We arrived at our Bielefeld hotel after an uneventful flight from Cologne and enjoyed a relaxing dinner in the hotel with our hosts from Miele – Lena Tartan and Henrik von Bargen.
In the morning, our guides Jörg Huckenbeck and Henrik von Bargen greeted us at the hotel and we boarded the bus for the short drive to Gütersloh and the home of a number of Miele factories, head office and showroom. Our tour started with a visit to the Miele museum – a fascinating, surprisingly large space that has been beautifully curated and designed.
The museum contains many examples of Miele products from the earliest butter churns and spanning the breadth of products. It was very interesting to walk through and see the different iterations of various products and to see how the design evolved over time to take the simple action from the butter churn, turn it around, and morph it into an early form of a washing machine.
We also learned that Miele, for a time, manufactured kitchens, bicycles and even cars! One of the reasons the factory was so successful in the early days was the foundry which was on site at the time and still operates today. This allowed Miele to control the quality of all the raw products being produced for its machines.
Reluctantly leaving the museum, we walked through the expansive showroom and began our factory tours. We concentrated on the factories and production lines for the range of washing machines but it was easy to see that the same attention to detail and quality control and insistence on high quality is applied throughout all the factories. We saw how the components for each machine were created and followed the process from stamping, through to enamelling, baking then on to assembling, packing and shipping.
We were also able to visit Miele’s electronics factory which is where all the circuit boards and electronic components are created and tested. Again, having this factory and facility in house allows Miele to maintain more control over the quality of the products to ensure its high standards are maintained.
After a short drive, and a delicious lunch, we travelled back to the head office to view the logistics centre which has recently been expanded. The new building comprises a range of high bay storage spaces as well as wrapping, packing and shipping facilities. We learned that Miele, a few years ago, had considered outsourcing its logistics facility but quickly learned its design and systems were so efficient it would be impossible for a third-party company to complete this process any more efficiently or cost-effectively.
We enjoyed a quick stop in the area of professional equipment – washers and dryers, dishwashers and sterilising equipment. It was a real eye-opener to see the comparison with these items and their residential counterparts and learn a bit more about what goes into creating the professional range.
Back in the showroom, we were privileged to be greeted personally by Dr Markus Miele and welcomed to the company. We then had time to wander through the showroom which was beautifully designed and marvel at the range of gorgeous products.
As we headed back to the hotel we marvelled at what we’d seen that day and how informative the visit had been. Tomorrow we head for Cologne to start the Interzum part of the tour.
For more information visit miele.com.au
