Delivering our promise: WE MOVE. YOU WIN.

From the many thousands of people providing you with safe, efficient, intelligent and powerful solutions, we have brought together two individuals from different backgrounds and with very different roles. We have Janette Kothe – Head of Global Engineering in Sweden, and Samanta Perez Duarte – a Project Manager in Mexico. While their locations and roles may be very different, they are united in their desire to drive your business forward.

I’m a proud member of the Research & Development (R&D) team for Hägglunds large hydraulic drive systems. My responsibilities include innovation management and strategy work, coaching a great team, improving R&D processes and facilitating the development of our products. R&D teams are the creative minds – we solve the challenges that our sales colleagues see in the market and introduce better products and solutions for our customers. We also support our colleagues in operation and production throughout the full product life cycle.

Previously, I worked for Bosch Rexroth in Germany in the business innovation team, exploring the potential of technology for new solutions. That was an interesting role, as it enabled me to investigate how new state-of-the-art technologies could be best used in our products and solutions to benefit our customers. The new opportunity arose when I expressed an interest in developing my career, and I am very happy that I made the decision to move abroad.

My day begins at 7:00, when I set about trying to clear my inbox. By 8:00, I’m having a daily stand-up meeting with my leadership team, which now has to happen remotely. My morning is then usually filled with meetings, workshops and other one-on-ones. Communication with colleagues is key in my role. At 14:30, we hold fika – an informal exchange in Swedish businesses, that enables us to share our ideas and opinions. We’re an international company so everyone’s happy to speak English, but I think it’s a matter of respect to be able to have a ‘local’ chat, so I’m learning to speak Swedish. By 16:00, I’ll take a walk with my dogs in the marvelous natural surroundings of Northern Sweden. This prepares me for the final work of the day at 18:00, a brainstorm or maybe a little work on conceptual topics.

The pandemic has affected the way we work significantly, but one of the few positive things to come out of it is that it’s served as a kick-start for digitalization. Within 12 months, we established a ‘doesn’t matter where you work’ culture, which I’m convinced will have a long-term positive impact.

We’re also making a long-term impact in the area of sustainability. We’re always asking, “how can we reduce the footprint for our solutions and contribute to a sustainable future for our customers.” So, for example, we assess the lifecycle of our systems – we’re not just considering the footprint during operation, but the whole lifetime of our products and lean production processes.

Bosch Rexroth is a shaper of the Factory of the Future, which will have huge benefits for so many of our customers. It’s really motivating to be a part of this. One example was in my previous role when I worked on the development of CytroBox, our revolutionary new Hydraulic Power Unit. HPUs had looked the same for years, but we decided to create something completely different and the customer benefits are significant in terms of efficiency, intelligent connectivity and design. Because we worked as a cross-functional, agile and empowered team, we were in full control of every aspect of product development and could adapt to our customers’ needs with speed and flexibility.

Working for Bosch Rexroth gives me a lot of responsibility and room to shape things. As part of the Bosch family, I’m given a tremendous degree of freedom – backed by the support of a market-leading organization that promotes strong values.

From my perspective ‘WE MOVE. YOU WIN’ demonstrates how we supply ‘movement technology’: everything our customers need to ‘drive’. It also means that we go the extra mile and are obsessed with getting the optimal business result for our customers.

As Project Manager, my main responsibility is to deliver the specific goals of each project, whether it’s a small, or big order, and regardless of the application. I’m responsible for Industrial Power Units and Manifolds (IPM), so I lead the team and coordinate several actions to achieve the targets for IPM.

I started with Bosch Rexroth as a trainee and worked in several positions (service, customer service, sales and applications) before landing my current role. I also moved to Germany and worked in the IPM department of Bosch Rexroth in Lohr for seven months to learn about best practices. This is a reflection of the company’s willingness to let its employees grow and develop their abilities. I’d say it’s one of the best companies to work for because of all the possibilities it offers to learn every day. It also has a very open, rich and inclusive culture.

My day used to start with an informal breakfast with colleagues, answering emails, and meetings with several people. In general, my days in the office were very busy. But that was before the pandemic. Since then, life has been very different for everyone. I wake up, take a quick shower and start working. I may enjoy breakfast with my kids. The rest of the day is about emails, telephone calls and virtual meetings, some of which are on camera, which I enjoy the most. There’s no face-to-face contact with colleagues at all. However, I’ve learned that we can be just as effective with proactive communication.

The best bit about my job is working and solving challenging situations with my team. I never get tired of doing the same thing, because every project at Bosch Rexroth is different. Just when you think that you have everything under control, something new comes along.

For me, ‘WE MOVE. YOU WIN’ is the way we tell our customers that everything we do is for their benefit. If we continue to move, improve and think in future-terms, our customers will get the best results, which in turn directly benefits us.