GE Annual Report 2000: Business Review: Power Systems




			Power Systems Web Site


			This trailer-mounted Power Plant on Wheels is located in Cork, Ireland. These 22.8 megawatt units are more fuel-efficient and more environmentally friendly and occupy less space than other temporary power solutions.

The GE Power Systems wellhead-to-consumer strategy delivered unprecedented growth and financial results in 2000.

Revenues increased 47% to nearly $15 billion, and earnings grew 60% to $2.8 billion. Orders grew 68% to $24 billion. Commitments for multi-year customer service agreements more than doubled to over $16 billion—helping to ensure predictable life cycle costs for our customers and a predictable revenue stream for GE Power Systems for years to come.

A broad range of customers across the energy industry selected our advanced technology gas turbines to help meet growing demand for environmentally friendly power generation capacity.

The growth of our distributed power business continued at an incredible pace, with orders for our smaller gas turbines increasing 70% to $2.5 billion.

We continued expanding our ability to serve global customers with the acquisition of key European-based businesses that offer hydro, thermal and energy management solutions. The acquisitions added more depth to our talent base, gave us better access to global suppliers and strengthened our customer relationships.

We also improved our ability to serve customers in the global oil and gas industry with the acquisitions of Gemini and Rotoflow in the United States and Thermodyn in France.

Using Six Sigma tools allowed us to ship a record 392 power generation units, a 112% increase over 1999, and completed a record 1,434 new unit installations and power plant overhauls. Six Sigma contributed additional capacity at our Greenville, S.C. gas turbine plant, where we reduced cycle time by 29%, enabling us to increase output by more than 200%.

Our customers are challenging us to achieve higher standards of performance than ever before; and we are listening, responding and setting even more aggressive targets to ensure we exceed their expectations.

Our e-Business initiatives are adding to our business transformation, and we are on track to deliver benefits totaling $3 billion by 2003. Highlights in 2000 included:


			Receiving parts and services orders of $1.6 billion;


			Completing $1.5 billion of online auctions; and


			Managing 540 projects online valued at $40 billion.


At Power Systems we believe the "e" in e-Business will require more—and more reliable—electricity. That's why, working with GE Industrial Systems, we formed GE Digital Energy, a new business focused on delivering high-quality, mission-critical power to data, telecommunications and manufacturing operations where the continuity and purity of power are essential. The entire Power Systems portfolio is positioned to continue delivering exceptional performance for our customers and GE's share owners. Our team is focused on meeting every commitment we make and on developing more creative product and service solutions for the global energy industry. www.gepower.com