The GE Brief: July 28, 2021
RETURN TO GROWTH
Reporting GE’s second-quarter results, GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp said the company delivered a strong performance and that it was returning to growth. “Orders and revenue returned to growth, our operating margins expanded across all segments and we generated positive Industrial free cash flow,” he said. Industrial revenue increased in three of GE’s four main segments — Healthcare, Aviation and Renewable Energy — and remained even in Power. The company has also raised its Industrial free cash flow outlook from the $2.5 billion–$4.5 billion range to $3.5 billion–$5 billion.
Forward momentum: Culp said services in Healthcare, Renewable Energy and Power were all back to levels similar to or better than 2019. “In Aviation, we’re beginning to benefit from the market recovery,” he said. “We’re making tremendous progress in our journey to become a more focused, simpler, stronger, high-tech industrial,” Culp said. “Our GE team has been at the heart of driving our transformation forward, building momentum through lean and embracing a more decentralized business model.”
For more on GE’s second-quarter results, click here.
LEAN SWEEP
In the 1970s, a team of MIT researchers traveled to Japan to figure out why the country’s automakers were delivering cars faster than their Detroit competitors. What they learned at Toyota — that company’s famous Toyota Production System — would make its way back across the Pacific Ocean as lean management, a set of operating principles focused on boosting safety, quality and efficiency, reducing waste and creating more value with fewer resources. Lean is also the engine helping Culp and his team drive GE’s turnaround. As Betsy Bingham, GE Aviation vice president and operations leader, put it: “Lean is our strategy, lean is how we are going to run our business, it’s key to our growth.”
Click here for a roundup of lean stories from GE.
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
Roger Martella, GE’s chief sustainability officer, has a better understanding of GE’s potential to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems than most people. Speaking with GE Reports, he said it’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, any advances must be tailored to varying socioeconomic conditions and different political systems and geographies.
Says Martella: “I feel really privileged to be part of GE at this pivotal moment for our people, communities and planet. I am one of about 174,000 employees who get to contribute to these solutions, which are not only good for business but good for the planet. It’s a humbling opportunity. To be honest, we know the stakes are high, and we know that we have to succeed.”
Take a look at profiles of some of Martella’s colleagues we recently published, such as Travis Harper (pictured above).
PRECISION HEALTHCARE
Much has changed since GE opened for business 129 years ago, but one thing has remained constant: the company’s focus on innovation. It is helping GE engineers find new ways to make the world more sustainable and help solve looming challenges like climate change, energy transition and decarbonization. Innovation is also the lifeblood of GE’s push to develop precision healthcare that will lead to personalized diagnoses and treatments and make healthcare more accessible to everyone.
Take a look at our list.
THE COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
1. 2D Or Not 2D
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley created an ultrathin magnet that could be used at room temperature for computing devices and quantum physics tools.
2. Bring On The Borgs
Scientists discovered “Borg” DNA — extrachromosomal elements that self-assimilate with genes from other organisms.
3. Cancer’s ‘Common Denominator’
Researchers at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto discovered that a single unique protein can help classify every type of cancer — and predict its behavior.
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things On Earth.
“Actions speak louder than words”: Roger Martella explains how GE’s work in energy, healthcare and aviation can help to make the world more sustainable and improve the quality of life for people everywhere at the same time.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“Momentum is building across our businesses.”
— Larry Culp, GE chairman and CEO
Quote: GE Reports. Images: GE, FieldCore, Travis Harper, GE Healthcare. Video: GE.