Whirlpool CEO and Chairman Marc Bitzer has signed a commitment to join the U.N. Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate, a platform for business leaders to advance water stewardship. Endorsing companies commit to actions that conserve water across six key areas, including our operations and products, supply chain, watershed management, collective action, public policy, community engagement and transparency. “Joining the U.N. Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate will help to guide us in driving business awareness and actions in support of achieving some of our key Sustainable Development Goals,” said Whirlpool Corp. Chairman and CEO Marc Bitzer. “We’re proud to join this compact along with more than 230 other endorsing companies, and we look forward to continuing the implementation of changes in our operations worldwide that will conserve water for current and future generations.”
Tag Archives: Whirlpool
Whirlpool anouce delivery surcharge for independent retailers
Whirlpool UK is planning to introduce “a nominal delivery surcharge” for all small trade units going to independent electrical retailers.
We understand that this change applies to all Whirlpool Group products, including the Hotpoint and Indesit brands. At the end of last month,
retailers received a plan update letter from Whirlpool
Forbes names Whirlpool Corporation One of ‘America’s Best Large Employers’
Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) announced today it has been named to Forbes’ 2023 list of the “America’s Best Large Employers.” This marks the second consecutive year that Whirlpool has appeared on the annual list, which recognizes 500 companies across 45 different industries that are admired for their commitment to support and empower their U.S. workforce.
Whirlpool Corporation Named One of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies
Whirlpool Corporation has been recognized by Fortune as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies for the thirteenth consecutive year. The list includes the most respected and reputable companies around the world, as ranked by peers within their respective industries.
This recognition is only possible due to hard work and collaboration by our people and their commitment to improving life at home for consumers around the world.”
“We feel incredibly honored to once again be recognized by Fortune as one of the most admired companies,” said Marc Bitzer, Chairman and CEO of Whirlpool Corporation. “This recognition is only possible due to hard work and collaboration by our people and their commitment to improving life at home for consumers around the world.”
Whirlpool production hit
Whirlpool’s production volumes took a 5% hit in Q4 because of a “one-off” disruption at an unnamed supplier that has since been resolved, CFO Jim Peters told investors Tuesday.
Peters described the firm as a “critical supplier providing a common platform of parts for multiple manufacturing locations and products.”
The issue was fixed in mid-January, but the finance chief noted that there were confidential “ongoing discussions” with the supplier, which prevented Whirlpool from sharing additional details about the disruption.Supply Chain Dive
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DIVE BRIEF
Whirlpool’s production takes a hit after supplier disruption
Published Feb. 1, 2023
Ben Unglesbee’s headshot
Ben Unglesbee
Senior Reporter
The Whirlpool logo is seen on a display of clothes washers and dryers
The Whirlpool logo is seen on a display of clothes washers and dryers. The appliance maker’s profits took a $100 million hit after an interruption at a key supplier. Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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Dive Brief:
Whirlpool’s production volumes took a 5% hit in Q4 because of a “one-off” disruption at an unnamed supplier that has since been resolved, CFO Jim Peters told investors Tuesday.
Peters described the firm as a “critical supplier providing a common platform of parts for multiple manufacturing locations and products.”
The issue was fixed in mid-January, but the finance chief noted that there were confidential “ongoing discussions” with the supplier, which prevented Whirlpool from sharing additional details about the disruption.
Dive Insight:
While Whirlpool did not disclose specifics, the interruption at the supplier took a toll on the home appliance company’s sales. Net sales fell 15.3% in Q4 and organic sales declined 10.8%, which the company attributed to the supply chain issues.
The disruption, coupled with a previously announced production reduction, also led to a $100 million hit to the company’s profits, CEO Marc Bitzer said on the earnings call.
The hiccup comes after Whirlpool spent two years working to make its supply chain more efficient and resilient amid the many challenges of the pandemic era.
In that time, the company slashed its active parts from 110,000 to 70,000 to reduce complexity in its supply chain, Bitzer said. He added that in the medium-term, Whirlpool management sees a path to getting that number down even further, to “well below” 50,000 parts.
The appliance maker has also “significantly expanded” into dual sourcing, putting priority on high-value strategic parts and components, according to Bitzer.
“But we still have a tail end of lower value parts that are single source,” the CEO said. “This will be our focus in the coming months and years.”
Looking to the year ahead, Bitzer said that “flawless execution of our supply chain” is one of Whirlpool’s top operational priorities, along with “very significant” targets for cutting costs. The company is eyeing $800 million to $900 million in potential cost reductions.
The two goals are closely related. As part of the cost cuts, Whirlpool expects to remove over $250 million in what Bitzer described as “premium costs and inefficiency in our supply chain operations.”
The company also expects cost reductions in raw materials of up to $400 million, with some help from easing inflation.
Whirlpool: disappointing data
Whirlpool Corporation reported data from a disappointing fourth quarter during which sales fell 15.3% from 5.8 to 4.9 billion (-15%) with a loss of 1.6 billion due to weak demand only partially offset by a more favorable price mix (demand was directed towards higher-end products) and by the increase in prices
Full-year 2022 sales fell 10.3% from $22 billion to $19.7 billion, a loss of $1.52 billion versus a profit of $1.8 billion in 2021, or nearly $7 per share .
In Emea the turnover collapses but without losses.
Sales in EMEA fell by 27% from $1.4 billion to $1.0 billion (also depressed by the fall in the euro against the greenback: in local currencies the decline was 18%) with a small loss however 4 million dollars.It was unclear whether Whirlpool expects any cash proceeds from the transaction that transferred Whirlpool’s EMEA operations to Beko Europe
Miele presents Pioneering GmbH
Miele has founded its own incubator in order to further promote the development of innovative solutions from within the ranks of the workforce and implement them faster. With Pioneering GmbH, Miele is ensuring a creative environment in which internal start-ups can bring their ideas to fruition faster, well away from established structures. Management of Pioneering GmbH is to be shared by Ina Nordsiek, Director Intrapreneurship within the business unit, and Hendrik Stegelmann, Director Digital Innovation and Products with Smart Home. Both will assume their new responsibilities alongside their existing tasks.
Particular attention will be paid to promoting business ideas which represent a strategic fit but are outside Miele’s previous core business field. «With Pioneering GmbH – Nordsiek explains – we are offering administrative freedom and elbow room and a professional and inspiring environment in which we bring together the best of the start-up and the Miele world». As Stegelmann added, «on the one hand, teams have the liberties and autonomy of a start-up whilst on the other being able to fall back on the support of a globally active family company».
In more concrete terms, ideas for innovative business models, product or process solutions from the New Growth Factory or Smart Home are transferred to the new company which, after careful evaluation by Miele, are considered promising. Once there, development of the so-called Minimum Viable Product continues through to market maturity, initial discussions with potential customers and market trials under real-life conditions. If the business case overcomes this hurdle, it is either integrated at Miele or pursued further as a separate start-up founded at that point
Whirlpool shares
Whirlpool shares gained more than 1.9% in extended trading after the appliance maker shared strong guidance for the year. Fourth-quarter revenue came in at $4.92 billion, slightly behind the $5.07 billion expected by analysts, according to FactSet. The home appliances company also announced its chief operating officer would transition to an advisory role and then leave the company.
Arçelik Whirlpool update
During the presentation of the fourth quarter results, Arçelik communicated the name of the new company that acquired the assets of Whirlpool Emea. This was reported by the Market screener website which quotes Arçelik’s quarterly report presented to shareholders yesterday.
It will be called Beko Europe BV, it will be a company incorporated under Dutch law and will have a production capacity of 24 million household appliances a year. The 20 thousand employees (6 thousand of Beko, added to the 14 thousand of Whirlpool) currently work in the 2 Romanian plants of Beko, in the 14 plants of Whirlpool in Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, in the 25 offices of the European subsidiaries of Beko and across 38 Whirlpool EMEA locations.
In addition to the brands of the Arçelik group, Beko Europe will own the Hotpoint, Indesit, Bauknecht, Privileg and Ignis brands and will have the license to use the Whirlpool brand for 40 years.
Whirlpool not to vanish from Europe
The future of Whirlpool EMEA has been in doubt for months, and there was long speculation that the US home appliance maker would exit Europe, Middle East and Africa entirely, but the company has finally opted for a less radical solution in the form of a joint venture with arch-rival Arçelik, which is present in Europe primarily through its Beko brand.
The two firms have announced that they will transfer their European subsidiaries to a new entity to be called Beko Europe BV. Upon completion of this transaction, it is expected that 75% of the new company will be owned by Arçelik and 25% by Whirlpool. The business still needs to be approved by the responsible institutions, and the entire process of creating a new joint venture will take up to a year. Until then, the two companies will operate completely independently and without changes.
Market fears that the established and well-known Whirlpool brand could completely disappear from European stores in the event of the sale of Whirlpool EMEA will ultimately not come true. The newly formed company will have regional rights to both the Beko and Blomberg brands as well as the Whirlpool brand. And for 40 years. But he will also work with others such as Grundig, Hotpoint, Indesit and Bauknecht. The KitchenAid division is being spun off and will remain fully owned by Whirlpool.
Personnel issues and other specific steps regarding the structure and functioning of local offices are not yet known. However, the optimization and merger of branches in individual countries appear to be inevitable parts of the whole process. Both companies have so far refused to discuss the future structure in any way.
We are preparing a detailed analysis of what this change will mean for the home appliance market in Europe and here.
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