At a glance

IFM: 6 Service providers that deliver integrated GR facility management

Integrated Facility Management (IFM) ensures greater transparency throughout the entire process, standardization, and efficiency in the management of all Bosch buildings. Six global service companies have been tending to all Bosch properties across the globe since March 2024. Where previously a large number of small service providers maintained factories and facilities, cleaned offices, or tended green spaces, now only a few companies specializing in facility management work for Bosch. “The implementation of IFM represents a key milestone for the GR business model: We live up to the expectation Bosch has in GR,” says IFM project director Martin Kassner.

Standardized efficiency

The introduction of IFM marks the end of a transformation that lasted several years. “This transition takes a lot of time and effort at the beginning, so it’s not yet easy to see the extent to which this will streamline our organization,” explains Kassner. In the future, however, it will be much easier to drive global projects forward.

3 questions for…
eco expert Guido Kleffel

Hello Guido, who are the GR environmental experts, the so-called guardian angels who perform the “condition assessment” of a property?

The Contaminated Sites Management (CSM) team consists of myself and two other experts in Germany as well as an extensive network of Bosch regional coordinators and external consultancy firms around the world. We examine both existing and new sites with regard to environmental pollution, such as soil and groundwater contamination and building pollutants.

What pollutants in the soil are we talking about?

Mainly chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs), which, until a few years ago, were still used worldwide as “miracle agents” for degreasing metal components, but also mineral oil hydrocarbons such as lubricating and cutting oils or diesel as well as heavy metals such as chromium. We also deal with unexploded ordnance from past wars and building contaminants such as asbestos.

How difficult is it to clean the soil?

The challenge in remediating environmental pollution is that each type of damage requires a different approach. We also need to factor in the geological conditions of the site as well as the type and quantity of the pollutant. Lubricating oils, for example, are lighter than water and therefore do not penetrate as deeply into the ground. CHCs, on the other hand, are heavier than water. They can therefore penetrate the groundwater surface and sink 50 meters or more below ground level.

Here you can watch a documentary on Contaminated Sites.

City meets industry

The prestigious 2024 Industrial Construction Prize for Young Talent goes to two master’s graduates from the University of Stuttgart. Sammy-Jo Weinland and Marlene Perl presented a paper at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning that shows how to harmonize the urban space and industry. They were supervised academically at the Institute of Construction Economics by Prof. Dr. Christian Stoy, and on the company side by GR CEO Alexander Lenk, who is a volunteer lecturer in architecture and industrial real estate management. Perl and Weinland have investigated how industrial properties can be integrated into urban master plans in a manner that more closely interconnects urban utilizations with production and generates synergies. “We have found that the opportunity to create synergies offers a whole new way of collaborative value creation,” says Sammy-Jo Weinland. The master plan for a production campus at the Leinfelden-Echterdingen site was drawn up by Team Perlwein as a master’s thesis in collaboration with GR.