AI at Global Scale: How Bosch Mobility Optimizes Inventory Planning for Indirect Materials Across More Than 60 Plants

Bosch Mobility is the largest business sector of the Bosch Group and one of the world's leading automotive suppliers. In line with its vision of shaping sustainable, safe, and exciting mobility through technology, Bosch continuously invests in innovative digital solutions across its own manufacturing operations.

Behind the scenes, however, Bosch faces a significant logistical challenge every day. The company must ensure the availability of approximately two million different indirect materials, including spare parts, maintenance components, and production support equipment, across its global manufacturing network.

Missing parts can disrupt entire production processes, while excessive inventory ties up valuable working capital.

To strike the right balance, Bosch Mobility relies on Inventory Intelligence, an AI-powered solution developed by Bosch Mobility Platforms & Solutions. The solution is currently being rolled out across more than 60 manufacturing plants with the goal of sustainably optimizing inventory management worldwide. 

Challenge: Managing the Complexity of Indirect Materials

Managing indirect materials, often referred to as MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) inventory, differs significantly from traditional production logistics and presents planners with several challenges:

• Irregular and low-volume demand
  Consumption is difficult to predict as it is often driven by unexpected machine failures or sudden maintenance activities.

• Fragmented procurement processes
  Thousands of different spare parts sourced from numerous suppliers result in a high volume of purchase orders and administrative effort.

• Unpredictable lead times
  Supply chain volatility can cause lead times to fluctuate significantly and become longer than expected.

• High production downtime risk
  Missing critical spare parts can bring production lines to a standstill—an extremely costly scenario.

• Limitations of traditional planning systems
  Standard MRP (Material Requirements Planning) systems are not designed for low-volume spare parts with irregular demand patterns.

• Experience-based rather than data-driven decisions
  Historically, planning decisions often relied on personal experience or static rules of thumb rather than dynamic, data-driven insights.

The Solution: AI-Powered Inventory Planning in Daily Operations 

The Inventory Intelligence solution developed by Bosch Mobility Platforms & Solutions replaces traditional reactive inventory planning with a predictive, data-driven approach. Instead of responding to shortages after they occur, planners can anticipate risks and act in advance.

The solution is built around three key capabilities that are seamlessly integrated into daily operations:

Results and Measurable Business Impact

The implementation of Inventory Intelligence demonstrates that cost efficiency and maximum production availability can go hand in hand.

• Global Rollout Across the Manufacturing Network
  The solution is currently being rolled out in more than 60 Bosch Mobility plants worldwide, demonstrating its scalability and business value across diverse manufacturing environments.

• Multi-Million Euro Savings Potential
  Following a successful pilot phase, the solution has already generated approximately €800,000 in savings. After full implementation across Bosch Mobility, the estimated savings potential reaches up to €16 million.

• Reduced Excess Inventory
  AI-driven recommendations help reduce excess inventory and free up working capital while simultaneously improving service levels.

• More Accurate Procurement & Fewer Emergency Orders
  Combining precise demand forecasts with proactive supply risk alerts significantly reduces the need for costly rush orders and emergency procurement activities.

• Faster and More Consistent Decision-Making
  Instead of spending time on manual analyses, planners leverage transparent AI-generated recommendations, enabling them to keep SAP planning parameters continuously optimized.
  

Looking Ahead: Building the Supply Chain of the Future

The success of Inventory Intelligence at Bosch Mobility demonstrates a clear reality: intelligent inventory management is no longer a competitive advantage — it is becoming a necessity.

By leveraging artificial intelligence, Bosch has proven that organizations can simultaneously achieve high material availability and low inventory costs. The solution is currently expanding further, with the goal of connecting 83 plants across the Bosch Mobility network.

At the same time, the AI models continue to evolve, with future releases focusing on delivering even more prioritized and actionable recommendations to planners.