On October 19, Gorenje’s cooking appliances factory produced the millionth cooking appliance this year. Never in the history of Gorenje have we reached this annual milestone so quickly, as we usually reached one million manufactured appliances only at the end of December. We donated the jubilee cooking appliance to our colleague Dragica Senić from the galvanising plant.

Orders and consequently production volumes increased after the takeover of Gorenje and the arrival of the new owner Hisense, so that last year we manufactured the millionth device much earlier as usual (in November), and this year, despite a severe crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic when in March we had to shut down factories for three weeks, the millionth cooking appliance was produced as early as October 19th.

“In the spring, we almost gave up hope because of the coronavirus situation, as orders were reduced overnight to practically zero,” says Rok Borovnik from Production Planning at the Cooking appliances factory. “Nevertheless, we picked up quickly, sales secured new orders and based on the good results of increasing productivity and good work of our production workers we immediately made up for the lag and fulfilled our obligations to the Sales department and thus to our customers.”

In August, we received a record amount of orders, for certain types of appliances up to 25% more than last year. From July to August 2020, the quantities increased from 110,000 appliances per month to more than 180,000 appliances and from here only increased further. In September, we reached a record of 184,324 manufactured cooking appliances. As a result, we also manufactured the millionth appliance on October 19, thus setting a new milestone in Gorenje’s production. But we already have new records in sight, as the annual amount of cooking appliances produced (1,373,000) will be the largest so far (last year we produced 1,200,000 appliances). We have already filled our orders by March 2021, which is very encouraging for the future of the cooking appliance factory.

“We donated the millionth appliance – an oven – to our colleague Dragica Senić from the galvanising plant, and this was also a symbolic gesture to show that the galvanising plant is now a part of the cooking appliances factory, not only formally, but is the heart of cooking appliances production. We are all one team and through teamwork we strive to grow and improve results, ”said Jernej Heindl, director of the Cooking Appliances Factory. “We are very proud of the milestone we have reached and we are boldly looking at new, ambitious goals. Congratulations to the entire team of cooking appliances, who with their commitment and dedication in difficult conditions have shown that we can handle even such great challenges. “

Employee Dragica Senić, who was with the help of the union chosen as the recipient of the millionth appliance, has been employed by Gorenje for 36 and a half years, all the time working in the galvanising plant. “Our millionth appliance is definitely going to the right person,” said Zlatko Svečko, head of the galvanising plant Galvana. “Dragica is a trademark of Galvana and with her knowledge, accuracy and diligence is respected in her work environment, and she successfully passes all this on to younger colleagues.”

“I am very proud of our achievement and I am glad that I was chosen for this award, I really did not expect it,” said Dragica Senić. “I have been working at Galvana since 1984, and from the very beginning I have also worked night shifts, Saturdays, I have never refused work. I am proud of my work and of the fact that we managed to set new records this year despite such a difficult situation. ” And what will be the first delicious dish cooked in Dragica’s new 3 in 1 combined oven (convection, steam and microwave oven in one appliance)? »My husband will be able to tell you that, he cooks most of the time, while I do the tidying up,« Dragica laughed.

Chinese home appliances maker Hisense has sold Gorenje Tiki, a Serbian producer of water heaters and heat pumps, to Swedish heating technology firm NIBE Industrier AB NIBeb.ST.

Hisense’s Slovenian unit, Gorenje, said on Tuesday the sale was part of Gorenje’s drive to focus “on the core activity of manufacturing and marketing domestic appliances.”

The mayor of Velenje has appealed to Prime Minister Marjan Šarec to prevent the head office of the household appliances maker Gorenje being moved to Ljubljana as planned by its new Chinese owners.

Mayor Bojan Kontič sees the plans, announced by Gorenje in late October, as yet another step to centralisation, which he says is one of Slovenia’s key problems.

A press release from the Velenje city said that the mayor’s letter of protest had been forwarded to Chinese Ambassador to Slovenia Wang Shunqing, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Boštjan Gorjup and the media.

The reaction comes after Gorenje announced it would split up into two companies as part of its integration a year after it was taken over by Hisense.

The management and administration was to move to Hisense Europe, headquartered in Ljubljana, which was to provide corporate support services for all Hisense companies in Europe.

Production was to remain based in Velenje, now Slovenia’s sixth largest city where Gorenje has been operating since its inception in 1950.

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The release from the city administration expressed concern over the latest activities and plans in what has been the pillar of the local economy for seven decades and one of Slovenia’s largest exporters.

“The current situation at the company, the new management’s plans and the mood among the employees are far from the promises and commitments the new owners made upon the takeover,” reads the release.

The local government met Gorenje chief managing director Chao Liu and representatives of the staff and their trade union in recent days over what it described in today’s release as a critical situation.

The employees are worried and scared because of conflicting information about the company’s plans and future, which they do not get until after they have become facts, say the city authorities.

“Due to substantial pressure on stepping up the work tempo, sickness absences are getting longer, increasingly many qualified staff is leaving, employees, including those with disabilities are being made redundant, and discontent among the employees is growing by the day.”

Arguing that moving highly-qualified staff to Ljubljana does not augur well, the city authorities say they believe the Gorenje management can run the company as well as it stays in Velenje.

The local authorities are also concerned about Gorenje’s plan to move its call centre to Serbia, saying it suggests the management was planning to keep only production at minimum possible costs in Velenje.

In response to the mayor’s letter, Gorenje said that calls on the prime minister to interfere in business decisions of a fully privately-owned company were unjustified and illegitimate.

The company is planning to accept the invitation to join the December session of the city council in order to present Hisense’s plans in detail.

Gorenje expressed understanding for the local community’s concerns, while it also said that it fund the local community’s support and cooperation exceptionally important.

The company said that Slovenia would gain from the creation of Hisense management hub for the whole Europe in Ljubljana.

The owner is organising the company in such a way as to integrate it into the Hisense corporation’s business environment, while also restructuring operations in order to preserve the company and to allow it to grow in the long run, Gorenje said.

It added that this should be in the interest of the municipality in which Gorenje with more than 4,000 employees was becoming Hisense’s central production location for the entire Europe.