Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

GE Appliances unveils $450 million upgrade to manufacturing plant in KY

Louisville site improvements include supply chain resiliency and digital transformation, company says

GE Screen Shot 2023-09-28 at 11.43.49 AM.png

White goods manufacturing powerhouse GE Appliances on Wednesday unveiled two new dishwasher manufacturing lines that complete a $450 million transformation first announced in 2021 for its facility in Louisville, Kentucky.

The “Appliance Park” site, which also serves as the company’s headquarters, now features the results of an investment which drives digital transformation in design and manufacturing, improving craftsmanship and creating better jobs for employees, the company said.


GE Appliances was acquired in 2016 by Chinese multinational home appliances company Haier, and has since then invested more than $2 billion in its U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations.

As a result of that investment, three of the five major plants at the Louisville site have now received significant upgrades over the past two years, with new topload washer models and four-door refrigerators added, as well as new assembly lines and fabrication equipment. The dishwasher expansion alone positions the plant to be the largest plant of its kind in the U.S., GE Appliances said.

The upgrades will also pay off by improving supply chain resiliency through vertical integration, the company said. For example, GE Appliances’ manufacturing facilities, like the featured dishwasher plant, are vertically integrated starting from rolls of coiled steel. New fabrication equipment produces millions of tubs, doors, racks and other components made onsite. And the plant produces five brands of dishwashers on the new lines.

The investment also includes a “digital transformation,” which uses tools such as 3D scanning, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and control tower technology to drive end-to-end visibility of inbound parts and of parts flowing through the plant, the company said.

 

 

Recent

More Stories

warehouse worker pulling cart

Cleo acquires DataTrans to speed procurement automation

Business software vendor Cleo has acquired DataTrans Solutions, a cloud-based procurement automation and EDI solutions provider, saying the move enhances Cleo’s supply chain orchestration with new procurement automation capabilities.

According to Chicago-based Cleo, the acquisition comes as companies increasingly look to digitalize their procurement processes, instead of relying on inefficient and expensive manual approaches.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

photo collage of warehouse tech

Supply chain pros are wary of inflation and labor woes

The top worries that supply chain leaders hope to address with new innovations this year include inflationary concerns (68%) and labor shortages (50%), according to a survey on innovation from the third-party logistics provider (3PL) Kenco.

And many of them will have a budget to do it, since 51% of supply chain professionals with existing innovation budgets saw an increase earmarked for 2025, suggesting an even greater emphasis on investing in new technologies to meet rising demand, Kenco said in its “2025 Supply Chain Innovation” survey.

Keep ReadingShow less
photos of white house and a loaded containership

Supply chain groups push back on Trump tariff plan

Industry groups across the spectrum of supply chain operations today are pushing back against the Trump Administration plan to apply steep tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, saying the additional fees are taxes that will undermine their profit margins, slow their economic investments, and raise prices for consumers.

Even as a last-minute deal today appeared to delay the tariff on Mexico, that deal is set to last only one month, and tariffs on the other two countries are still set to go into effect at midnight tonight.

Keep ReadingShow less
reagan national DCA airport photo

Reagan National airport plans to reopen today after deadly crash

All flights remained grounded this morning at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (DCA) following the deadly mid-air crash last night between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter.

In a statement, DCA airport officials said they would open the facility again today for flights after planes were grounded for more than 12 hours. “Reagan National airport will resume flight operations at 11:00am. All airport roads and terminals are open. Some flights have been delayed or cancelled, so passengers are encouraged to check with their airline for specific flight information,” the facility said in a social media post.

Keep ReadingShow less
wind turbine making electricity

GE Vernova to invest $600 million in U.S. manufacturing sites

GE Vernova today said it plans to invest nearly $600 million in its U.S. factories and facilities over the next two years to support its energy businesses, which make equipment for generating electricity through gas power, grid, nuclear, and onshore wind.

The company was created just nine months ago as a spin-off from its parent corporation, General Electric, with a mission to meet surging global electricity demands. That move created a company with some 18,000 workers across 50 states in the U.S., with 18 U.S. manufacturing facilities and its global headquarters located in Massachusetts. GE Vernova’s technology helps produce approximately 25% of the world’s energy and is currently deployed in more than 140 countries.

Keep ReadingShow less