Tag Archives: midea

Midea Group as a pioneer in the 4th Industrial Revolution f

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Midea Group Co., Ltd. was honoured as a pioneer of Industry 4.0 technologies with two factories, Midea Heifei and Midea Jingzhou, included in the Global Lighthouse Network of the World Economic Forum (WEF), showing the Group’s efforts in achieving both production efficiency and sustainability.

The Global Lighthouse Network is a community of production sites and value chains which are world leaders in the adoption and integration of the cutting-edge technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). In total, Midea Group owns 4 WEF Lighthouse factories covering smart home appliances, which account for a relatively high proportion of the Group’s revenue.


“Our factory used to produce high-end and middle-end products at the same time, and our production faced a very big challenge,” commented Li Zhen, General Manager of Midea Jingzhou factory. “It was very inefficient in the traditional manufacturing way, and difficult to meet the needs of our consumers in time.”
Through the implementation of the digital and intelligent transformation measures, Midea Jingzhou lighthouse factory adopted flexible automation. loT and artificial intelligence with more than 2,000 digital transformation initiatives have increased labor productivity by 52%, and reduced production lead time by 25%, the failure rate by 53%, and the utility consumption per unit by 20%.


Midea washing machine factory in Hefei has also witnessed a similar revolution. The number of product SKUs exceeds 1,100 and the annual production and sales volume of Midea Hefei is also at the forefront. “Digitalization has driven the transformation of our entire business process, model and increased efficiency,” according to Zhang Zhimin, General Manager of the factory.

Targeting domestic high-end product segments and overseas market expansion, Midea Hefei Advanced 4IR Lighthouse factory widely deploys artificial intelligence and loT technologies across end-to-end value chains to form a faster response and more efficient supply chain, resulting in lead time reduction by 56%, customer report defect rate reduction by 36%, and labor productivity improvement by 45%. Also, it also helps to meet the goal of achieving carbon emissions peak in 2025 and net-zero in 2040.

In the future, Midea Group will continue to increase investment in digitalization, IoT, global breakthroughs and technological leadership and invest in new cutting-edge technologies,” said Simon Zhang, CIO of Midea Group.

Midea big plans

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Seven months into his new role as the chief financial officer of Midea Group, 39-year-old Jeremy Choy is starting to feel at home in Foshan, a city neighbouring Guangzhou in southern Guangdong province.

With multiple new Midea office towers being visibly constructed behind him, Choy told the South China Morning Post in a video chat on October 29 that the appliance giant is ready to be taken seriously as a technology company, competing head-to-head with the likes of General Electric, Siemens, Philips and Xiaomi.

“Many people still regard Midea as merely a home appliance company, but if you look at our broad product portfolio in smart homes, building technology, robots and industrial technology, we are in fact a technology company,” he said.

Before moving to mainland China from his native home of Hong Kong, Choy was head of Asia technology mergers and acquisitions for HSBC. Before that, he worked for Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. He joined Midea in April, shortly after the appliance brand saw its market capitalisation soar past 700 billion yuan (US$109 billion).

Midea, the first appliance manufacturer to obtain the new energy label A and sound level A

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Midea , the world’s No. 1 selling manufacturer of air handling appliances *, has become the first Chinese brand to obtain the double A certification of energy label A and sound level A , of the new design standard eco-energy of the European Union.

The new regulation, which came into force on April 1 of this year, affects certain categories of household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines or dishwashers, and differs from the previous standard by changing their labels.

The new energy labeling has gone from being from A to A +++, to being from G to A. Consequently, the class A +++ up to now would be equivalent to the current C or lower, so the new standard seeks to give a margin of improves appliance manufacturers by encouraging them to develop much more efficient and environmentally friendly models.

Obtaining this certification by Midea has been possible thanks to the great efforts made by it in the field of innovation. During this year , it has opened 28 R&D centers in 11 countries. With them, the brand not only seeks to have the opportunity to launch better home appliances on the market, both in terms of design and efficiency, but also to contribute its grain of sand to the global technological race for the preservation of the planet. Likewise, the recognition comes from the launch of a new combi refrigerator with energy classification A and sound level A, to which, at the end of the year, a whole range of electrical appliances with energy certificates between C and A will be added. This range consists of combi and multi-door refrigerators, side by side and, chest and built in models

Midea Manchester City partnership

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HOME appliances company Midea and Manchester City recently announced an amplification of its global partnership, which kicked off in January last year.

Throughout this partnership, Midea has produced engaging digital content, which has proved to be very popular with City fans around the world, most notably, the #MideaHomeChallenge which kept fans entertained during the several lockdowns.

Midea Laundry VDE Certification

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On September 6th, the VDE certification award ceremony for the Midea Laundry Division was held in the Wuxi Little Swan Electric Co., Ltd. Distinguished guests from Midea Laundry Division and VDE INSTITUTE were invited to attend the ceremony.

Distinguished guests from VDE INSTITUTE included Mr. Hong Wei, Chief Representative of VDE China Representative Office; Mrs. Cang Yan, Chief Expert of VDE China; Mr. Dean Wen, General Manager of VDE Renewable Energy China; and Mr. Daniel Roehrs, General Manager of VDE China.

Image: Guests from Midea Laundry and VDE pose for photo at the awarding ceremony

The guests of Midea Laundry Division attending this ceremony included Mr. George Guo, General Manager of Overseas Marketing; Mr. Xu Pengcheng, Director of R&D Center; Mr. Wang Haifeng, Director of Domestic Product Development Center of R&D Center; Mr. Yan Shulin, Director Of Overseas Product Development Center of R&D Center, and Advanced Research of R&D Center Expert Mr. Gao Hongxi, etc..

Five professional VDE certifications were awarded at the ceremony site: VDE “New EU Energy Class A”; VDE “Low Noise and Less Vibration Certification”; VDE “Vibration Reduction Certification”; VDE “Hygiene Certification”; VDE “Test Data Acceptance Program Certification” for acoustic laboratory of advanced technology research institute of Midea laundry.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Mr. Daniel Roehrs, General Manager of VDE China, delivered a speech on behalf of VDE. He says that Midea, as one of the best international brands in home appliance industry, has lots of expectations for its energy efficiency development in the future; and VDE hopes to provide corresponding support to Midea Laundry. He points out that global climate change is the biggest challenge of the 21st century. Midea Laundry is the first and only Chinese brand whose products in the 7, 8, 9, 10 kilograms have all passed the VDE German new EU Energy Class A tests. He believes that in the future, VDE and Midea will have more solid cooperation.

Afterwards, Mr. Hong Wei, Chief Representative of the VDE China Representative Office, gave a detailed introduction on VDE “New EU Energy Class A”. He points out that since 1995, washing machine energy efficiency certification has quickly become the most indicative label and a major selling point in the European Market. In 2017, European new energy label directive and new standards start to upgrade the energy efficiency level and VDE energy expert team started cooperation with Midea Laundry in the same year. During this period, VDE and Midea Laundry jointly built a platform of VDE experts, which has more than a dozen experts covering safety, energy, washing performance, drying performance, hygiene, noise and vibration. The platform regularly conducts external tests and trainings.

At the same time, VDE CEO Sven Öhrke also sent a congratulatory message from Germany in the form of video.

After the speech, the award ceremony officially began. VDE “New EU Energy Class A”, VDE “Low Noise and Less Vibration Certification”, VDE “Vibration Reduction Certification”, VDE “Hygiene Certification”, VDE “Test Data Acceptance Program Certification” trophies and certificates were successively awarded at the scene.

At the end of the ceremony, Mr. Xu Pengcheng, Director of the R&D Center, made a concluding speech. Mr. Xu says that Midea Laundry has cooperated with VDE for many years. VDE represents the highest level of global testing and certification. As Midea Laundry continues to deepen its globalization, it needs strong support from VDE, which requires Midea Laundry to design more environmentally friendly, healthy and green products. 

Under the general trend of world diversification and globalization, the globalization and internationalization of products has become an important topic. The obtaining of a number of VDE professional certifications by Midea washing machines, not only marks the recognition of the energy efficiency of Midea products by the international community, but also marks another step forward for Midea washing machines on the road to internationalization. In the future, Midea Laundry will continue to increase its investment in technological research, and is committed to designing more green, healthy, high-quality products that meet market needs.

Midea posts solid H1 revenue growth

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China’s leading home appliance manufacturer Midea Group saw its revenue rise 24.98 percent year on year in the first half of 2021, following strong sales growth.

Its revenue reached 173.8 billion yuan (about 26.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, the Fortune 500 company said in an interim financial report filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Over the period, the company chalked up 15 billion yuan in net profit, up 7.76 percent year on year, according to the report.

Midea said its major home appliance products expanded their shares in online and offline domestic markets in the first six months of this year. The company was the top seller of household air conditioners in both markets during the period

Midea looks to expand production

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Midea, China’s top home appliances maker, to expand overseas production as it eyes 10 per cent global market share

Midea Group aims to achieve home appliances sales of US$40 billion overseas by 2025, which will give it a 10 per cent share of the global marketCompany is looking for suitable locations for manufacturing in North America

Midea overcomes COVID-19 challenge to continue overseas expansion

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Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Midea Group, a Chinese home appliance maker, will expand its global footprint this year, strengthen the layout of its supply chain, and increase its investment in Thailand, Egypt and Brazil.

Although overseas orders increased by 10 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, that was not enough to avoid declines in both revenue and net profit.

First-half net profit was 13.90 billion yuan ($2 billion), down 8.29 percent, on a revenue of 139.70 billion yuan, down 9.47 percent. More than 40 percent of its revenue came from overseas markets as Midea added more than 11,000 sales outlets abroad.

The company underlined its e-commerce business. Its products now cover major online retail websites in Italy, the United Kingdom and France.

“We are more willing to build joint ventures in overseas markets, especially countries and regions taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative,” said Fang Hongbo, chairman and president of Midea.

Fang noted that growing market demand in emerging countries and regions, along with an improving domestic demand for smart home appliances, will help boost sales in the years ahead.

“We need to rethink the layout of overseas manufacturing bases,” Wang Jianguo, vice-president of Midea, said.

The company will also look for suitable places to establish a manufacturing base in North America.

Established in 1968, the Foshan, Guangdong province-based Midea makes air conditioners, refrigerators, laundry appliances, kitchen appliances and various small home appliances. It has 28 research and development centers and 34 major production bases around the world.

Its orders from overseas markets rose by 26 percent on a yearly basis in the first quarter. Wang has strong confidence that the company’s performance in the second half of this year will improve despite COVID-related changes and uncertainties.

The company will strengthen its global supply chains and increase investment in Thailand, Egypt and Brazil. In April, Midea began to build an air conditioner factory in Thailand. It is also preparing to build a manufacturing base in Egypt, its 18th overseas.

First-half retail sales of home appliances in China were worth 369 billion yuan, down 14 percent year-on-year, due to COVID-19, said a report released by the China Center for Information Industry Development, which is part of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The CCIID report also said the market for most of home appliances has shrunk and sales fell in the first half of the year.

“The growth rate of the domestic home appliance market is dropping, so major players should accelerate steps to expand in overseas markets such as North America, South America, Africa and Europe as they continue to show huge growth potential in low, medium and high-end products,” said Liang Zhenpeng, a consumer electronics analyst.

Liang noted in the past most of the Chinese enterprises adopted the original equipment manufacturer or OEM model, but nowadays they tend to build their own brands to be competitive globally.

Midea’s more than 150,000 staff members man its 17 production bases in overseas markets, with its products sold in more than 200 countries and regions. Midea has set up overseas 18 R&D centers in the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Austria, Israel and other countries.

Since the establishment of its first overseas plant in Vietnam in 2007, Midea has efficiently expanded its operations. The company has stepped up its go-global push in recent years through mergers and acquisitions.

Midea acquired a 32.5 percent stake in Egypt-listed air conditioner manufacturer Miraco. It took a majority stake in German industrial robotics manufacturer Kuka in 2016, marking another important step in the company’s bid to expand into automation and smart manufacturing.

In 2017, it purchased more than a 50 percent stake in Israeli motion solution provider Servotronix Motion Control. Midea also acquired an 80 percent stake in Italian air conditioner maker Clivet SpA and bought the white home appliance products business of Japanese home appliance manufacturer Toshiba Corp in 2016.

The traditional home appliance market is almost saturated and companies need to seek new growth points, said Dong Min, an independent researcher of the home appliances sector.

“Expansion into overseas markets could not only relieve the pressure of high inventory in the domestic market but increase the international influence of Chinese home appliance companies.”

Midea announced in 2018 it would invest 13.5 billion Indian rupees over the next five years to set up a science and technology park in India. Covering an area of roughly 270,000 square meters, the project is estimated to generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for more than 2,000 people.

The park will produce 500,000 refrigerators, washing machines, water purifiers and water heaters respectively, 1.5 million household air conditioners, 250,000 commercial air conditioners, and 4.5 million air conditioner compressors annually.

Midea

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Midea Group announced that it has featured on the 2020 Fortune Global 500 List for the fifth year running, ranking 307th place, moving up 5 places compared to 2019. The Group first entered the Fortune Global 500 list in 2016. Over the past five years, Midea has continuously climbed up the ranks thanks to the company’s dedication towards innovation. This year, Midea Group has started transforming five of its key businesses, including Consumer Appliances, HVAC Systems, Components, Industrial Automation and Smart Logistics. “Looking ahead – they state from the company – Midea Group will continue to focus on achieving its aim of becoming a world-leading technology corporation through the development of innovative platforms including its retail and industrial cloud arms.”
The Group expresses its satisfaction for this result after a difficult year spent facing the pandemic problems.

«As a company with major operations in China and around the world – the CEO, Paul Fang wrote on February to all the Midea staff – we have a responsibility to contribute to the fight against this epidemic. I am extremely proud of the efforts that this company has already made and the fact that we were one of the first to respond. We donated thousands of appliances to Huoshenshan Hospital and have donated 100 million yuan to contribute towards the relief efforts.

Midea net profit up over 19 pct in 2019

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Midea Group, a leading Chinese home appliance manufacturer, reported a year-on-year increase of 19.68 percent in its net profit in 2019.

Net profit attributable to the company’s shareholders stood at 24.2 billion yuan (about 3.43 billion U.S. dollars), Midea Group announced in its annual report.

Its total operating revenue rose 6.71 percent year on year to 279.4 billion yuan