The GE Brief – March 3, 2022
Getting Better All The Time
In the 1970s, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology traveled to Japan to figure out why that country’s automakers were delivering cars faster than their competitors in Detroit. Their search led them to Toyota and its Toyota Production System — a set of management principles focused on boosting safety, quality and efficiency, reducing waste and creating more value with fewer resources.
Imported back to the United States, lean, as the management approach is known, has achieved the status of legend. Its disciples include Larry Culp, who joined GE as chairman and CEO in October 2018 and has placed lean management — a system of continuous improvement — at the heart of GE’s turnaround. Here’s a listicle of recent examples of what lean looks like at GE.
Members of the Academy
In February the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) elected Colin Parris (above), GE Digital’s chief technology officer, to become a member, along with Manoj Shah, a principal engineer at GE Research, and John D. McDonald, smart-grid business development leader at GE Grid Solutions. NAE membership is one of the most prestigious professional honors an engineer can receive. Parris, for example, has helped pioneer technologies like digital twins — digital models of real-world machines like jet engines or turbines that can be used to model and predict the outcomes of possible future situations. GE Reports has a closer look at the new members’ work here.
Support for Ukraine
Responding to the crisis in Ukraine, GE announced that it will be donating $4.5 million in medical equipment and humanitarian support for those whose lives have been impacted by the invasion. GE Healthcare will donate $4 million in equipment including handheld ultrasound devices, mobile X-ray units, ventilators and patient monitors. In addition, the GE Foundation will donate $400,000 to the International Rescue Committee, which provides financial relief and other support to refugees, and $100,000 to Airlink, a rapid-response group that works with airlines and NGOs to help communities in crisis.
The 5 Coolest Things On Earth ?
1. NASA funds 17 futuristic space tech projects.
2. Controlling brain cells with an external magnet.
3. An artificial neuron that can make a Venus flytrap shut.
4. A microbe that converts waste gas into industrial chemicals.
5. Possible evidence that life flashes before one’s eyes.
Quote: GE Reports. Images: FieldCore, GE Digital, Wikimedia Commons.