Scott Latham spent 35 years working at GE’s Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. “Thirty-four of those years were spent phasing out products," the plant manager says.
But this year is different. In February GE started building GeoSpring hybrid water heaters at a new $38 million plant in Louisville, the first new GE factory in the city since 1957. Tomorrow, it will open another plant making high-tech refrigerators. “GE has invested in us and the city of Louisville,” operations manager Scott Douthett says. “The company is committed to building new innovative products in America.” His colleague, team leader Geoffrey Henderson, agrees. “Reviving American manufacturing isn’t going to be decided by the government,” he says. “It’s going to be decided by companies like GE.”
[slides image_align="left"]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-Scot-Latham.jpg"]
Scott Latham, plant manager, Building 5: "We take the most in pride in the fact that we were picked to run this project. We have been handed the ball and we are running with it."
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-Debbie-Patton.jpg"]
Debbie Patton, team leader: "I realized I had to make changes and become more competitive. Employees have to change and the company has to change in order to continue to grow and bring jobs back. It’s a wonderful opportunity for GE and its employees. Maybe someday my grandkids will be able to work here."
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-Scott-Shaver.jpg"]
Scott Shaver, mission 1 leader: "In my 28-year career, it’s always been about survival." But Shaver now sees a much more positive future. His son also wants to work at GE. "That seems possible now. Very possible."
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-cindy-luckett.jpg"]
Cindy Luckett, team leader: "I’m excited because I get to be part of the change. I’ll be the change."
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-Berni-Klaus.jpg"]
Berny Klaus, lead design engineer and U.S. Army veteran: "While deployed, I could step back and see what my unit and I were doing for our country. Now I am here and doing something at GE on the same scale. That’s pretty amazing."
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-Geoffrey-Henderson.jpg"]
Geoffrey K. Henderson, team leader: "I’m learning 13 jobs in my section so when my team members come in, I can train them and if they have problems, I can jump in and help them."
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Ge-Profiles-Chet-Innamorati.jpg"]
Chet Innamorati, Lean leader: "In addition to jobs in the factory, this means American supplier jobs for parts and service. We’re going to assemble an awesome product in the U.S."
[/image]
[/slides]
The new plant is part of a $1 billion drive to bring new appliance lines to the U.S. and open 1,300 new jobs at GE plants in Louisville, Bloomington, Indiana, and Decatur, Alabama.
Like the GeoSpring line, the new factory is using Lean manufacturing methods to cut waste and boost quality. “We pulled out all the stops to stay competitive,” says Lean leader Chet Innamorati. “We used people across the park, if they had tooling background, regardless of product line, we pulled them in,” adds design engineer Berny Klaus.
Klaus’ colleague Mike Hillerich, whose father and grandfather also worked for GE, says that “the rebirth here is really exciting. I like the idea of working here another twenty-plus years and retiring.”
Everyone in Louisville seems to be eager to see the plant open. “Our mindset has to be faster, faster, faster,” says Scott Shaver, the leader of the refrigerator project. “Sure it’s scary, there are lots of things to figure out. But it’s so exciting. When we start seeing those refrigerators come chugging down the line, it will be a rush.”
GE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt will be on hand when the plant opens on Tuesday. Be sure to follow our coverage. In the meantime watch our time-lapse video chronicling the construction of the new plant.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Talking Turkey
Eddie Velo was a Minnesota turkey farmer with a big headache. His birds produced a lot of manure, tons of it. Workers used pitchforks to clear the stuff out of Velo’s barns, but few could keep at it for very long. He needed a machine that could do the job. Two local entrepreneurial blacksmiths, brothers Cyril and Louis Keller, could help. They made him a light and agile loader that could get around poles and in and out of corners. It did the trick, and a lot more.
Velo’s loader, built in 1957, became the prototype for a whole new compact equipment industry and launched Bobcat Company, an iconic multi-billion American business whose machines now do chores for customers in many corners of the world. Bobcat has more than 600 dealers in the U.S. and another 400 abroad. The company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Doosan Infracore, employs more than 2,500 workers in the United States and Canada and reigns as North Dakota’s largest manufacturer.
[slides image_align="left"]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat3.jpg"]
Bobcat founder Cyril Keller on a Bobcat M600 loader outside the Melroe (Bobcat) Gwinner, N.D. factory, circa 1967.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat1.jpg"]
Semitrailers carrying new Bobcat skid-steer loaders across America's highways became a common sight as the company's sales grew through the mid- to late-1960s.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat2.jpg"]
The Gwinner, N.D. Melroe (Bobcat) factory in the mid-1960s. As the Bobcat loader took off, the Melroe Company grew to accommodate production.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat4.jpg"]
One of the early M60 three-wheeled loaders, a predecessor to the Bobcat skid-steer loader, working in a common farm application of the time, circa 1959.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat5.jpg"]
Like all M-Series compact excavators, the Bobcat E32 conventional tail swing model features a quieter cab that reduces sound levels by more than 5%.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat6.jpg"]
The Bobcat E55 is a conventional tail swing compact excavator that delivers proven performance through smooth control of the work group, time-saving attachments and fuel-efficient turbocharged diesel engine.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat7.jpg"]
The Bobcat S770 delivers big productivity and performance for digging, loading, pushing, grading and other tough assignments.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat8.jpg"]
The T870 is Bobcat’s largest compact track loader ever manufactured, with a 12-foot lift height, making it the highest lifting compact track loader on the market.
[/image]
[/slides]
A lot of Bobcat’s growth over the last three decades was financed by GE Capital. “Bobcat has experienced dramatic growth during its partnership with GE,” said Ed Hetherington, President of Doosan Infracore Financial Solutions, the financial division that links Bobcat to GE. “Bobcat’s revenue has increased more than 400 percent, in part because GE has extended Bobcat dealers the necessary credit to maintain and grow their businesses and stay competitive.”
GE Capital has the muscle to deliver. The GE unit is the world’s largest equipment finance and leasing company according to the Monitor Magazine, an industry publication. GE’s Equipment Finance business, which is based in Irving, Texas, funded more than $6 billion in equipment for American companies and hospitals in 2011. That figure is expected to grow to nearly $7 billion this year. “We’re an important source of liquidity to businesses across the U.S. and we’re working more quickly and efficiently to help our customers grow and thrive,” Equipment Finance general manager Diane Cooper said.
Bobcat is one of Cooper’s oldest customers and her division has been with the equipment maker through hard times. “The recession was tough on construction equipment customers,” said Rich Goldsbury, President of Bobcat and Doosan in North America. “We witnessed the worst times in the history of our business and industry,” he said. “But GE’s commitment to our dealers allowed many to remain profitable.”
Velo’s loader, built in 1957, became the prototype for a whole new compact equipment industry and launched Bobcat Company, an iconic multi-billion American business whose machines now do chores for customers in many corners of the world. Bobcat has more than 600 dealers in the U.S. and another 400 abroad. The company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Doosan Infracore, employs more than 2,500 workers in the United States and Canada and reigns as North Dakota’s largest manufacturer.
[slides image_align="left"]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat3.jpg"]
Bobcat founder Cyril Keller on a Bobcat M600 loader outside the Melroe (Bobcat) Gwinner, N.D. factory, circa 1967.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat1.jpg"]
Semitrailers carrying new Bobcat skid-steer loaders across America's highways became a common sight as the company's sales grew through the mid- to late-1960s.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat2.jpg"]
The Gwinner, N.D. Melroe (Bobcat) factory in the mid-1960s. As the Bobcat loader took off, the Melroe Company grew to accommodate production.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat4.jpg"]
One of the early M60 three-wheeled loaders, a predecessor to the Bobcat skid-steer loader, working in a common farm application of the time, circa 1959.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat5.jpg"]
Like all M-Series compact excavators, the Bobcat E32 conventional tail swing model features a quieter cab that reduces sound levels by more than 5%.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat6.jpg"]
The Bobcat E55 is a conventional tail swing compact excavator that delivers proven performance through smooth control of the work group, time-saving attachments and fuel-efficient turbocharged diesel engine.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat7.jpg"]
The Bobcat S770 delivers big productivity and performance for digging, loading, pushing, grading and other tough assignments.
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Bobcat8.jpg"]
The T870 is Bobcat’s largest compact track loader ever manufactured, with a 12-foot lift height, making it the highest lifting compact track loader on the market.
[/image]
[/slides]
A lot of Bobcat’s growth over the last three decades was financed by GE Capital. “Bobcat has experienced dramatic growth during its partnership with GE,” said Ed Hetherington, President of Doosan Infracore Financial Solutions, the financial division that links Bobcat to GE. “Bobcat’s revenue has increased more than 400 percent, in part because GE has extended Bobcat dealers the necessary credit to maintain and grow their businesses and stay competitive.”
GE Capital has the muscle to deliver. The GE unit is the world’s largest equipment finance and leasing company according to the Monitor Magazine, an industry publication. GE’s Equipment Finance business, which is based in Irving, Texas, funded more than $6 billion in equipment for American companies and hospitals in 2011. That figure is expected to grow to nearly $7 billion this year. “We’re an important source of liquidity to businesses across the U.S. and we’re working more quickly and efficiently to help our customers grow and thrive,” Equipment Finance general manager Diane Cooper said.
Bobcat is one of Cooper’s oldest customers and her division has been with the equipment maker through hard times. “The recession was tough on construction equipment customers,” said Rich Goldsbury, President of Bobcat and Doosan in North America. “We witnessed the worst times in the history of our business and industry,” he said. “But GE’s commitment to our dealers allowed many to remain profitable.”
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Breaking the Ice: GE Global Research Scientists Achieve New Anti-Icing Breakthrough With Nanotechnology
Scientists from GE Global Research announced this morning yet another breakthrough in an ongoing project to develop new anti-icing applications from coatings created in the lab using nanotechnology, which involves the science of materials at a very tiny scale (a nanometer is one-billionth of one meter). At the nano-level, materials behave differently than they do at a normal scale, and GE material scientists have focused on creating superhydrophobic, or extremely water repellent, materials as coatings for surfaces that could prevent icing. The new research presented today shows that in addition to dramatically reducing ice adhesion on surfaces, the experimental “nanotextured” coatings also delay ice from forming under simulated atmospheric icing conditions in the lab. While a non-coated surface will experience ice formation almost immediately under those conditions, the GE researchers found that a surface with the nanotextured coating won’t for approximately 80 seconds.
Check out this video of water drops bouncing off superhydrophobic surfaces, captured using a high-speed camera at GE Global Research.
That delay could mean big efficiency gains and cost savings for operators of machines susceptible to ice buildup, such as jet engines and wind turbines. The EPA estimates that nearly 25 million gallons of deicing agents are used on aircraft departing from commercial airports in the U.S. every year. That’s in addition to the extensive, energy-intensive heating systems used on planes to prevent ice formation. GE’s scientists are also exploring applications of both low ice adhesion and anti-icing surfaces for the blades of wind turbines, battered as they often are by frozen wind, which can cause ice buildup and drag on their rotation.
And that’s not all. GE researchers are also developing superhydrophobic coatings to aid in moisture control in steam turbines, which can boost efficiency. Applied to other parts of a gas turbine, the nanocoatings can reduce “fouling,” enabling the turbine to run more efficiently and reduce maintenance shutdowns.
Check out this video of water drops bouncing off superhydrophobic surfaces, captured using a high-speed camera at GE Global Research.
That delay could mean big efficiency gains and cost savings for operators of machines susceptible to ice buildup, such as jet engines and wind turbines. The EPA estimates that nearly 25 million gallons of deicing agents are used on aircraft departing from commercial airports in the U.S. every year. That’s in addition to the extensive, energy-intensive heating systems used on planes to prevent ice formation. GE’s scientists are also exploring applications of both low ice adhesion and anti-icing surfaces for the blades of wind turbines, battered as they often are by frozen wind, which can cause ice buildup and drag on their rotation.
And that’s not all. GE researchers are also developing superhydrophobic coatings to aid in moisture control in steam turbines, which can boost efficiency. Applied to other parts of a gas turbine, the nanocoatings can reduce “fouling,” enabling the turbine to run more efficiently and reduce maintenance shutdowns.
Friday, March 2, 2012
The Giraffe Dad
Mike and Jennifer Mills were looking to celebrate their wedding anniversary one Sunday last August. Jennifer was seven months pregnant with their third child. This could be their last chance to go out for some time. The couple lined up a babysitter, made dinner plans and even thought about catching a movie.
Father and son: Mike Mills and his son, Brayden Mills.
The plan didn’t work out. Instead, the couple spent the next five weeks caring for their newborn son at a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Jennifer woke Mike early morning on their big day. Her water broke. At 32 weeks, she was almost two months too early. They bundled their two small sleepy daughters into the car and Mike rushed the whole family to the hospital. Doctors worked to slow the birth. “Every day mattered,” Mills says. Most babies, for example, can’t breathe on their own this early. But Jennifer delivered son Brayden just three days later. He was eight weeks premature.
When Brayden came out crying and breathing on his own, the couple rejoiced. But he was tiny. He weighed just 4 pounds and 12 ounces, little more than half the weight of the average newborn. The nurses quickly laid Brayden inside a baby warmer, wheeled him into the NICU, and placed him inside an incubator.
When Mike saw the hospital equipment sustaining his son, he started to worry less. He is an 11-year GE veteran and Brayden’s Panda Warmer and Giraffe OmniBed incubator were both manufactured by GE workers in Laurel, Maryland, the very factory where he serves as plant manager. “I know the equipment and how it works,” he says. “But I’ve never seen it in action. Now you see it and it’s your own kid. You don’t understand the value of it until you have used it.”
Oh my!: Brayden Mills was born eight weeks early. He spent his first five weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit.
At NICU, doctors threaded a feeding tube through Brayden’s nose to his stomach and inserted IV needles close to his heart to supply his fragile body with medication and nutrients. “That was kind of frightening,” Mike says. The physicians also scanned Brayden’s head with ultrasound, performed X-rays, and many other procedures.
Little man and the machine: Brayden is resting in his Giraffe OmniBed incubator.
Brayden laid safely in his incubator during all of this. GE engineers designed the Giraffe OmniBed so that doctors and nurses could care for newborns without moving them. “They don’t like to be moved,” Mike says. “With the touch of a button, and without touching the baby, the lid opens up and [the nurse] can drop down the doors. They have complete access to the baby without moving him.”
Brayden spent 10 days inside the GE incubator before doctors transferred him to an open basinet in the NICU. Sometimes an alarm would go off and frighten Jennifer. “She’d look around for help and I’d say ‘It’s OK. I’ve heard this beep before in tests. It’s not the sound to worry about.’ Still, it was the longest five weeks in my life,” Mike says.
Brayden came home in mid-September, weighing six pounds. Today he is a healthy boy putting on more weight. But the hospital staff still remembers his dad. His handiness with the equipment even earned him a new nickname. Says Mike: “They called me the Giraffe Dad.”
Father and son: Mike Mills and his son, Brayden Mills.The plan didn’t work out. Instead, the couple spent the next five weeks caring for their newborn son at a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Jennifer woke Mike early morning on their big day. Her water broke. At 32 weeks, she was almost two months too early. They bundled their two small sleepy daughters into the car and Mike rushed the whole family to the hospital. Doctors worked to slow the birth. “Every day mattered,” Mills says. Most babies, for example, can’t breathe on their own this early. But Jennifer delivered son Brayden just three days later. He was eight weeks premature.
When Brayden came out crying and breathing on his own, the couple rejoiced. But he was tiny. He weighed just 4 pounds and 12 ounces, little more than half the weight of the average newborn. The nurses quickly laid Brayden inside a baby warmer, wheeled him into the NICU, and placed him inside an incubator.
When Mike saw the hospital equipment sustaining his son, he started to worry less. He is an 11-year GE veteran and Brayden’s Panda Warmer and Giraffe OmniBed incubator were both manufactured by GE workers in Laurel, Maryland, the very factory where he serves as plant manager. “I know the equipment and how it works,” he says. “But I’ve never seen it in action. Now you see it and it’s your own kid. You don’t understand the value of it until you have used it.”
Oh my!: Brayden Mills was born eight weeks early. He spent his first five weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit.At NICU, doctors threaded a feeding tube through Brayden’s nose to his stomach and inserted IV needles close to his heart to supply his fragile body with medication and nutrients. “That was kind of frightening,” Mike says. The physicians also scanned Brayden’s head with ultrasound, performed X-rays, and many other procedures.
Little man and the machine: Brayden is resting in his Giraffe OmniBed incubator.Brayden laid safely in his incubator during all of this. GE engineers designed the Giraffe OmniBed so that doctors and nurses could care for newborns without moving them. “They don’t like to be moved,” Mike says. “With the touch of a button, and without touching the baby, the lid opens up and [the nurse] can drop down the doors. They have complete access to the baby without moving him.”
Brayden spent 10 days inside the GE incubator before doctors transferred him to an open basinet in the NICU. Sometimes an alarm would go off and frighten Jennifer. “She’d look around for help and I’d say ‘It’s OK. I’ve heard this beep before in tests. It’s not the sound to worry about.’ Still, it was the longest five weeks in my life,” Mike says.
Brayden came home in mid-September, weighing six pounds. Today he is a healthy boy putting on more weight. But the hospital staff still remembers his dad. His handiness with the equipment even earned him a new nickname. Says Mike: “They called me the Giraffe Dad.”
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