How Bosch Gained 90% Time-Savings using KNIME #LikeABosch
Summary:
The challenge:
- Manual Excel workflows were slow, fragile, and hard to maintain.
- Debugging data issues took more time than building reports.
- Processes didn’t scale and required multiple people to manage.
The solution:
- Standardized all automation using KNIME.
- Rebuilt legacy Excel processes as KNIME workflows.
- Formed a global team to support KNIME across Bosch
The results:
- Debugging time reduced by 90%.
- Monthly updates now take one person 15 minutes.
- 18,000 workflows run daily across 7,000+ devices.
Tackling Complexity at Scale
Bosch operates at a scale few companies match. With over 417,000 employees worldwide and a presence across industries, from mobility and consumer goods to industrial technology and energy, its operations generate a vast amount of data. Managing and making use of this data requires tools that are flexible, transparent, and scalable.
Inside Bosch Digital, the company’s internal IT division, KNIME has become a cornerstone of its automation and data analysis strategy. Torsten Glas, Product and Service Manager for KNIME at Bosch Digital, has played a central role in leading that transformation.
Challenge: An Unsustainable Patchwork of Excel and Manual Processes
Tasked with creating dashboards that informed both management and shop-floor decision-makers, the team at Bosch initially had to rely on Excel—a tool that was stretched well beyond its limits.
““We started with Excel and did whatever we could with seven lines of Excel functions in one cell, connecting one file to another,” Glas said. “At times, it took four people in one room several hours just to upload the data so management could see the KPIs.”" Torsten Glas, Product and Service Manager for KNIME, Bosch Digital
Debugging was particularly painful. “Sometimes only one person in the room could even run the Excel file successfully,” he added. “To find the error in Excel took more time than developing the KNIME workflow.”
Even with later improvements using Power Query, data quality issues remained hard to trace. The process was functional, but fragile, inefficient, and increasingly difficult to maintain.
Solution: Discovering KNIME
The shift began when a colleague introduced Glas to KNIME. After testing a few workflows, the team made a quick decision.
“We decided very fast that we only want to develop new automation processes in KNIME and never touch Excel, Power Query or whatever,” he said.
The team rebuilt their legacy Excel workflows from scratch in KNIME. The impact was immediate.
“What once took hours of work each month and a dedicated team could now be done by one person in under 15 minutes,” said Glas. “And if there was an error in the data, you could see directly where it happened. With KNIME we’ve reduced time spent on debugging by 90%.”Torsten Glas, Product and Service Manager for KNIME, Bosch Digital
Scaling KNIME across Bosch
Today, KNIME is fully embedded in Bosch Digital’s offering, supporting all areas of the company, from HR and finance to manufacturing and logistics. KNIME is made available to over 400,000 employees across Bosch.
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 7,000+ KNIME installations on devices around the globe
- 2,200+ active developers using the platform to build and deploy workflows
- 18,000 workflow executions per day, equivalent to 750 per hour
These workflows automate complex tasks, replace manual reporting, and provide a consistent, reliable foundation for analytics across Bosch’s business units.
One of the largest users is Bosch’s Mobility sector, particularly the Mobility Aftermarket division. These teams rely heavily on KNIME to automate data pipelines, generate insights, and support decision-making at scale.
What started as a local tool to fix a plant-level reporting problem has grown into a global platform that supports thousands of Bosch employees. The consistency, transparency, and speed that KNIME brings has fundamentally changed how we approach data tasks across departments.
A Platform for the Future
For Bosch Digital, KNIME is more than just a process automation tool. It’s an enabler of Bosch’s broader goals in AI and data-driven innovation.
“Bosch Digital wants to be a leader in automation, data and AI. KNIME is really the tool you could use for automation and AI features are directly there.”Torsten Glas, Product and Service Manager for KNIME, Bosch Digital
Try today
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