For one day, a hundred smiling and curious kids between 8 and 10 from the San Giovanni Bosco Primary School in Bodio Lomnago (Varese) and Allegretto di Nuzio Primary School in Fabriano (AN) explored 2 Whirlpool EMEA’s manufacturing plants in Cassinetta di Biandronno and Melano, both located in Italy. The initiative is part of the Manufacturing Month celebrations, an event being marked for the first time in the EMEA region and designed to retrace the history of manufacturing and its technological innovations to date.
Manufacturing is now an integral part of the global economy, and Whirlpool, as an industry leader, plays a role of primary importance. This is why Whirlpool EMEA was proud to support the 2017 Manufacturing Month in Italy too, with numerous activities in the communities where it operates, thereby helping to show the public the career opportunities it offers and the technological innovations that are driving the sector as a whole.
“At Whirlpool we’ve always been focused on innovation and, despite reaching a leadership position in the home appliance industry, we continue to invest every year in the resources needed to stay competitive and to the forefront in technological progress,” said Karim Bruneo, Corporate Responsibility and Government Relations Manager, Whirlpool EMEA. “I was very glad to see the interest shown by the school kids we had the pleasure of having here in these days: their enthusiasm and curiosity is exactly the approach we must continue to adopt in our work.”
The young students from San Giovanni Bosco Primary School visited the industrial site in Cassinetta, EMEA’s built-in products centre, and the Global Food Institute (GFI), a centre of excellence in the field of research into food technologies applied to the development of innovative home appliances, a facility where a team of food technology experts work everyday in their laboratories and experimental kitchens.
The pupils from Allegretto di Nuzio Primary School were hosted by Whirlpool Model Factory of Melano, in Fabriano. The plant, which employs more than 700 people on 264.000mq is the biggest plant in the Centre of Italy and the hobs production hub for the whole Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Thanks to last generation equipment and 14 innovative assembly lines, Melano is an Industry 4.0 state-of-the-art plant, technology and operational excellence-driven.
The kids split into groups and took part in a number of workshops organized at the GFI on the theme of food waste, an issue that’s central to Whirlpool’s mission and business. The Company is committed, in fact, to preserving and disseminating the social and environmental value of food through its development of innovative technologies that efficiently and responsibly facilitate the preservation, preparation and enjoyment of food.
It was in this context that Whirlpool launched Moments not to be wasted, an educational project whose first edition, in academic 2016/2017, saw the participation of over 550 primary schools in Lombardia and Le Marche totalling 180,000 people, including students, teachers and families.
For further information on Whirlpool Manufacturing Month please visit the dedicated mini-site here.