Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel on Tuesday visited vocational training centre at Bosch in Bengaluru. Both the leaders got a first hand information on how Bosch trains youth on several trades.
At Bosch, which has been present in Bengaluru since 1953 and operating its vocational training centre since 1961, both Modi and Merkel went around the training and R&D facilities and got a taste of the training modules of Bosch. They also found out about the company’s research, engineering, and vocational education activities in India.
“Our commitment to developing talent and the competence of our local engineers are part of our success story in India,” said Peter Tyroller, member of the Bosch board of management responsible for Asia Pacific.
He said Indian engineers have contributed signficantly to the success of Bosch in India. “India is a key location in our global innovation network. To further strengthen our presence in India, we are investing Rs 650 crore in 2015,” Tyroller said.
The NDA government headed by Narendra Modi has been promoting Skill India to train youth and make them job ready. “For the last 55 years, we at Bosch are conducting vocational training to youth who want to pursue their careers in manufacturing sector. We give them hands on training for three to four years and after that they will be either absorbed in Bosch factories, or they can get a job elsewhere,” a Bosch executive told the FE, prior to the visit of Modi and Merkel.
Before arriving at the vocational training centre of Bosch, both the heads of state visited another facility of Bosch, where the company operates a software development centre. There, the company gave a presentation on Industry 4.0, a new wave of industrialisation propagated by Bosch. The company also made a presentation on data analysis and data mining that helps in real-time prediction of accidents on roads.
Both the leaders were also given a presentation on another innovation developed by the Bengaluru-based development centre of Bosch, which is a compact retina camera. Its special software can detect medical conditions such as cataracts at an early stage. This diagnostic tool was specifically designed to meet the needs of the Indian market, but can equally be used in other, similar regions.
“By 2018, we aim to implement connected production in all our 14 manufacturing facilities across the country,” said Steffen Berns, Managing Director, Bosch India. He said Industry 4.0 is already a reality at several Bosch locations in India. In Bengaluru, the company uses real-time data to shorten throughput times for the calibration of pumps for tractors. The location also provides associates with smart watches that promptly notify them of a machine malfunction.
Bosch’s largest development centre outside Germany is located in Bengaluru and Coimbatore and has employed over 12,000 research and development associates. Since 2014, the Bengaluru centre is focusing on big data analytics – an important enabler for connected manufacturing. Another application of data analytics is “e-call modeling”. This estimates the probability of injury severity based on real-time vehicle, accident, and environment information.
Bosch’s vocational training module has now been adopted by the governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan at their respective ITI and Diploma colleges over the last one year. The company has signed MoUs with these governments for deploying their methods and it is also in talks with other state governments for similar programmes, a company official elaborated.
The company showcased its innovative projects and the group’s commitment to skill development in India.
