December 31st is approaching and by that date we will already know the fate of the 800 redundancies that the agreement signed in 2015 between Whirlpool Emea, the union representatives and the Ministry had postponed to tie it to the improvement in sales. There was no improvement in Europe because the first quarter of 2018 for Whirlpool closed in the red by 657 million dollars after a difficult 2017. The company, as the blog reports Paula's house, he already put his hands forward in May when he informed the unions and the government that due to the ongoing sales crisis and the delay in the integration plan between Whirlpool and Indesit, the objectives subscribed to in the 2015-2918 plan had not been achieved. This today means that the 800 redundancies risk being confirmed.
The union representatives of the sites in crisis – Siena, Ancona, Ascoli Piceno, Cassinetta) have been in turmoil for months also because the replacement of Esther Berrozpe, president of Whirlpool Emea, struck by illness on March 7 and still in difficult recovery, did not take place . Indeed, it is the dreaded president and CEO of the entire group, the Swiss-German Marc Bitzer, who takes on the very difficult management of Whirlpool EMEA. Furthermore, even Kitchen Aid, which ensured Whirlpool a brilliant income with its small appliances and luxury built-ins, is at a standstill and only with the celebrations of its centenary in 2019 could sales increase again. Even the sales of the collection of the entire group which guaranteed high market shares are declining, since, in particular, the super specialist manager and profound connoisseur of the market, Marco Balliano went to Candy (in the meantime absorbed by Haier). Many other managers have left including the disputed Lorenzo Paolini at the head of Whirlpool Italy; while the attendance and influence of managers from Indesit increased, thus creating a climate that was not very favorable to the necessary integration.
Factories at a standstill
After solicitations, the trade union representatives had a meeting in July with the company at the Ministry of Economic Development to ask for an extension of the existing social safety nets for the years 2019-2020 when the market crisis will predictably continue with further heavy repercussions on the sales of the Group. Who, among other things, expressed his willingness to have a –further- confrontation with the unions but without specific commitments. Whirlpool's factories in Italy are almost all below production capacity because – as the blog La casa di Paola points out – the company has lost market share. And with a dramatic drop of 40 percent in England where there have been serious accidents due to dangerous tumble dryers and where a faulty Hotpoint fridge would have triggered the fire at London's Grenfell Tower. Two serious emergencies managed by the headquarters in Italy with decidedly inadequate communication which favored the growth of a particularly hostile climate.
Cassinetta loses almost 1,5 million sets
As for the factories, the Cassinetta (Varese) built-in factory where fridges and built-in ovens and microwaves are made, should produce at least 2,6 appliances a year in order not to make a loss. Sales, on the other hand, disposed of only 1,6-1,7 million units. The hobs now come out of the Hotpoint plant in the Marche region of Melano, which has also absorbed the lines of the Albacina plant and now, thanks to an investment of 27 million euros, is a jewel of automation according to IoT technology, with a capacity of 2 million floors. Siena, where chest freezers are now sold at very low prices, is at risk of closure. And the same risk is run by the washer-dryer production center in Ascoli Piceno. In Naples, where the Premium range washing machines with the German Tüv quality mark are made, investments in IoT technologies guarantee instead the demand of the markets of central Europe. The production capacity of the factories in Poland is growing and will continue to grow, from which several million free-standing household appliances come out. But it's not just the current market situation that makes the future difficult and uncertain for Whirlpool employees.
Relocation in sight to Poland and Türkiye
Of course, shareholders have long been dissatisfied with steadily declining earnings and are therefore increasingly demanding decisive action. Or sell Whirlpool Emea to Midea (which is changing programs and managers to strengthen itself in Europe) and in this case Bitzer is the most suitable manager to severely reduce factories and personnel and to present a lean group with fewer losses. This would inevitably involve a further transfer of Majap production activities in Poland to Lodz (Hotpoint-Indesit legacy), Poprad and Wraclaw. But that's not all because the threats also come from Turkey. Because, Bitzer declared in this regard, Turkey is a key country in a region with 200 million inhabitants, where the American multinational was completely absent. As a dowry from Indesit, Whirlpool has received from Indesit two production units, one for refrigerators and one for washing machines, the capacities of which will be implemented.
And if China is the big US factory, Turkey already is now and will be increasingly so for Europe. Here BSH (Bosch and Siemens) have the most important European production center, Candy has production units here to which production lines now operating in China will be added. As for Bitzer, he could, as is whispered, want to finish on a high note, obviously receiving a big bonus with which to be a manager on his own. Bitzer in fact is the owner of a luxury perfume company in Switzerland, and above all he has a stupendous large estate, the Mocajo with attached farmhouse, in the Sienese area, which still produces a collection of wines with the evocative name IGNIS, which in fact belonged to the founder of Ignis, Guido Borghi.
