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Robert Bosch Bosch aims to produce zero net carbon emissions by 2020, which would result in Bosch being carbon-neutral. They also plan to spend $2.2 billion on renewable electricity over the next decade. Volkmar Denner, the chairman of the board of management, told attendees at their annual press conference that unavoidable emissions will be compensated by investments in environmental projects, the group’s operations will be made more energy efficient and they will also buy more renewable electricity. Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner told Chinese Information Service Xinhaua that Bosch intends to keep investing in China and foresees long-term growth. Sales in China have nearly tripled to more than $44.9 billion US in the last five years. Denner said that Bosch’s growth is being driven by technology and mobility solutions and that China is the second largest market for Bosch after Germany. Bosch sold manufacturing and testing assets for high- voltage battery systems from Robert Bosch Battery Systems to American Battery Solutions, a newly formed company founded by KCK Group and Dhar, longtime innovators and industry leaders in the development and commercialization of energy storage. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but KCK Group has committed more than $50 million in capital to the enterprise focused on bringing electrified mobility battery systems to new emerging transportation, industrial and commercial segments. Stanley Black & Decker SB&D provided strategic updates during their 2019 Investor Day and at the Electrical Products Group Conference: CEO Jim Loree described the Craftsman acquisition by saying they paid $900 million dollars for nine letters and three people. In the last two years since acquiring the Craftsman brand they’ve created what will be a $600 million business this year and a huge commercial program with Lowe’s, Ace and Amazon. They will have more than 10,000 outlets selling Craftsman by 2021, and Craftsman will be producing at least $1 billion in revenue, about six years ahead of schedule. The Amazon launch of Craftsman will be implemented within the next 90 days. There are only about 30 SKUs that overlap with Lowe’s where they have had to carefully monitor supply constraints. They have had long conversations with Lowe’s and are doing everything they can to maximize Lowe’s implementation. Lowe’s stores that have already been reset were described as “painted red.” The Craftsman team drove more than 2,500 user-generated stories around My Craftsman Story, a launch event with bloggers and vloggers that created over 94 million online branded impressions and 260,000 additional subscribers to their all new Craftsman Club. Their Craftsman products have an average advocacy rating of 4.6 out of 5. FlexVolt is now more than $300 million and growing in double digits. Two new programs, the 12-volt DeWalt Xtreme and the 20-volt DeWalt ATOMIC, are rolling out now. The products will deliver the highest power-to-weight ratio ever manufactured by anyone. The ATOMIC products are essentially the same size and weight as competitive 12-volt products but deliver 2.5 times the power output. The Xtreme line offers the smallest and most powerful 12-volt power tools ever produced. So they have captured the smallest and most-powerful slot, along with the highest power output. When they bought DeWalt ten years ago it was about a $1 billion brand; today it is the world’s largest tool brand at $5 billion. They are about halfway through the Lenox and Irwin synergies; when they are done, that should be about $150 million. The Home Depot is now the exclusive outlet for Stanley brand products and Stanley FatMax. They are using MES systems, IoT, connected factory, robotics and cobotics (humans and robots working together) to get smarter about what they are doing, what things should cost and what they are paying vendors. One of the most interesting elements is a digital twin approach, where they digitally simulate the factory in virtual space, then when they want to change something, they can see how it plays out before they make a move. Ecommerce is their number one growth opportunity. They want to become number one in the tool segment for ecommerce by partnering with key customers and by deploying an omni-channel strategy that will help them lead the global marketplaces. They also see ecommerce as the opportunity for exponential growth in emerging markets. To that end, they have hired more than 150 digital and ecommerce experts across all their markets. So ecommerce is a global strategy executed locally in every single market. They launch five new products every day and sell 100 products every second. They are moving to achieve 60% local manufacturing in the US, North America, Europe and emerging markets. Their industry 4.0 initiative today is focused on what they manufacture. Two or three years from now, they expect to have accomplished those goals and be able to pivot toward their supply base. Then they will start to require their large suppliers to come into the US and manufacture here as well. They will assist them with getting to the same kinds of cost levels that they were able to achieve using their new Manufactory 4.0 and their capability and competence in advanced manufacturing. CEO Jim Loree said his macro outlook was much more pessimistic in January than it is now; they no longer foresee a recession in the second half of this year. They think that the Fed has calmed the waters and the trade dialogue seems to be less combative and more promising. Over time they will make progress toward their goal of 10 turns; right now they are being somewhat held back by the inventory needed to facilitate the Craftsman ramp up. They will have about 20 plants up and running with Industry 4.0 by the end of 2019, and that will grow to 97 plants over the next three years. They have not seen any consumer reaction to the tariffs; no rush to stock up or buy ahead. Other News: SB&D is building a new manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, Texas that will be one of the largest factories in the company’s network. Adding a facility this size is rare, according to SB&D. The $90 million manufacturing plant will employ 500 people and produce Craftsman sockets, ratchets and wrenches. Groundbreaking will be later this summer, with the 425,000-square-foot facility expected to be up and running by late 2020. The new plant will also use some of the most advanced manufacturing technologies available to increase productivity and sustainability as well as improve yield by nearly 25%. The facility will be their focal point for their 4.0 smart factory initiative, and house a team of 50 industry experts Stanley plans to move more Craftsman production from China to the US as they work at increasing domestic output as tariffs raise the cost of imports. Some Craftsman tools are already assembled at eight Stanley plants in the US, including power tools in North Carolina, tape measures in Connecticut and utility knives in South Carolina. Stanley remains reliant on foreign-made components for some of the tools, including motors for power tools. SB&D chose Fort Worth over a site in Ohio because Fort Worth offered a 40% tax abatement for the $50 million project. The tax abatement will last five years and could equal $80 million. SB&D is also opening a regional distribution center in Northlake, Texas which is expected to employ 300 people. SB&Ds lawsuit against Sears over the use of the Craftsman brand has been settled. Terms were not disclosed. The parties reportedly reached a mutually acceptable resolution to the issues raised in the litigation. Trimble Q1 revenue was up 8% to $801.6 million. Buildings and infrastructure revenue rose 30% to $294.7 million. CEO Steven Berglund said that the first quarter met their expectations and that their ongoing transition to higher subscription content remains on course. Trimble introduced a next-generation integrated smartphone and GIS data collector for field inspection and GIS applications. The 6-inch display is readable in bright sunlight and offers all the functionality of a smartphone in a pocket-sized portable form that integrates with Trimble’s data collection applications and software as well as third-party apps. © Robert Bosch Tool Corporation. 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