Bosch to expand local footprint via new sites

BOSCH, the brand better known locally for its power tools, is looking for new locations in the Philippines to expand its footprint and has identified Iloilo and Baguio as possible “business hubs,” company officials said on Monday.

“We’re looking for premises at the moment. We’d like to do it as soon as we can,” Andrew Powell, managing director of Robert Bosch, Inc. in the Philippines, told reporters in a press conference to showcase the company’s new products.

Mr. Powell, who is moving to the company’s office in Indonesia, said the future sites are not sales offices but an expansion of Bosch’s “footprint” where service and support are provided to dealers. The company has a dealership network that sells Bosch products.

“The key goal is to find the location and get it set up so that we can move into those locations in 2017,” said Richard Walker, Bosch’s incoming local managing director.

The new locations are in line with the company’s thrust to be closer to where consumers are, which provincial business hubs or showrooms offer. Metro Manila remains the main source of business but the provinces hold promise to expand Bosch’s reach.

DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH

In 2016, the global supplier of technology and services, reported consolidated sales of $56 million in the Philippines. The figure is 13% higher than in 2015, and marks the third straight year that Bosch posted double-digit growth in the country.

“We’re expecting strong double-digit growth to continue,” Mr. Powell said, without disclosing figures.

He said the Philippines has earned a “bright spot” in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for Bosch. In terms of sales growth in the region, it is second only to Vietnam, where a robust manufacturing sector was the main sales driver.

“We want to be number one in ASEAN. That’s our aim,” Mr. Powell said.

“It’s a buoyant marketplace for domestic consumption. However, we believe we’ve been successful because of our moving out into the provinces and not just relying on Metro Manila,” he said.

Last year, the company inaugurated its newest business hub — in Cagayan de Oro, its third outside Metro Manila after Cebu City and Davao City. The expansion aims to address the rapid development in Mindanao.

The business hub provides showroom, sales, training and after-sales support for Bosch products and solutions across every business division that is present in the Philippines.

As the Philippines’ third fastest-growing city, Cagayan de Oro’s vibrant manufacturing industry offers significant opportunities for Bosch to market its innovations to local customers, the company said in its corporate profile.

“In the past we’ve been heavily focused here in Manila and now we are expanding our network and our organization throughout the Philippines. So we are expanding our distribution, we’re expanding our portfolio throughout the regions, not just Manila,” said Mr. Powell

Mr. Walker said: “If you see our business divisions, they line up very well for the infrastructure boom that’s going on here. So that’s going to drive our sales and our growth as well.”

“What our intention is, is to bring in other divisions. Not all Bosch services are available in the Philippines. A lot of the growth will come from new divisions coming in and providing that service and sales,” he said. —