The GE Brief: January 27, 2022
Small Gains, Big Difference
Lean management is the engine that drives GE’s transformation, and lean starts with safety. What does it look like on the factory floor? GE Reports talked to four GE teams who submitted entries for the 2022 Ergo Cup, a prestigious competition run by the Applied Ergonomics Society and the Ergonomics Center of North Carolina. Two of them have been selected as finalists. The winners will be announced in late March. GE Reports has the story.
Support System
Retired GE Healthcare chief engineer Bob Senzig spent his career improving computed tomography (CT) imaging and helping make sure doctors and patients had the technology they needed. A GE CT machine was also one of the last things he saw before he was intubated while fighting a serious case of COVID-19 last year. The hospital staff imaged his lungs on a CT scanner he had helped design and make affordable. “It was good to see a familiar ‘face’ when I was so sick,” he says. Senzig recovered, and today he is back to practicing his hobby, ballroom dancing. His story is here.
Pump Up The Volume
A new study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy and produced by GE Research reported that the addition of pumped hydro storage to a large grid with a high proportion of renewables can cut the total cost of annual electricity production on the network by tens of millions of dollars. The technology also reduces the need for fossil fuel plants to step in when demand rises and renewables can’t supply enough power. This could help cut millions of tons of carbon emissions. GE Reports talked to David Havard, senior product manager at GE Renewable Energy’s Hydro unit, about the technology and the report. The story is here.
The 5 Coolest Things On Earth ?
1. SARS-CoV-2’s secret underground transmission network.
2. Progress in making quantum batteries.
3. A cannon against smog.
4. A new way to store renewable energy under the sea.
5. A computer powered by brain cells learns to play Pong.
— Quote Of The Day —
“[Kaizens] might be small steps in terms of improvements. But they also motivate employees to think innovatively and do better every single day.”
— L.R. Phanindra, EHS manager, GE Healthcare
Quote: GE Reports. Images: CFM International, Bob Senzig, GE Renewable Energy.