Bosch to increase nationalization
Valor Econômico
When he moved to Brazil, a little more than one year ago, to take over the Presidency of the Brazilian branch of Bosch, German Andreas Nobis had to stay two months in a hotel.
His plans of soon having a home in the country were frustrated. The furniture and all of his personal belongings were at a vessel that was only able to be unloaded four weeks after it was expected due to a strike at the port of Santos. Today, the Executive wonders the problems he might face if instead of its own move that vessel coming from Germany were bringing the parts the Brazilian branch of Bosch is used to import from that very country.
The story illustrates the reasons that caused Bosch to create a bold plan to quickly increase the nationalization of the products. The most important moment of that strategy will take place this morning, when 120 manufacturers of automotive components will be at the headquarters of Bosch in Campinas (SP). It is not just a visit. In an area typically used for leisure events, the company has set up an exhibit with all the parts it imports.
This gallery will be showed the 120 visitors. Those who believe they are in condition to produce some of those components in Brazil may apply to be the supplier of the part that currently comes from abroad. In return, the company assures a long-term partnership. 100 of the 120 suppliers are already Bosch suppliers. The other 20 companies, all of which are Brazilian, have been chosen by the procurement team of the multinational.
"They are companies in whose potential we believe", affirms the Bosch procurement officer, Paulo Rocca Vieira.
With that step, Vieira believes that within one or two years it will be possible to increase the national content of the parts that integrate the Bosch products from 70% to 80%. That means an increase of R$ 140 million (US$ 81.4 million) in local purchases every year. In the last ten years, it increased the annual volume of purchases in the country by R$ 350 million (US$ 203.5 million). Every year, the company spends nearly R$ 1 billion (US$ 581.4 million) in productive material. From such total, nearly R$ 700 million (US$ 407 million) currently stay in the domestic market. The idea is to increase the value to more than R$ 800 million (US$ 465.1 million).
By increasing the national content, Bosch says it was able to improve the negotiation conditions of its suppliers with the manufacturers of raw materials. Besides, the company has also called a representative of the BNDES (National Development Bank) to talk about credit lines in case some of the visitors are interested in investing.