• Voice assistance becomes even more attractive with new partner

• In-App Shop makes digital shopping an unforgettable experience

• Domestic appliances to become part of intelligent energy management

App controls or voice assistant? – Both versions have their respective benefits to users of Miele domestic appliances. And that is why the company is taking things to the next level on both fronts: with the Google Assistant for voice control and a new In-App Shop for the convenient purchasing of accessories and consumables. And, not least, networked Miele appliances are more sustainable in use than ever before. The relevant buzzwords are Smart Features and Smart Home Integration.

When your hands are full with a heavy casserole dish, there is nothing more convenient than simply saying 'Alexa, tell Miele to open the oven door'. As Amazon Alexa has been supporting Miele for years already, the voice assistant commands a huge repertoire of individual applications. In the coming months, Miele will be working closely with Google, adding with Google Assistant a second partner, making voice control even more attractive to the owners of Miele domestic appliances worldwide. Alongside operating individual appliances, easy-to-programme routines are highly popular on both systems. An example of a future routine with Google Assistant: A simple 'Hey Google, I'm leaving the house' switches off the coffee machine and the light on the cooker hood and prompts the Scout RX 3 robotic vacuum cleaner into action.

Conveniently order over 1,000 articles in the new In-App Shop

If it's recipes you're interested in, the Miele app is difficult to beat. Step-by-step instructions with photographs on a smartphone or tablet PC makes following recipes much clearer when cooking your favourite dishes. The same applies to ordering consumables or accessories from Miele. With the launch of the new In-App Shop, this shopping experience is now set to become significantly more convenient: Simply transfer the required consumables or accessories from a range of over 1,000 articles to your shopping basket and select the preferred payment type without even switching to another platform. Helpful in this respect: Plans for consumers to receive notifications when they are close to running short of consumables are in the pipeline. The new In-App Shop will launch in Germany in autumn and is already available in Great Britain.

Smart applications available to purchase even after years

In future, new applications and services, so-called Smart Features, will be directly accessible from the app. First examples of this are Smart Food ID and Smart Browning Control. With Smart Food ID, the built-in camera in the oven detects foodstuffs automatically and suggests the most suitable programme. The cooking process runs automatically and is guaranteed to produce successful results. The applications described above make sense from the point of view of sustainability as they can still be purchased even after years of appliance use. Once again, users continue to enjoy using their products as they are given a new lease of life. And, product longevity is the best consumers can conceivably do in terms of the responsible use of natural resources.

In Denmark and Great Britain, Smart Food ID and Smart Browning Control are already available; a date for the market launch in Germany has not yet been set.

Smart Home Integration – Domestic appliance connectivity for greater sustainability

Miele is pursuing an ambitious sustainability strategy: This year already, the company is set to become climate-neutral with respect to greenhouse gas emissions from its own combustion processes and the emissions of its energy suppliers. Miele also plans to implement many other measures by 2030 in order to limit global warming in accordance with the Paris climate agreement. Now, Miele customers can make an even greater contribution towards the energy revolution. The key term is Smart Home Integration and gives in particular the owners of PV installations the opportunity to considerably improve their ecological balance.

The principle of operation: Miele domestic appliances and other electrical devices are linked to a smart energy manager. The user loads a washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher in the morning and then sets a time by which, for example, the laundry should be finished. Miele appliances then transfer the selected programme, the likely cycle duration and the estimated electricity requirements to the energy manager. This device is aware of the needs of other connected components, such as when an electric car is recharging, and starts the wash cycle automatically as soon as sufficient solar power is available. If, during the course of the day, there is insufficient 'home-grown' electricity, the system switches to the grid. In all cases, the system ensures that green electricity is put to best use and loads are evenly distributed, which is preferable to feeding surplus energy into the utility's grid. All connectivity-enabled Miele appliances can be integrated into the scenario described above, whereby products such as washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers are predestined for inclusion as it is less important when they run: The time by which cycles should be finished is far more important.

Technically, Smart Home Integration is based on the Miele Cloud interface (3rd-party API) via which Miele appliances share data with the energy manager. There are various companies active in the field of energy management systems which harmonise well with Miele technology. The technical documentation of the Miele Cloud interface has been published on the developer.miele.com website.

Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. Their product portfolio also includes dishwashers, air purifiers, washing machines and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). Founded in 1899, the company has eight production plants in Germany, one each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Romania and Poland as well as two production plants belonging to its Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco. Sales in the 2020 business year amounted to around € 4.5 bn (thereof 29.5% in Germany). Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries/regions. Throughout the world, the family-run enterprise, now in its fourth generation, employs a workforce of around 20,900, of which approx. 11,050 employees work in Germany. The company has its headquarters in Gütersloh in Westphalia.