Bosch Rexroth grew dynamically last year

Bosch Rexroth's sales increased by 7.5 percent year-on-year to around 7.6 billion euros in fiscal year 2023. In addition to acquisitions, positive regional developments, for example in India, also contributed to this growth. However, due to the economic downturn, especially in the core markets, the company's incoming order volume declined by 13.1 percent to around 6.4 billion euros. This weakens the outlook for the current fiscal year.

Bosch Rexroth is pursuing a long-term growth strategy, investing in new factories and buildings in Germany, Slovenia and Mexico, for example, as well as in more modern production facilities and research and development. The annual growth of 5.5 percent was mainly due to the acquisition of HydraForce in 2023.

„In 2023, our global team has managed to strike a balance between initially high capacity utilisation and then declining order intake. This shows the strength of Bosch Rexroth: we have managed to keep the company's business on an even keel. At the same time, customer satisfaction has increased again," said Dr. Steffen Haack, CEO of Bosch Rexroth. The company has strengthened its offerings in hydraulics and factory automation for its customers through innovations, acquisitions and partnerships, and has consistently developed its global manufacturing network. It continued to digitize customer applications and internal processes, and Bosch Rexroth continued to strengthen its sustainability activities and integrated the acquired HydraForce. „Even in challenging times, we can rely on our strong corporate culture to drive success for our customers and our company," said Haack.

Incoming orders: down from second half of 2023 due to weak economy

Incoming orders in 2023 totalled around 6.4 billion euros. This is roughly 950 million euros, or 13.1 percent, less than the previous year, when it reached the second highest value in the company's history. The weak economy and continued uncertainty in most regions of the world led to significantly lower volumes of new orders, especially from mid-2023 onwards. Bosch Rexroth expects order intake volumes to recover again in the second half of 2024.

„We expect that this year will continue to be characterized by a weak economy and considerable uncertainty in the economic and political environment," said Holger von Hebel, CFO of Bosch Rexroth. Given these circumstances, increased costs for materials, energy, logistics and labor, as well as a significant decline in new orders, cost pressures remain very high. The company is therefore taking continuous measures to increase competitiveness, such as greater automation of processes or the continuous development and better balancing of the global production network. „We are taking a firm but prudent approach. This is how we are able to remain strong in the current challenging environment, while preparing for the next upturn with innovation and investment," von Hebel added.

Investment and innovation are at the heart of the growth strategy

As part of its long-term growth strategy, Bosch Rexroth is investing around 460 million euros in research and development in 2023. This represents an increase of 18.5 percent compared to the previous year. More than 6 percent of sales will come from this area, again higher than the industry average. These investments will strengthen the company's leading position in hydraulics and drive growth in factory automation - one of Bosch's strategic growth areas.

Investments in new plants, buildings, machinery and equipment totalled around 390 million euros in 2023. With the newly opened factories in Querétaro, Mexico, and Brnik, Slovenia, Bosch Rexroth continued to strengthen and rebalance its global manufacturing network and consolidate local supply chains. At the Lohr headquarters, for example, the modernisation of the foundry was largely completed and a new customer and innovation centre was opened.

Popular with CU.BE

The CU.BE Industrial Innovation Experience Centre opened in Budapest on 28 June 2023. Since then, 134 guided tours have taken place, with a total of 1190 participants. These tours offer insights not only for engineers and professionals, but also for students and groups of high school students and start-ups to learn more about innovative solutions to the latest challenges facing industry. With CU.BE, Bosch Rexroth is creating a platform where businesses can interact directly with the industrial solutions of the future, facilitating knowledge sharing and the spread of Industry 4.0 technologies.

Innovations from Bosch Rexroth include: various solutions for hydrogen compression and handling, the ctrlX OS operating system, which is open to the entire automation market and for which we have won renowned partners such as Dell Technologies, congatec and Nokia, the new eOC-capable (electronic Open Circuit) A10VO 60 series medium pressure axial piston pump, which makes mobile machinery even more versatile and flexible, the myBODAS digital collaboration platform for efficient collaboration between users and BODAS experts to accelerate the development of software for non-road vehicles and machines, and comprehensive automation solutions along the entire battery manufacturing value stream, from electrode and cell manufacturing, battery module and battery pack assembly, to end-of-line inspection and recycling. For its battery recycling solution, Bosch Rexroth has been nominated for the Hermes Award, which will be presented at the Hanover Fair. From 22 to 26 April, the company will be showcasing a number of its innovations here.