German appliance giant BSH has reassured retailers that the launch of its 2018 range of ovens and hoods won’t see a repeat of the serious supply issues that affected its last major product introduction in 2015.
To help with the rollout of its new appliances, the company has opened a “buffer warehouse” in Bradville, Milton Keynes, which is located near its UK headquarters in Wolverton.
Speaking to kbbreview at the unveiling of new cooking products from Bosch, Neff and Siemens, Andrew Jones, marketing director of BSH Home Appliances UK and Ireland, said: “We’ve had some big lessons to learn since our last oven launch in 2015, when we had some serious supply challenges. We don’t want to be in that situation again and our dedicated project team has spent the best part of this year focusing on the launch. Members from each part of our business – products, sales, logistics and planning – have come together to ensure that we’re able to be a lot more flexible with our launch.”
Jones added: “The phase in/phase out has been a huge part of what we’ve been talking about. We’re asking a lot of questions of our head office and our factories – they want to ensure that the products are launched in a much more seamless way. We’ve really reviewed the changeover to ensure that we’ve got a good stock of the old range while the new one is coming in.”
The new BSH product line-up for 2018, which is primarily focused on the company’s mid-market ranges, will see a major push to ensure the Bosch, Neff and Siemens cooking products offer a coordinated design across each of the different brands. BSH said it had taken some of the key features and benefits from its premium products and “cascaded” them down into its mid-range appliances.
The latest Bosch built-in oven Serie 4 and 6 ranges include a new ‘Bosch brand clip’ design and premium features and USPs, such as the intelligent AutoPilot program, a meat probe and pyrolytic cleaning, available at a more affordable price point.
The new Neff range of ovens has a black and silver fascia and is designed to coordinate with the brand’s latest collection of hoods. Features include a Slide&Hide door and some of the models include pyrolytic cleaning, which can be found on one of the double ovens in the range – said to be a first.
On the updated Siemens iQ500 range, a new lightControl design has been introduced, with a striking blue LED light illuminating the chosen heating symbol on the control panel.
All of the new BSH ovens and hoods will be available from April 2018. Trade partners have already had previews of the products.