Haier Europe has announced that the company’s first cooling factory in the European Union, Haier Tech Romania, has now started production. The facility manufactures refrigerators, both built-in and freestanding, for the three brands of Haier Europe – Candy, Hoover and Haier.

The Haier Tech plant, which is located about 70 km away from Bucharest, is the result of an investment exceeding more than €70m, and features latest IoT, Industry 4.0 innovations and covers an area of 63,000 sq m, Haier says. It will employ more than 800 employees who are supported by robots and cutting-edge machinery.

The facility will have a production capacity of over 1 million refrigerators per year to serve both domestic and international markets, thus representing the biggest cooling equipment export hub for Haier in Europe. It is already producing what the company describes as “best-in-class” refrigerators with focus on connectivity, preservation and reduced energy consumption.

Yannick Fierling, Chief Executive Office at Haier Europe, commented: “I’m extremely excited and proud to announce that, despite all the challenges and headwinds, our teams managed to deliver on time and achieve this milestone for Haier in Europe. This first cooling production facility in the EU will allow us to shorten our logistics and time to market, in line with our zero distance with consumers core value and vision to be the first consumer choice for smart home solutions.”

The Romanian plant features the company’s COSMOPlat platform, what Haier claims is the world’s first industrial internet platform that allows whole-process user participation and mass customisation centred on user experience.

The platform – which has been promoted and replicated outside China in different industries around the world – invites customers to engage in every step to deliver products and services that best meet their needs.

Haier Tech will serve the European market and consumers and it will represent a strategic pillar in the leadership’s consolidation path of the Company in the refrigeration segment worldwide. It also demonstrates the company’s plans to expand further the production site to significantly increase capacity in cooling and potentially other product’s categories.

Haier Europe appoints new CCO

In other recent news, Haier Europe has appointed Jean Pascal Rey as chief commercial officer this month, and he will report directly to the CEO Yannick Fierling.

With deep experience in sales, R&D, manufacturing and supply chain, and a thorough understanding of customer needs, Jean Pascal Rey will help increasing Haier Europe’s commercial reach through product offerings, while leveraging and expanding markets opportunities, Haier says.

According to the company, his strong knowledge of the industry and international business environment in Europe, China, USA, Canada and Latin America – will be key to developing innovative solutions and managing Haier Europe’s commercial division.

Mr Rey commented: “I am excited to join Haier Europe and I look forward to driving the entire commercial sales team to lead our company to become the first consumer choice for smart home solutions. Together with the entire commercial team, we want to provide consumers with a unique experience and improve our competitive advantage in all markets thanks to IoT and artificial intelligence.”

Country and Regional Managers will be reporting to Jean Pascal Rey who will oversee all aspects of the company’s sales team, strategies and growth plans with a particular focus on connectivity, IoT and related go-to-market actions, promoting those synergies that contribute to zero the distance with customers.

Rey has previously held positions at the French subsidiary of Philips Domestic Appliances in 1986, Whirlpool and Sompfy, in a number of different senior roles.

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