Bosch and Capgemini have struck a deal to develop Industry 4.0 software and services to help with the digitization and sustainability of industrial production plants, and to drive sales of both. The pair will collaborate around Bosch’s Nexeed system for industrial software, offered by the German firm’s Connected Industry division, and installed in around half of its own plants.
Bosch claims to have 240 plants worldwide. The Nexeed system is a key component of its digital factory suite, which it has been busy plugging with private industrial-grade 5G in the ‘vertical’ 3.7-3.8 GHz band in Germany as well. Bosch has installed Nexeed with 100-odd international clients for manufacturing and intralogistics, it said.
The Nexeed system covers a range of digital factory solutions, “from the integration of existing plants and intelligent maintenance solutions to the networking of complete factories”. Capgemini said it is bringing its “deep market and technical expertise”, plus “innovative and sustainable solutions”, to the table with Bosch.
A statement said Capgemini’s “intelligent industry approach … aims to enable the convergence between the digital and the physical worlds. The firm is offering consultancy services, application development, architectural design and integration, and management of production-critical systems.
The two companies said Covid-19 has revealed the benefits of new digital technologies to industrial companies, enabling remote maintenance and commissioning of machines and plants, increased transparency of material flows, and safeguarding of logistics chains. But “many existing plants have still not entered the digital age”, they said.
A statement said: “Through their long-term strategic cooperation Bosch and Capgemini want to accelerate the transformation towards intelligent manufacturing and sustainable production. To enable this, the Nexeed Industrial Application System, as an important component of production planning and control, will be continuously evolved.
Sven Hamann, chief executive at Bosch Connected Industry, commented: “We are now enabling even more customers to tap into the potential of Nexeed and deploy it in a way that fits their needs. We are looking forward to the extended collaboration with Capgemini in order to bring more benefits to our clients.”
Jochen Bechtold, head of manufacturing industries at Capgemini in Germany, said: “Our combined capabilities will enable us to evolve the Nexeed Industrial Application System into one of the leading digitalization offerings for industrial companies and to support the digitalization as well as sustainability targets of our joint clients.”
