Rold overcomes the white crisis with artificial intelligence
Research manager Mansutti: we use the algorithm as a technology for the entire development cycle
3' min read
3' min read
Smaller, more functional, more connected, more sustainable. But above all, smarter. For the new generation of washing machines, too, the future is smart. After all, they are dressed in technology, integrating components of that artificial intelligence that is invisible in itself, but essential. Thus, even in a factory in Lombardy that works for the white goods industry, the new generation of household appliances is being developed: dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens and cookers that do everything they did before, with a little something extra. From the closing of the washing machine door to the refrigerator knob.
This is the case at Rold, a Lombardy-based SME that has been producing technological components for the white goods industry for sixty years, with a turnover of 48 million euros, counting on a 230-strong team and exports 80% to world markets.
A story that has its roots in the second half of the last century, in that period of strong acceleration for the post-World War II economic boom. Ingenious intuitions that succeeded in grasping the evolution of consumption, especially in the most well-equipped homes. It all began in 1963 in the Milanese province with that acronym holding together the initials of the two founding spouses, Onofrio Rocchitelli and Dolores Loro.
'We do it, we do it, we do it now': that was the mantra of Rocchitelli, inventor of the first polishing machine microswitch that kick-started the company's history.
From washing machines comes the biggest challenge: centrifuges increase in speed year after year. Hence the need not to open the door when the appliance is running. Here, that door-block developed by Rocchitelli becomes the passport to global markets. Even today, one out of every two washing machines worldwide is equipped with the Rold brand door lock.
