Bosch Suzhou won the China Quality Award

Date:2021-09-22 Source:chinaspv.com

September 22, 2021, Hangzhou, China, On September 16, Bosch Automotive Products (Suzhou) Co. Ltd (“Bosch Suzhou”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bosch Group received the China Quality Award in recognition of its Bosch Q4.0 Model. The China Quality Award, inaugurated in 2012 under the auspices of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and only held four time till now, is the most prestigious honor in China awarded to organizations and individuals in the field of quality management. Bosch Suzhou is the first foreign-invested enterprise to have won this award. For more than 130 years, Bosch Group has remained committed to the “zero-defect” quality tenet of its founder Robert Bosch. Building on Industry 4.0, and tapping its solid experience in industrial manufacturing as well as open technology, Bosch Suzhou developed the innovative Bosch Q4.0 Model.

The transformation and upgrading of China’s automotive industry has raised the bar for auto parts quality. With the advent of Q4.0, developed in tandem with Industry 4.0, the industry is moving from passive correction to active prediction. Meanwhile, the accelerated development of digital technology has opened up fresh opportunities for management model innovation. As a leading provider and a leading user of Industry 4.0, Bosch Suzhou spearheaded the development of the Bosch Q4.0 Model in China and actively drove its implementation as a transformative tool. With zero defect as the goal, and through data-driven, intelligent systems, the Bosch Q4.0 Model aims to deliver excellence in collaborative quality management across the whole value chain. The highlights of the model include an all-round digital transformation, the front-ending of quality management, intelligent prediction and risk prevention. For example, Bosch Suzhou has developed and applied multiple digital management tools across its entire value chain ─ including the quality management process, management system and operations ─ to drive excellence in quality through intelligence. A good example is the AI-based optical detection system. This technology employs convolution neural networks and decision tree model-based image recognition technology to reduce the work load of visual inspectors of circuit boards.

Apart from the AI-based optical detection system, Bosch Suzhou has also successfully deployed the Q4.0 Model in its connected logistics system, big data analytics platform, among others, all of which can potentially be widely promoted in the Chinese manufacturing industry. This model connects the upstream and downstream data, drives collaboration across the whole value chain ─ from suppliers to customers ─ in quality management and optimization, and should enable more local manufacturers to pursue high-quality development. “Bosch always puts quality first in its brand commitments and works to promote intelligent manufacturing in the age of Industry 4.0 through continuous innovations,” said Dr. Chen Yudong, President of Bosch China. “I am thrilled that Bosch Suzhou has achieved a significant breakthrough in its quality management model and has been recognized on the national level. I also expect this model to be further promoted in the manufacturing industry, and to contribute to China’s accelerated development into a quality powerhouse, thus improving the quality of economic development and the core competitiveness of the whole country.”

Setting a benchmark for excellent operations for Bosch Group's sites globally, Bosch Suzhou was designated as the “lighthouse factory” at the World Economic Forum 2021.