Global household appliances manufacturer Arçelik is establishing a companywide analytics and machine learning programme, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), as it transforms its appliance manufacturing business into a data-driven organisation.

AWS was selected as the preferred cloud provider for machine learning and analytics across Arçelik’s entire operations in nearly 150 countries to increase efficiency and lower costs across all business segments, provide enhanced customer experiences, optimise processes related to production and quality control and innovate new services.

Arçelik, which owns 12 global appliance brands including South Africa’s Defy, is adopting AWS’s analytics, computing and database services, as well as Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and storage, to obtain deeper visibility and assist in the transformation into a more data-driven organisation.

The company is expanding and leveraging AWS analytics, machine learning and IoT to build on a project to develop cloud-connected appliances as it collects data from more than one-million deployed smart appliances and examines anonymised data from millions of call centre inquiries and service requests to help its field technicians make better inventory decisions, predict the tools and parts they will need for maintenance appointments and proactively address customer needs.

With the right tools to harness and interpret data, organisations which are often overwhelmed by the masses of data can start creating value for their business and better serve their customers.

“Amazon has been investing in machine learning for over 20 years to assist customers in leveraging the benefits of this field,” says Amazon senior solutions architect Giulio Soro.

The solutions can assist customers to materialise the many potential use cases they may have and make machine learning practical across a range of applications, including supply chain optimisation, healthcare and manufacturing, besides others.

“Machine learning is so useful for every type of industry, so we try to simplify it and enable access,” he tells Engineering News.

Through AWS cloud services, Arçelik is using AWS IoT Core to easily and securely connect its appliances to the cloud and other devices to analyse customer use patterns, as well as diagnose performance problems remotely using Amazon Elasticsearch Service, to gain insights from machine-generated data.

This will enable Arçelik to roll out several solutions on its manufacturing lines to identify process improvements and enhance quality control as it implements manufacturing best practices and improves efficiencies across a range of global business functions, including supply chain, maintenance, manufacturing, quality control and sales.

Arçelik is currently implementing these solutions at its washing machine factory in Romania. The company plans to work with AWS to deploy these solutions to other Arçelik factories globally.

“AWS is a strategic resource in Arçelik’s digital transformation and global growth, by keeping us agile and solidifying our position as an industry pioneer through the use of advanced analytics, IoT, and machine learning services,” says Arçelik chief strategy and digital officer Utku Barış Pazar.

“We greatly benefit from the insights delivered from AWS’s vast portfolio of services to guide our business decisions, innovate quickly and remain responsive to our customers’ needs. As the uncertainty of the past few months becomes clearer, it is critical to have an integrated view of our global operations in order to adapt effectively to change.”

He states that data and artificial intelligence are the “game-changers of our time”.

Enterprises need to enter this field properly now, with the right infrastructure, culture and talent, or they will end up regretting it, warns Pazar.

The partnership with AWS will enable all the global operations, including Defy, to tap into the benefits of machine learning and analytics.

“With its long history, Defy has been one of the most important investments of Arçelik, under our strategic objectives for sub-Saharan Africa,” Pazar tells Engineering News, noting that its three manufacturing plants and ability to produce over two-million appliances a year, is leading the domestic appliance market in South Africa with its strong sales and after-sales operations covering the whole country.

“Since the acquisition in 2011, we have further strengthened Defy Appliances by expanding its business boundaries to over 35 countries within sub-Saharan Africa, through the integration of our global capabilities and resources.”

Arçelik offers products and services in more than 140 countries across 12 brands, including Arçelik, Beko, Grundig, Defy, Altus, Dawlance and Voltas Beko, besides others, with sales and marketing offices in 34 countries, and 23 production facilities in 9 countries. EN