"Insourcing" Trend at GE

[firedome]

Got the latest issue of "The Atlantic" today... great new article on Insourcing at GE's huge Appliance Park complex, and the background behind it, by Charles Fishman... worth a read! Sorry I don't have a link, but worth picking up a copy on the newsstand if necessary...

 

[danemodsandy]

My, My, My.....

....You mean that shipping French-door refrigerators halfway around the planet wasn't working out as cheaply as everyone wanted it to? And that tracing faults affecting the intregity of your brand name to a specific area of a factory eight thousand miles away might be a little bit tricky?

To say nothing of the idea that people who don't have factory jobs here aren't necessarily the greatest customers for GE products....

Who'd'a thunk it?

/sarcasm. Seriously, I'm glad to see this, and I hope it's the beginning of a trend. Manufacturing is the backbone of any nation, and our base has been sorely compromised in recent years.

 

[moparguy]

So well stated! I hope this will continue!

 

[firedome]

Amazingly..

they had 23,000 working there when it peaked around 1973, and it fell to only 1800 by '84... Immelt tried to sell it off it in 2008 but could find no one to buy it! Now, by 2013 they will be making hot water heaters, ranges, dishwashers, FL washers & dryers, FD fridges, and even plastic making facilites for d/w racks and such! But they won't be making any motors & compressors there apparently, the parts I really worry about being Chinese made :-(

 

[firedome]

Amazingly..

they had 23,000 working there when it peaked around 1973, and it fell to only 1800 by '84... Immelt tried to sell it off it in 2008 but could find no one to buy it! Now, by 2013 they will be making hot water heaters, ranges, dishwashers, FL washers & dryers, FD fridges, and even plastic making facilites for d/w racks and such! But they won't be making any motors & compressors there apparently, the parts I really worry about being Chinese made :-(

 

[supersuds]

I wonder if any fridge compressors are made in the US any more. I looked at some Maytags awhile back and all the compressors said "Made in Singapore."

 

[danemodsandy]

LOL!

"I looked at some Maytags awhile back and all the compressors said 'Made in Singapore.'"

I bet that sales staff won't forget you any time soon, LOL!

Not many people would get down to take a look at that!

 

[estesguy]

Found the article

GE has been using Panasonic compressors for quite awhile in their full size refrigerators. Smaller compact ones use Samsung. They haven't used their own square lunch box sized compressor since the early 80's, as far as I know.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/12/the-insourcing-boom/309166/

 

[supersuds]

"Not many people would get down to take a look at that! "

Gee, Sandy, I figured everybody here did it!

Thanks for the link, estesguy!

 

[jetcone]

Roger

Fantastic article! Thank you for posting!

jon

 

[frigilux]

More insourcing: Apple is going to make Macs in the US. Don't know where the "assembled in" vs. "produced in" point factors in, but adding jobs back in the US can't be a bad thing.

 

[firedome]

You're welcome Jon...

and thanks also to estesguy for posting the link to it!
I'd love to take a tour of Appliance Park someday...
and can you just imagine it in, say, 1956?!
Must have been spectacular!

 

[arbilab]

Apple CEO said we have lost the ability to manufacture. He also said we never made electronics, but he's young. We very much did, as recently as 2000. I was in the business as it closed. Those millions of dollars in equipment went somewhere, wanna guess where?

Yeah that's 'gone' but we got it once we could get it again, the people who made it are still in business. The skills? Several thousand plant managers are probably working as greeters at Walmart or some other schlock job, if they're that lucky (I haven't been). Prolly wouldn't have to twist their arms all that hard.

Sad that the CEO of a leading electronics co "thinks" we can't do it. Uninformed or malinformed, long as industry leaders are convinced it's impossible it's not going to happen.