The Nearshore Development Centre (NDC), the German multinational Vorwerk’s software development centre in Madrid, has just reached the end of its first year. Over 40 professionals work on the premises, developing technology solutions and digital services to improve the experience of its clients and commercial consultants. Conceived as a tool to enable digitisation, it is also intended to give the company greater autonomy in its IT development.

Vorwerk, which specialises in direct sales of domestic products such as the Thermomix kitchen robot and Kobold vacuum cleaners, created the company Vorwerk IT Services Ibérica in 2020 to launch the NDC. The idea had emerged a year before, and Spain was chosen to host the centre because of its geographical proximity to Germany and Switzerland, being in the same time zone and thus sharing common working hours.

Talent in Madrid
The NDC director Dennis Simon underlined two more determining factors which led to Spain being chosen, “Vorwerk’s reputation in Spain is also a factor which should not be underestimated,” adding, “There is a great deal of talent in and around Madrid, and we have found hiring to be easier because the Vorwerk brand is well-known.”  

It has now been up and running for a year, and the company is celebrating the centre’s first anniversary by announcing that the workforce will be expanded, and is expected to double its current numbers by the end of 2022. The NDC works in contact with its international colleagues to develop mobile apps, e-commerce platforms, and other tools for business processes.

One step ahead
The NDC team leader, Zico Herrera, explained, “Developing the NDC has been made possible by Vorwerk’s overall commitment to innovation as a driver of business growth, always one step ahead of the market’s needs and demands. This means we were able to realise the route map in just two years, thanks to the great team of professionals working with us.”  

Projects developed at the NDC are used in over 60 countries where this family business is present, by 581,000 freelance commercial consultants and 7,000 employees.

^{Photo: Vorwek}