Automation based on the smartphone principle thanks to Bosch Rexroth’s ctrlX Store
Mackenzie Taber09/21/2021USA | AE21003
The easy way to download apps developed by Bosch Rexroth and third-party providers or create your own apps
ctrlX Store for automation platform available
Quick and easy implementation of customized solutions
Digital customer journey for greater transparency and flexibility
Bosch Rexroth offers users the option to quickly and easily obtain access to automation solutions or create apps themselves with ctrlX AUTOMATION. As such, the open automation platform adopts an approach similar to that of smartphones. Customers can now purchase apps in the ctrlX Store, manage software licenses through the Bosch Rexroth Licensing Center and assign them to a ctrlX CORE unit. This works both for apps developed by Bosch Rexroth and for those from third-party providers.
Bosch Rexroth has developed a marketplace in line with the app-based control platform ctrlX CORE which features apps developed both by Bosch Rexroth and third-party providers and includes the option for users to create their own customized applications and libraries. As such, new automation and control functions can be added to ctrlX CORE at any time. The ctrlX Store provides users with a broad range of apps and enabling them to set up a customized software system. Users can purchase any app in the ctrlX Store and install it on ctrlX CORE.
Automation at the touch of a button: apps provide flexible solutions for meeting modern requirements
In addition to apps developed by Bosch Rexroth, the ctrlX Store also features an increasing number of apps from third-party providers. As such, customers can, for example, integrate apps with artificial intelligence (AI) for production and process improvements or use smart software expansions for mechanics such as gearboxes or gripping and clamping systems. The portfolio of apps also covers areas such as IT security, connectivity, manufacturing IT, voice recognition, and visualizations, to name a few.
Customers purchase apps directly online. The required apps are then supplied digitally either by an online update or by download. This means that, similar to smartphone technology, users can directly launch applications anywhere, anytime.
Pedro Reboredo, Head of Digital Platforms within the Automation & Electrification Solutions Business Unit at Bosch Rexroth, explains: “Our ctrlX Store is part of the ecosystem surrounding our automation platform. The related ctrlX World for partners and the ctrlX AUTOMATION community are continuing to grow. The aim of the ctrlX Store is to make functionalities and apps easy for users to access, in a way which is familiar to them from the world of smartphones. We want to make users’ day-to-day work easier, literally at the press of a button.”
The ctrlX Store provides all app-related content and helps to ensure that users are always up to date. The latest information regarding apps, the Software Development Kit (SDK) and other services can be easily accessed. Notifications of updates and corresponding changes are also provided. As such, transparency, centralized access and information on demand ensure the perfect digital customer journey.
As one of the world’s leading suppliers of drive and control technologies, Bosch Rexroth ensures efficient, powerful and safe movement in machines and systems of any size. The company bundles global application experience in the market segments of Mobile Applications, Machinery Applications and Engineering, and Factory Automation. With its intelligent components, customized system solutions and services, Bosch Rexroth is creating the necessary environment for fully connected applications. Bosch Rexroth offers its customers hydraulics, electric drive and control technology, gear technology and linear motion and assembly technology, including software and interfaces to the Internet of Things. With locations in over 80 countries, more than 29,600 associates generated sales revenue of around 5.2 billion euros in 2020.
Basic Information Bosch
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 395,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2020). The company generated sales of 71.5 billion euros in 2020. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiary and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. With its more than 400 locations worldwide, the Bosch Group has been carbon neutral since the first quarter of 2020. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 129 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 73,000 associates in research and development, of which nearly 34,000 are software engineers.
