Many years ago, Larry Culp was puzzled by Toyota. He couldn’t understand why the Japanese automaker allowed its competitors into its factories to witness the legendary Toyota Production System in action. The company risked giving away “the recipe for the secret sauce,” GE’s leader thought.
On Tuesday, GE Healthcare and Ford Motor Company announced plans to work together to scale up the production of ventilators — a move aimed to arm clinicians with vital medical equipment to treat patients with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. Equipped with the essential functions required to treat COVID-19, the new system will be built specifically to address the urgent needs of the pandemic.