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.”
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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[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."
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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.
Showing posts with label Jobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jobs. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
“A Living and Breathing Thing:” GE Opens New Appliance Plant in Louisville, First in 50 Years
Patti Beyl knows GE well. As a process operator at GE’s Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky, Beyl has spent a quarter of a century making ranges, refrigerators and dishwashers. She’s been through tough times. “Three years ago we didn’t even know if we we’re going to be here,” Beyl said. Now she can celebrate.
Today GE opened a new $38 million manufacturing plant in Louisville, the first in the city since 1957. Workers at the factory will make high-tech GeoSpring hybrid water heaters whose production GE repatriated from China. “Being able to make a new thing in the U.S., that’s a big morale booster,” Beyl said. “It gives me a lot of pride.”
GE managers decided to build the new plant in Louisville during two tense weeks in 2009. The country slogged through the worst recession in decades, costs rose and sales slumped. Keeping GeoSpring production abroad required a large investment.
The team in Kentucky ran costs calculations. If they brought in Lean manufacturing methods and cut waste, they could make the heater in the U.S. The local union was on board. “Taking waste out does not always mean taking out headcount,” said union leader Jerry Carney. “If Lean takes a job out on the line, it creates another one somewhere else.”
In the summer of 2009, Louisville managers pulled together a group of industrial designers, manufacturing engineers, purchasing managers, production operators, maintenance workers and others, and moved them to a large room in the Appliance Park. They took apart the heater and searched for savings. “With our backs against the wall we found a way and made it work,” manager Sam Duplessis said. “We’ve been in this room for nine months and everybody pulled together. It was like the perfect storm of creativity.”
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowA.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowB.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowC.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowD.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowF.jpg"]
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The new heater was more efficient, cheaper to make and had 20 percent fewer parts than the one made overseas. “We took the gloves off and did what it would require to be competitive,” said product manager Tom Zimmer.
The production line came next. John Webster, whose official title is maintenance “moonshiner,” scavenged discarder cardboard, foam, pipes, and wire around the factory. He used the material to build quarter-scale mock-ups of the heaters and production machinery. “This helped us understand some of the concepts that the people in the room were talking about,” Webster said.
The team used Webster's models to nail the product flow, and built a real assembly line. Patti Beyl and other other process operators nudged it to perfection. “In the past, that would be it,” Beyl said. “Engineers would build it and it wouldn’t be subject to change. But the production line is a living and breathing thing. We keep improving it and trying to make it smarter. We are all working together.”
Today GE opened a new $38 million manufacturing plant in Louisville, the first in the city since 1957. Workers at the factory will make high-tech GeoSpring hybrid water heaters whose production GE repatriated from China. “Being able to make a new thing in the U.S., that’s a big morale booster,” Beyl said. “It gives me a lot of pride.”
Home run: Process operator Patti Beyl helped bring GeoSpring to Louisville. “Being able to make a new thing in the U.S., that’s a big morale booster,” she says. “It gives me a lot of pride.” GE plans to invest $1 billion in the appliances business and create 1,300 American jobs by 2014.
GE managers decided to build the new plant in Louisville during two tense weeks in 2009. The country slogged through the worst recession in decades, costs rose and sales slumped. Keeping GeoSpring production abroad required a large investment.
The team in Kentucky ran costs calculations. If they brought in Lean manufacturing methods and cut waste, they could make the heater in the U.S. The local union was on board. “Taking waste out does not always mean taking out headcount,” said union leader Jerry Carney. “If Lean takes a job out on the line, it creates another one somewhere else.”
In the summer of 2009, Louisville managers pulled together a group of industrial designers, manufacturing engineers, purchasing managers, production operators, maintenance workers and others, and moved them to a large room in the Appliance Park. They took apart the heater and searched for savings. “With our backs against the wall we found a way and made it work,” manager Sam Duplessis said. “We’ve been in this room for nine months and everybody pulled together. It was like the perfect storm of creativity.”
[slides image_align="left"]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowA.jpg"]
[/image]
[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowB.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowC.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowD.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowE.jpg"]
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[image src="http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/GeoSpringSlideshowF.jpg"]
[/slides]
The new heater was more efficient, cheaper to make and had 20 percent fewer parts than the one made overseas. “We took the gloves off and did what it would require to be competitive,” said product manager Tom Zimmer.
The production line came next. John Webster, whose official title is maintenance “moonshiner,” scavenged discarder cardboard, foam, pipes, and wire around the factory. He used the material to build quarter-scale mock-ups of the heaters and production machinery. “This helped us understand some of the concepts that the people in the room were talking about,” Webster said.
The team used Webster's models to nail the product flow, and built a real assembly line. Patti Beyl and other other process operators nudged it to perfection. “In the past, that would be it,” Beyl said. “Engineers would build it and it wouldn’t be subject to change. But the production line is a living and breathing thing. We keep improving it and trying to make it smarter. We are all working together.”
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