On May 24th, 2018, Whirlpool, the world’s largest white goods manufacturer, held a global R&D center and a China headquarters opening ceremony in Hefei, China’s home appliance capital. This means that following the launch of the smart factory in Hefei, Hefei, in November last year. The development of Whirlpool in China ushered in the 'troika'. Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer, Asia Pacific President Samuel Wu, China President Ai Xiaoming and other leaders of Whirlpool and related leaders of Anhui Provincial Government attended the celebration.
It is understood that Whirlpool’s China headquarters and R&D center will be in the form of a podium with a main building, 1 underground floor, 16 floors above the ground, 9 floors of the main tower and 5 floors, and 3 floors of the podium. The 16-floor main tower is planned for Whirlpool China. Headquarters office area, exhibition hall, 9-storey main tower planned for global R&D center.
The building incorporates intelligent industry technology to provide a safe, comfortable office environment and thoughtful and efficient service to employees with reasonable application planning. Considering that office use is digital, networked and intelligent, the building adopts system integration method to establish a Users and users, users and information centers, users and external society's multimedia comprehensive information exchange system, keep equipment, people and the environment harmonious and perfect, so as to create a safe, efficient, comfortable, convenient, and intelligent work environment.
On the day of the celebration, Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer highly praised the business environment in Anhui and even China. He said that in 2017, Whirlpool had realized a revenue of US$21.3 billion in the world and seven of the top ten markets in the country. The first share. As a company focusing on white goods, this is still an unmatched achievement for other home appliance companies. In North America and South America, Whirlpool remains strong, firmly occupying the first place, ranking second in the European market. It is also the most successful western household appliance brand in Asia. Marc pointed out that as the world's largest white goods manufacturer, Whirlpool has always paid attention to the Chinese market, and the development of the Chinese market is an important part of Whirlpool’s global layout. This year coincides with the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up. Whirlpool witnessed and benefited from this. Marc hopes that Whirlpool can take a new starting point in China. While realizing its own development, it will use its headquarters in China, the global R&D center, and the Industry 4.0 smart factory to contribute to China's manufacturing 2015 and supply-side reforms. The unique power.
Launching Ceremony
Hefei Capital Group is the second largest shareholder of Whirlpool China. In the speech, the chairman of the group, He Fengshan, said that the completion of the Whirlpool China headquarters and the global R&D center not only means that Whirlpool has more innovation platform support for its development in China. It will usher in a broader space for development; it also means that Hefei, China's home appliance industry base, will be supported by Whirlpool's global innovation resources to accelerate the development of advanced manufacturing, promote the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and manufacturing. In-depth integration, Hefei's home appliance industry will further extend to the high-end. Jiang Feng, chairman of the Household Electrical Appliances Association, also believes that Whirlpool's development has become increasingly firm and its advantages have become increasingly prominent. For the Chinese home appliance industry, more companies like Whirlpool are needed. With its own innovation ability to promote industrial restructuring and consumer upgrading.
Song Guoquan, member of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and the Secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee, made the final speech. He stated that Whirlpool is the world’s largest white goods manufacturer and chose to establish its headquarters in China and global R&D center in Hefei, demonstrating its trust in Hefei and the business environment in Anhui. With the establishment of Whirlpool's foundation for development in China, he believes that Whirlpool will certainly be able to extend the household electrical appliance industry in Anhui and even China to the high-end by virtue of its hundred-year accumulation of innovation, and promote the development of Chinese manufacturing to the era of Industry 4.0.
It is understood that Marc Bitzer has been invited to attend the World Manufacturing Conference and China International Huizhou Conference held on May 26, and together with Liu Chuanzhi, Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lenovo Group Co., Ltd., as an international guest and domestic guest respectively during the opening ceremony. The keynote speech will be delivered. This will be a direct dialogue between a leading global home appliance brand and Chinese manufacturing industry.
According to Ai Xiaoming, president of Whirlpool China, after three years of exploration, with the integration of culture and management, the company has achieved a harmonious connection with headquarters in product development, manufacturing, brand promotion, and financial management systems. At the same time, the company has established standards. The template establishes refined rules, combines the business management model of a hundred-year enterprise with the Chinese team's ability to rapidly respond to the market, and enhances the efficiency of the entire system. With the in-depth reform of the supply side of the home appliance industry, the consumption upgrade is advancing. Accelerated iteration of related technologies, intelligence is becoming a 'proposition' to all home appliance industry professionals. It can be said that the smart factory that was completed last year was Whirlpool's 'answering paper' in the intelligent manufacturing process. Today, with With the opening of the China headquarters and the global R&D center, Whirlpool will continue to use the 'troika' to further define its positioning and take the lead in the intelligent upgrade of China's home appliance industry.
Whirlpool has R&D centers in the United States, Brazil, Italy, Germany, India, and China. The R&D center in Hefei is one of Whirlpool's seven global R&D centers. Each R&D center has its own strengths and resources. Whirlpool China can use Whirlpool's global platform to start a project simultaneously in different time zones around the world. It truly achieves 'not to fail R&D' day by day, greatly shortens the product development cycle, and can learn the strengths of different regions, so that the developed products have global attributes. Whirlpool China headquarters is the strategic core of Whirlpool's development in China. It is the control center of Whirlpool's strategic development in China. It is the embodiment of the headquarters economy. In the future, Whirlpool's overall development in China will be based on this center and will give Anhui regional economic development belt. To many spillovers, Hefei build a 'global home appliance manufacturing center', has a positive role in promoting the development of household appliances industry in Hefei and even Anhui Province, which is conducive to the further consolidation and development of Anhui appliance manufacturing center.
At the same time, the completion of Whirlpool’s global R&D center will leverage the innovative advantages of state-level enterprise technology centers, state-level testing centers, and national industrial design centers, leveraging Whirlpool’s global platform resources, and actively promoting independent research and development for the world. Whirlpool’s product leadership will Through the carrier of Hefei's global R&D center, the company will move to the rest of the world. Whirlpool will continue its commitment to the Chinese market for the past 100 years and create a leading industry product with a globally shared heritage of innovation, bringing quality life to Chinese consumers. Developing a new era in China.