Whirlpool counts on the site of Cassinetta di Biandronno (Varese, Italy) to develop smart appliances destined for world markets. The site is not strategic only for the production of built-in appliances, but has a set of high-level professional skills and has the advanced know-how of the center for research and development of the plant. “Innovation is a complex process that involves many functions and expertise in a company; only if they are constantly aligned, the products will offer real benefits and new services and will create new use experiences to consumers – says Emiliano Pastore, project leader of connectivity team of Whirlpool EMEA – . This is the reason for a cross-functional team focused on the challenge of connectivity and this is the benefit of having it concentrated on a site like Cassinetta: we are ‘connected’ among us, from those who work on technologies for the cloud to those who implement the design for the app, from those who make the tests in the laboratory to those who will send to the production the various categories of appliances”. The site of Cassinetta works on the connectivity for over three years; at first only the technicians who were part of the global team for the development of smart appliances were engaged. Their contribution in the realization of the smart models for a year on the U.S. market has been focused on the integration of Wi-Fi technology in appliances. In view of the commercialization of smart appliances on the European market, in 2015, the connectivity team now has about thirty persons with different functions. In 2015, Whirlpool is expected to launch four categories of smart appliances: washing machine, dryer, refrigerator and dishwasher.
