Post by account_disabled on Mar 4, 2024 0:53:32 GMT -5
Whirlpool Corporation announced earlier this month that 2019 is the 50th anniversary of its sustainability commitment. As far back as 1969, the company’s CEO talked about how programs to reduce Whirlpool’s impact on the environment had already proven to be a smart investment in the company’s future.
We caught up with Whirlpool’s global sustainability director, Ron Voglewede, to get his take on how sustainability has evolved over the last five decades.
How have the sustainability challenges facing Whirlpool changed in the past 50 years?
For Whirlpool, I have witnessed about half of the changes over the last 5 Betting Number Data 0 years personally. What has changed the most is the pace of innovation.
Whirlpool has had over five major changes in its history from starting as a single automated washer company to a full line of major appliances, adding small appliances, going global, and now becoming digitized. As technology continues its exponential growth, companies — Whirlpool included — have had to adapt. One can be overwhelmed by data and the speed of new advances or we can harness them and understand [their place] in how to run the company and apply it to products and services.
Whirlpool is embracing the new digital world, but in a purposeful way. Understanding the value of where technology [has] positive impacts for our planet and our society is key. As seen in many media reports today, we can see where technology can have a very dramatic negative impact on people and the planet, from online bullying to large energy use by server farms. Corporations have the obligation and responsibility to use technology to benefit people, as those are the companies that will pass the test of time (108 years in our case).
That is because we take into account, at every stage of development, the impacts our plants and products have on people, the planet, and our long term profitability. For example, we harness wind energy directly in plants, significantly lowering our emissions, but we also donate STEM scholarships to local students to have opportunities to study science and technology as a career. It is understanding that balance that is key to making positive impacts, doing the right things, the right way.
We caught up with Whirlpool’s global sustainability director, Ron Voglewede, to get his take on how sustainability has evolved over the last five decades.
How have the sustainability challenges facing Whirlpool changed in the past 50 years?
For Whirlpool, I have witnessed about half of the changes over the last 5 Betting Number Data 0 years personally. What has changed the most is the pace of innovation.
Whirlpool has had over five major changes in its history from starting as a single automated washer company to a full line of major appliances, adding small appliances, going global, and now becoming digitized. As technology continues its exponential growth, companies — Whirlpool included — have had to adapt. One can be overwhelmed by data and the speed of new advances or we can harness them and understand [their place] in how to run the company and apply it to products and services.
Whirlpool is embracing the new digital world, but in a purposeful way. Understanding the value of where technology [has] positive impacts for our planet and our society is key. As seen in many media reports today, we can see where technology can have a very dramatic negative impact on people and the planet, from online bullying to large energy use by server farms. Corporations have the obligation and responsibility to use technology to benefit people, as those are the companies that will pass the test of time (108 years in our case).
That is because we take into account, at every stage of development, the impacts our plants and products have on people, the planet, and our long term profitability. For example, we harness wind energy directly in plants, significantly lowering our emissions, but we also donate STEM scholarships to local students to have opportunities to study science and technology as a career. It is understanding that balance that is key to making positive impacts, doing the right things, the right way.