Attack on Thermomix: Bosch brings multifunction food processor

Bosch has announced that it will launch a new multifunction food processor with smart home integration at the beginning of next year. This could soon be a serious competitor for the household favorite Thermomix.

The Thermomix has been one of the most popular home appliances for Germans for decades and is now enjoying cult status. In addition to mixing, beating, stirring and crushing, the latest generation of Vorwerk’s multifunction food processor can also be heated up to 160 degrees and perform all kinds of cooking and cooking operations. Other kitchen appliances make the all-rounder look old in the eyes of avid fans. Nevertheless, other home appliance manufacturers are constantly trying to catch up, and this time around, there could actually be a serious competitor to the Thermomix.
Bosch introduces new smart food processor

As part of the IFA, Bosch is presenting a device that should make the hearts of German hobby chefs beat faster. At the fair for household electronics, this year everything revolves around smart homes and appliances, and Bosch wants to bring this approach into German kitchens as well. The “Cookit” is like the Thermomix a multifunction food processor with integrated heat and cooking function. Particularly the connection with the Home Connect App, via which recipes from a large pool can be transferred directly to the device, whereby the Cookit can adjust optimally.
The Cookit from Bosch will be available in early 2020.

Bosch Asia-Pacific operations

BSH Home Appliances Group on Tuesday announced top level-changes by elevating Gunjan Srivastava as head of Asia-Pacific operations.

Srivastava will be replaced by Neeraj Bahl, who joins as new India Managing Director and CEO of BSH Home Appliances, said a company statement.

Bahl joined BSH in July this year and prior to that he was working with Panasonic India where he was the Group Chief Sales for retail and online segment, it added.

In his new role, Srivastava will be based in Singapore and his mandate will encompass running BSH business across the Asia-Pacific region including India, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

BSH Home Appliances, a European market leader, which entered India in 2010, operates with three brands — Bosch, Siemens and recently launched luxury brand Gaggenau

Gerhard Dambach to be the new CFO and member of the Board of Management of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH

Gerhard Dambach, currently CEO of Robert Bosch Italy, will move to BSH as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective September 1, 2019

The 56-year-old holder of a Ph.D. in industrial engineering will succeed Johannes Närger, who retired as of June 30

MUNICH, Germany, Aug. 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gerhard Dambach (56) will become the new CFO and Labor Relations Director of Europe’s leading home appliance manufacturer BSH Hausgeräte GmbH. He will be the Board of Management member responsible for finance and the North America region. The holder of a Ph.D. in industrial engineering has worked for the Bosch Group since 1993, holding various positions, including managerial positions, in finance and controlling. In his most recent post, he was the CEO of the Italian Bosch subsidiary with responsibility for the Italy and Greece regions. He is also the current President of the German-Italian Chamber of Commerce.

“Gerhard Dambach has many years of international experience within the Bosch Group and great expertise in finance and human resources. We are therefore very pleased to appoint him to the Board of Management of BSH,” said Prof. Dr. Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, Chairman of BSH’s Supervisory Board.

Management, Dambach will be responsible for finance and controlling and will serve as the Group’s Labor Relations Director, beginning on September 1, 2019. His remit will also include the BSH region of North America (United States and Canada). The 56-year-old father completed his study of industrial engineering at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in 1988. After that, he earned a Ph.D. there at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

“Being appointed to the Board of Management of BSH is both a challenge and a motivation for me. I am very much looking forward to the exciting task of helping to guide the destiny of this extraordinary company in a market that is undergoing radical changes,” Dambach said.

BSH breaks ground on new dryer and washing machine facility

BSH breaks ground on its first China-based dryer and washing machine facility in Chuzhou on May 8, 2019. With an initial size of 60, 000 square meters and total investment of 1.69 billion Yuan, the facility is scheduled to go into production starting the first quarter of 2021 with a planned annual output of 3.6 million units.

It is a critical step for BSH to deliver its strategy of making Chuzhou its largest production site globally. The new facility comes after BSH’s first Chuzhou-based dishwasher company which was built in 2018 with a total investment of 0.7 billion Yuan and a planned annual output of 2 million units. The first-stage of the dishwasher facility has come on stream since 2018 and before that, the company’s Chuzhou-based refrigerator facility has seen its second-stage project go into operation. The string of investments signals BSH’s efforts in integrating its individual facilities into an industrial park in Chuzhou.

Compared to the company’s existing washing machine facility in Nanjing, the new facility is designed for the production of large-capacity washing machines, drying machines and dryer-washer combos. Plus, it will be established as an example of BSH’s Industry 4.0 strategy that features digitalization throughout the entire process from procurement, production all the way to end consumers.

It is learned that, the facility will be an important production site of the company worldwide after its operation and it will supply Chinese as well as global markets.

BSH expansion in Europe

BSH Hausgeräte GmbH is continuing its expansion in Europe and will invest a triple-digit million sum in the coming years in a new site in Romania. BSH has been active in Romania for almost 20 years. The Romanian BSH subsidiary has now acquired a plot covering around 40 hectares to build a washing machine factory.

Construction of a production hall, a logistics center and administration building will already get underway this year. BSH plans to start production of the first washing machine in 2020. Once additional production facilities have been set up, the factory will have an annual production capacity of more than one million washing machines for the European market from 2022. Over the next few years, BSH will create around 700 jobs at the new Romanian plant.

“Our growth strategy calls for consistent further development of regional markets and the expansion of production capacities. The new site in Simeria offers ideal conditions for producing modern washing machines and for the required logistics. It will be an excellent addition to our manufacturing network,” says Michael Schöllhorn, Chief Operating Officer at BSH.

Alongside Germany, Spain and Poland, the new site will in future be the fourth washing machine factory in Europe. BSH will then operate a total of nine washing machine factories worldwide

Bosch to open new factory in Mexico

Bosch will invest 100 million euros in a new plant in Celaya (Mexico). The company plans to build a new smart factory for electronic components in the central Mexican city by 2020. The goal is to create more than 1,200 additional jobs at the new location in Celaya in the coming years. “We are planning to make the new manufacturing facility in Celaya a smart factory with state-of-the-art, intelligent production lines – Stefan Hartung, member of the Bosch board of management, said -. For example, the plant will employ a manufacturing execution system (MES), which automatically collects data and shares production information in real time. This makes possible both preventive maintenance of machinery and higher product quality. The system also digitally connects the plant to the Bosch Group’s global manufacturing network”.