State-of-the-art production facility starts operations in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, after 18 months of construction Home appliance manufacturer produces large double-door refrigerators for the North American market BSH is investing around 220 million euros and plans to create around 1,500 skilled jobs in the region with the factory Europe’s leading home appliance manufacturer, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, is expanding its global production network and will be manufacturing in Mexico into the future. In Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon, large double-door, so-called French Door Bottom Mount refrigerators are now coming off the production line. The appliances produced under the Bosch and Thermador brands are specially tailored to the needs of consumers in the North American market.
BSH brands Bosch, Siemens and NEFF Home Appliances at EuroCucina, Salone del Mobile.Milano, in detail. Bosch is showcasing innovations in the kitchen for a responsible, healthy and sustainable lifestyle: live responsibly #LikeABosch. Bosch’s distinctive approach to sustainability in the kitchen is extraordinarily applied in the features of the top-of-the-range products presented at the booth: the Series 8 ovens, Series 6 induction hobs as well as Series 6 and Series 8 cooker hoods.
The Siemens booth, the “Intelligent Kitchen” is the perfect combination of the latest technology, useful connectivity and visionary design for home appliances. It showcases the benefits derived from a system of remarkably designed and connected appliances.
One of the highlights of the Siemens booth is the new iQ700 oven with automatic food recognition.
NEFF is excited to present “The Flavour District”: a unique space where urban style meets the typical designs of industrial style. NEFF’s new NEFF Collection 2024 range is targeting all food lovers with a collection of ovens, compact elements, induction hobs and cooker hoods inspired by the brand’s innovative approach.
At the beginning of 2024, the BSH group, producer of well-known household brands such as Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau and Neff, will switch to using Matter technology, the latest technology in smart home connectivity. The refrigerators are the first to go, specifically the spacious XXL built-in fridge-freezer combinations. In Matter 1.2, a large number of household appliances have been added, including refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines.
The BSH group, which includes heavyweights such as Bosch and Siemens, is at the forefront of this innovation as some of their appliances are already connected via the cloud and can be controlled remotely with Home Connect.
Matter 1.2 promises a seamless connection between various home appliances, and BSH plans to adopt this standard in their refrigerators that will allow users to control the temperature remotely. While details on which current models will support Matter have not yet been announced, it is likely that only more recent devices will be compatible.
Furthermore, in 2024, the Bosch Smart Home controller will function as a Matter bridge, which will play a crucial role in the new ecosystem of connected devices. This will herald a gradual transition to a fully Matter-compatible smart home system, although it is still unclear when other appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers will follow.
Matter does not yet support everything; for example, there is no support for cameras yet. Nevertheless, this update marks an important step forward in the world of smart kitchen appliance
Siemens asked the question as clearly as possible: What does artificial intelligence mean for us? What does AI mean, for example? in the kitchen and in the rest of the home?
The German manufacturer, in its “Garden of Intelligence” at the IFA fair, itself provided a number of rather good answers.
Artificial intelligence is, for example, often something we overlook. Because we as consumers do not update that the product has become intelligent. We don’t need to talk to an “Alexa” or another robot until something is actually “artificially intelligent” to us.
“The artificial angel is bigger than the individual product. Bigger than the oven or coffee machine. Bigger than the washing machine talking to the dryer”.
“Artificial intelligence is about saying ‘hello’ – and that all your white goods and household appliances then listen and learn. Let’s not talk so much about the individual appliances. Let’s say hello to them and see what they can do”, said Siemens’ German product manager.
Siemens then gave simple and clear examples of precisely the artificial intelligence built into their products. For example in the dishwasher’s program selection, where the machine quickly discovers that the consumer only normally uses two or three programmes. Therefore, the machine, step by step, takes this into account, as there is of course the possibility behind it that the consumer can choose far more advanced programs for. e.g. glass washer or other.
The refrigerator is also aware that today’s consumer makes fewer and larger purchases. Therefore, the refrigerators have systems built in that keep food fresh longer. There is simply more space, more light and more temperature zones.
“The white goods have, almost without us realizing it, become intelligent problem solvers”. it sounded from Siemens.
The refrigerators are also getting bigger. Siemens presented, like its colleagues from Bosch, new XL refrigerators, which measure 194 centimeters in height and 77 centimeters in width as standard. Up to 45% more “utility value” or storage space in the same product.
Finally, Siemens was also involved in the trend for products to clean themselves and partially repair themselves. The Eco900 coffee machine is able to “clean itself”. The washing machine itself tells the consumer about the fault it has found or is about to find, e.g. a clogged filter. After this, the consumer can solve the problem himself or with simple help from a distance – without expensive service visits.
The role of the appliance service man is changing.
Last, but perhaps not least, Siemens withdrew the guarantee to supply key spare parts by five years. Siemens now guarantees a 15-year supply of critical spare parts against a previous ten-year guarantee. To that extent, sustainability has become a competitive parameter
Siemens Hausgeraete has opened an online shop on its website that allows German consumers to purchase its entire range of built-in and freestanding appliances. BSH Sales Manager Germany Michael Mehnert calls it an information platform that brings potential buyers closer to the scope of the assortment. Users can select products based on categories, energy efficiency class, price range and availability. Products can be purchased online or through a retailer’s web (e.g. MediaMarkt-Saturn or Euronics
Siemens launches its new extra-capacity refrigerators, designed with 45% more space than the standard. These new appliances (1.93 cm high and 70.8 cm wide) feature sturdy glass shelves, finished with blackSteel profiles, in perfect combination with the new ovens and hobs of the Siemens studioLine range. The hinges, thanks to the softClosing system, ensure the automatic closing of the refrigerator when an angle of 20° (or less) is reached. In addition, the interior lighting can be controlled and set via the Home Connect app. Finally, the No Frost technology allows for optimal air distribution by preventing the formation of frost
From left to right: BSH management team – Lars Schubert, Dr Gerhard Dambach, Dr Matthias Metz, Dr Alexander Dony and Rudolf Klötscher
Leading German appliance brand BSH has celebrated record growth for a third year running, achieving sales of €15.9bn in the 2022 financial year, despite challenges BSH managed a growth of 2.5% on the previous year (currency-adjusted of 4.2%) despite supply bottlenecks, increased material prices and higher logistics and energy costs.
In addition, the company said that over the two previous years, it has benefited from a boom in the consumer goods business caused by the pandemic. This increased demand fell last year, while inflation rose sharply at the same time.
CEO Dr Matthew Metz commented: “Thanks to the loyalty of our consumers and trading partners, our strong global brand portfolio, our innovative products and services and the great commitment of our employees, we have mastered the past year well.
“Our aspiration for the current year: We want to continue growing profitably in all regions and product categories. In addition to managing the significantly increased costs – for example in the areas of energy, material and personnel – the focus is on making our supply chains even more resilient.”Stable growth in all regions In the Americas region including the USA and Canada, BSH once again showed above-average growth in the 2022 financial year, with an increase of 16%. While in Europe, it remained No.1, despite delivery bottlenecks and increased energy and material prices, which were particularly noticeable in this region.
For the entire Asia-Pacific/Africa region, BSH achieved sales growth of 2% compared to the previous year. Due to special effects, such as restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, BSH recorded a decline of 4% in China. On the other hand, sales in the growth markets increased at an above-average rate, particularly in India and the Middle East.
With a clear view of the future, BSH is setting the course for future growth today. “Our central concern is to understand local needs in the markets and to develop and produce home appliances that meet consumer needs and improve the quality of life in their homes. For us, market proximity and international growth go hand in hand,” Dr Metz explains.
“At the same time, we are expanding globally. From 2024 we will be manufacturing refrigerators for the North American market in a new factory in Mexico. We have also invested in the Asia-Pacific and Africa region: In India, we have expanded our production in Chennai. And last week we celebrated the ground-breaking ceremony for our stove factory in Cairo.
Product categories cooling and dishwashing with strong growth The strongest sales driver in the past financial year was the cooling product category with an increase of 8.8% on the previous year, closely followed by the sink product category, which was able to increase 8%. Cooking, the top-selling product category, grew by 2.8%. Here, however, the market was waiting for an important model change, a new oven series, which is due in spring 2023. Laundry care and consumer products, the small home appliance division, saw declines of 6% and 6.2%, respectively.
BSH customer service with its comprehensive range of services achieved a 2.2% increase in sales. Around 15,000 employees work in over 50 countries every day. 83% of all repairs can be done right away. This performance is also reflected in the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which continuously measures satisfaction with customer service, BSH said. The score rose again by two points to the outstanding value of 73 points. The success of customer service can also be seen in regular awards. In 2022, the German daily newspaper “Welt” awarded German customer service for the eleventh time in a row for first-class service from the Bosch and Siemens brands. The Bosch brand even emerges from the ranking as No. 1 in the entire household appliance industry, closely followed by Siemens in second placeIn 2022, BSH presented a range of innovative digital products and solutions, it said. The new premium oven series from Bosch and Siemens (shown top) was among these, while the Smart Kitchen Dock presented last year bundles a wide variety of Alexa and Home Connect functions and thus enables access to all services of the Home Connect platform as well as to recipe apps with smart cooking support such as Kitchen Stories, the company added.
For the Chinese market, BSH uses air quality sensors from Bosch in its refrigerators. These recognise bad smells immediately and automatically clean the air in the refrigerator with the help of active oxygen. In this way, 99% of all bacteria and viruses and 90% of all odours can be eliminated, the company claims. In addition, the networked device informs consumers via smartphone when food has gone bad.
The Bosch Group – and thus also BSH – is a member of the “Connectivity Standards Alliance”, an association of numerous large companies that are simplifying the smart home world with the new Matter connection standard. In the future, it will be possible to operate Matter-enabled household appliances from BSH and household appliances from other manufacturers in just one app.
In addition, expenditure on research and development increased by 5.3% compared to the previous year – BSH invested a total of €840m euros, which BSH is using to promote digital, consumer-oriented products and innovations.
Sustainable solutions along the entire value chain BSH has been developing and manufacturing CO₂-neutral at all locations worldwide since 2020. One of the biggest levers for this is the constant increase in energy efficiency in production. In 2022, BSH saved around 33.4 GWh of energy with more than 230 energy efficiency measures worldwide. Self-generated green electricity is increasingly covering electricity requirements. BSH has set itself the goal of covering 100% of its electricity needs with green electricity by 2030.
In order to make the value chain more sustainable, the home appliance manufacturer is working with partners on new solutions. These include the use of recycled plastics and so-called green steel. These materials are used, for example, in the new Bosch Green Collection refrigerator, which will be launched in Europe in May. Thanks to the use of recycled, CO₂-reduced and CO₂-neutral materials, the resulting CO₂ footprint from the material is a third lower than that of the identically constructed comparison model with conventional materials
First series of ovens that use intelligent algorithms to adapt baking and roasting results to personal preferences Expansive surfaces of dark glass contribute to the calm and elegant lines Operation via generously-sized and high-contrast full-touch TFT display
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