Outstanding resource efficiency shown by BSH Hausgerätewerk Nauen convinces the jury

BSH works honored as category winner in “Factory of the Year” competition

Munich/Ludwigsburg, 16.03.2010 (bsh) The official prize-giving ceremony for “Factory of the Year/GEO”, the oldest and toughest benchmarking competition in Germany, took place in Ludwigsburg yesterday. For this, BSH Hausgerätewerk Nauen received the award in the new “Outstanding Resource Efficiency” category. The competition judges were convinced by the perfectly organized logistics processes at the factory and outstanding performance in the value-creation chain. According to the jury, production at Hausgerätewerk Nauen shows “the entire range of conceptual targetsetting, demonstrating a systematic approach right through to concrete implementation”.

BSH Hausgerätewerk Nauen GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, stood out from its rivals thanks primarily to the concrete measures it has taken to improve resource efficiency: Managing Director Herbert Exler, for example, arranged for the installation of a building control computer, to which the systems for heating and ventilation, lighting, compressed air, cooling water and emergency power are linked – enabling very precise regulation of these facilities. And energy arising during manufacturing processes does not go to waste, with excess heat generated by the compressors being employed to heat process water for use in production activities.

In addition, a closed-circuit water system made it possible to cut the amount of water used for quality checks on the appliances by 75 percent. The factory’s binding environmental policy came in for some positive comment too. This encompasses both environmental protection and health and safety programs, as well as the implementation of product-related environmental protection right from the development stage. However the jury members were also impressed by the site’s internal benchmarking procedure and its energy management system. Here, among other things, targets for annual resource consumption are laid down, and any changes regularly communicated not just to the BSH Board of Management but also the workforce, so that they can take account of the figures in their actions.

However at the BSH works in Nauen, resource efficiency does not end at the production stage: The premium-quality washing machines that roll off the production line every day stand out thanks to their particularly favorable consumption values, which it has proved possible to cut even further over time. For instance BSH engineers have reduced water consumption up to 46 percent and electricity consumption up to 42 percent compared with appliances built in 1994. These cuts are of particularly importance with respect to the conservation of resources, as around 90 percent of a household appliance’s entire environmental impact occurs during the usage phase.

The highly respected “Factory of the Year” competition was launched in 1992 by the business magazine “Produktion“ and consulting house A.T. Kearney, and is Germany’s oldest and toughest benchmarking competition for manufacturing industry. It aims to identify and honor outstanding achievements by manufacturing companies in Germany and Europe.

Contact fort his press release:

Herbert Exler
Tel: 03321416 - 200
E-Mail: herbert.exler@bshg.com