Innovative appliances for comfortable living

Asko

Gorenje Group is one of the leading European manufacturers of household appliances, all with a range of different and unique features but with one clear goal: to make life simpler and more enjoyable for its customers. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to president and CEO Franjo Bobinac to find out more about the company’s products, continued expansion and strong focus on digitisation to drive future growth.

Franjo Bobinac, Gorenje President and Ceo

Gorenje

Founded in Slovenia nearly 70 years ago, leading household appliances manufacturer Gorenje Group has developed a portfolio of technologically advanced, energy-efficient and beautifully designed products. With a well-deserved reputation for creating household appliances that offer quality, durability, thoughtful design, effortless usability and perfect results, Gorenje’s solutions provide a simple and intuitive user experience that makes consumers’ lives easier.

President and CEO Franjo Bobinac told Industry Europe, “Our main focus is on household products and services, where we can leverage our innovative know-how and extensive experience in the field to provide a comprehensive range of products. Based on our dedication to design, we have earned the status of a challenger and trendsetter in our industry, confirmed by the numerous prestigious design awards and enhanced by collaborations with renowned designers such as Pininfarina, Karim Rashid, Ora ïto and Philippe Starck.”

european foundations, global outlook

Today, Gorenje Group is a truly multinational concern with some 11,000 employees representing 42 different nationalities. Its head office is in Velenje, Slovenia, where the company also manufactures high valueadded products such as cooking appliances, dishwashers, advanced washing machines, dryers and niche refrigerators. It also operates three manufacturing plants in Serbia (in Valjevo, Zajecar and Stara Pazova), which manufacture fridges, freezers, washing machines and tumble dryers. Its plant in Mariánské údolí, Czech Republic, manufactures freestanding cookers, and there is a toolmaking facility in Kragujevac, Serbia. There are also dedicated research & development centres in Sweden, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

The Gorenje Group range of household appliances centres on its two core global brands – Gorenje and Asko – as well as six local brands, which enable the company to reach customers in over 90 countries worldwide. It exports as many as 95 per cent of its appliances, with key sales markets including Germany, Russia and the Netherlands, followed by Scandinavia, south-western Europe and the US. However, the group is not content to rest on its laurels and is targeting even greater international expansion.

“Yes, we are currently a European core player but with the new Gorenje Group 2016–2020 strategy, we are focused even more decisively on global growth with the more profitable premium brands and products. In the past year we have increased our sales particularly in North America, Australia, the Middle and Far East, the Caucasus region and Asia. Thus, we are mitigating our reliance on European markets as well as improving our sales structure by increasing the share of premium appliances and brands.”

Asko – Inspired by Scandinavia

Mr Bobinac goes on: “Our premium brand ASKO also plays an important role in our strategy. As a clearly positioned premium brand in the market, over the past two years we have rolled out ASKO in Italy, France, the Middle East and China. The premium segment is growing and we believe that with our appliances inspired by Scandinavia, with its cultural heritage and design attitude, there is a lot of room in those

markets for our brand. In Asia we see a lot of opportunity. We have established around 20 premium ASKO showrooms in China and we will also explore outlets in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other territories. There is a very positive attitude in Asia towards European brands.”

Gorenje – life Simplified

Gorenje is a widely used brand, which generates the highest percentage of revenue within the Gorenje Group portfolio. As previously discussed, the driving force behind this brand and its product development is simplification. Gorenje brand customers “seek a good work-life balance and want to eliminate unnecessary stress. They appreciate solutions that help them perform tasks faster, better and they use modern technology when it enables solutions that simplify their lives. They expect effortless usability, durability, perfect results, quality and design at a fair price.

“Since we launched our Gorenje brand promise ‘Life Simplified’ we are integrating it into all customers’ touch points: our products, added value services, customers’ shopping experience and communication. At last year’s IFA Gorenje was present with a ‘Time to reconnect’ story, which was a logical upgrade from the year before. We were showing how the right user-friendly appliances can seamlessly integrate with our busy everyday lives, making our household chores easier, our to-do lists shorter, and our lives less complicated and more pleasant, thus leaving more time to spare, to enjoy, to reconnect.”

For over 20 years Strip’s d.o.o. have been improving Gorenje’s customer experience with various household electronic solutions.

our competencies in the areas of touch user interfaces, electronic appliances control, connected appliances and IoT, sensors and measuring, full customer support from the idea to mass production, combined with internal lean production, enabling everyone to thrive: our partners, our clients, our suppliers, our employees, and our communities.

our core engineering principles of innovation, dedication and out-of-the box thinking, paired with our operational excellence principles of speed, efficiency and sustainable development, ensure that projects are completed on-time, on-budget and with a high degree of mutual satisfaction.

Strip’s d.o.o. is a leading european electronics development and manufacturing partner. We devote all of our experience, expertise and capabilities towards creating products that help our clients succeed.

Strong supply chain

In order to maintain this continued global growth, Gorenje Group is well aware of the importance of building strong and lasting supplier relationships – both local and multinational. Without an efficient supply chain, a company cannot hope to compete on the global stage. “We strive to build and maintain a good and fair relationship with each of our suppliers, as we do with each of our business partners. We have been cooperating with many of our suppliers for a number of years and they have been our partners in both good times and bad. We appreciate the fact that all our suppliers, both large and small, have the ability to adapt to changes and to our own needs in terms of quality, service and price.”

Digitalisation: A smarter approach

Another important element behind Gorenje Group’s strategy is its appreciation of the value of smart digitalisation across its portfolio.

Aligned closely with its Life Simplified concept mentioned above, the company’s digital strategy places particular stress on the development of smart or connectible domestic appliances as part of a smart home.

“Moreover,” says Mr Bobinac, “a digital environment has been customary for many of our business processes for some time. We are thus reinventing the traditional home appliances by optimising the user experience, making sure they afford the user freedom and flexibility.”

At the above-mentioned IFA, Gorenje took the opportunity to present many new developments from the field of smart appliances. There was a particular focus on artificial intelligence as the group launched its personal shopping bot, Anna. Waiting to strike a conversation with visitors to the original Gorenje Facebook page and websites, Anna’s job will be to simplify the user experience, help those visitors looking to make a purchase or inform them about specific Gorenje products. Furthermore, at the end of 2017 the group launched a line of smart connectable appliances under the Atag brand.

With such a forward-thinking strategy, it is clear that Gorenje is already well-positioned to maximise its potential in 2018 and beyond. Mr Bobinac concludes: “The battle for the markets and market shares of course continues and nothing can be taken for granted. There are still quite a few tasks that remain to be completed, but we are on the right path to achieving our future strategic goals.”