requires a deep understanding of new technologies and their importance, a clear view of the way they impact our lives — both in a positive or a negative way. In order to take care of this world, a sustainable development and innovation mindset is a must. Among the pioneer companies in this respect, you can find Bosch Romania, a company with great interest in sustainable future technologies.
Bosch is continuously investing in cutting-edge technology and gathering valuable information from thought leaders to foresee the next big thing. From home appliances that can immensely make our lives easier to mobility solutions that already take us closer to the future, they invest in a smarter living. Curious to find out more about what lies ahead in their agenda, we had an interesting discussion with Frank Wolf, Head of Bosch Engineering Center Cluj.
Bosch is well-known for providing solutions that make life easier in many different areas. Can you tell us more about the company’s plans in terms of adopting new technologies and developing new innovative solutions?
On a global level, the Bosch Group operates in four major business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy & Building Technology. In all areas, Bosch is a leading IoT provider, which means, that we offer innovative solutions for automated & connected mobility, smart homes and Industry 4.0.
In terms of future plans, I would highlight that Bosch aims to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that have been developed or manufactured with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Moreover, these innovative products and services are designed and developed with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of life worldwide.
How do we actually develop innovations that make people’s lives easier? First, we defined specific areas of innovation such as self-aware or self-developing systems, connected or fully autonomous systems, electric mobility — just to mention a few examples. Second, we rely on our experts’ know-how, carefully selected resources and apply an interdisciplinary & global approach. At the same time, we always choose sustainable solutions that help us protect the environment.
We’ve noticed your focus on sustainable mobility solutions, and the wide-spread presence of Bosch electric charging stations across countries like Germany not only for cars but also electric bike and motorcycles. Are there any similar plans for Romania in the near future?
Bosch is accelerating electrification for cars, trucks, two-wheelers, and even for baby strollers. In the area of electromobility, Bosch offers a wide range of solutions: from electric powertrain systems, hybrid and purely electric battery-powered drives to fuel cell technology.
A complex and easy-to-use charging infrastructure is decisive for the overall success of electromobility. To ensure this, Bosch develops intelligent solutions like charging apps and internet-connected charging stations which enable fast and easy interactions and convenient payment methods. More than 40,000 charging points are already in place in eight European countries as part of the Bosch charging network.
“We work flexibly, focused and connected on the latest mobility technology projects” Frank Wolf
Whether Romania will be part of this network in the future? This actually depends on the country. If Romania will want to change its current mobility trends, then for sure, Bosch will be happy to be a partner and connect the country to its existing electric charging network. But this is mainly a matter of national mobility development strategies.
Bosch Engineering Center Cluj is a young organization, which provides software, hardware and reliability engineering solutions for the mobility sector. You can pride yourselves on great innovative solutions that are locally developed here in Cluj, and significant growth in the number of projects and employees as well. Can you reveal more of the company’s values and future plans for the Engineering Center Cluj?
Here in Cluj, we have two great players: Bosch Engineering Center and Bosch Cluj Plant. Moreover, there is a unique synergy between these two entities: development and production go hand-in-hand due to the close collaboration and shared facilities between different engineering and production teams. This type of collaboration is unique on the company level. Thanks to this special set-up and to the expertise of our colleagues, great innovative solutions can be born on a local level too. Moreover, all our facilities, including the laboratories and offices, are designed in a modern, creative way. They provide inspiring working conditions to our colleagues, thus they are excellent enablers of working flexibly, focused and connected on the latest mobility technology projects. In short, these are the key ingredients of our current success, and most importantly, the great team behind our projects.
Nothing shows better the strengths of a team than behaving supportively in critical, challenging situations such as the current Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic was completely unexpected, and we needed to act and react in a previously unknown manner. From one day to the other, we had to get used to working from home or to keeping the rules of social distancing at the workplace and still deliver our tasks. And we did it: during the last five months, we have managed to run our business activities with great performance despite the changed conditions. As we have trusted each other, acted responsibly and gave support to each other, we succeeded to adapt quickly and worked efficiently.
On the short term, we are planning to run the business as we currently do it — by keeping the right balance between our safety and fulfilling our responsibilities whether from home or the office. At the same time, despite the good results of working from home, we all miss socializing and face-to-face interactions with our colleagues. Therefore, we would like to gradually come back to the office in a safe, controlled way. This is our plan, but of course, we shall adjust to the most recent national regulations and guidelines to reduce the risk of infections and stay safe.
As for the future, we plan to continue Bosch Engineering Center Cluj’ success story by focusing mainly on two pillars. First, we wish to increase our competitiveness, broaden our areas of expertise and increase the level of our responsibility for several projects. Therefore, we wish to continue building strong alliances with our partners worldwide, welcome new partners on board and keep on investing in innovation and education on the local level. Second, we wish to continue focusing on our team and strengthening our team spirit. We believe that one positive lesson from the current health crisis is that if we stand together and act responsibly then we can overcome any kind of challenges. Therefore, enhancing cooperation and open communication inside and across teams; raising awareness around the importance of living and acting by the Bosch values and constantly learning from each other are our focal points to further improve this great team.
Learn more about Bosch Engineering Center Cluj: https://youtu.be/POAyBYOdXzg
Bosch Romania is the official partner of this edition of Techsylvania: Beyond Borders. Learn more about them at https://www.bosch.ro/
