GE leans into Lean manufacturing as its high-tech assembly line strategy
When GE Appliances redesigned one of its freestanding range platforms, Luther Ingram, president and executive director at Roper Corp., which is owned by GE, and plant manager at the Roper facility in LaFayette, Georgia, decided it was also time to redesign the manufacturing lines that produced the ovens.
“Had we not been redesigning a product that had been 30-plus years old, we probably would have continued to just make small changes [to the lines]. But as we went and did a full model change, it gave us an opportunity here,” Ingram said.
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Previously the line had been more ad hoc, according to Ingram, “a little bit here, a little bit there, stretched across this, stretched across there.” He wanted to consolidate the stations into a pair of contiguous lines and simultaneously introduce fresh technologies.
The Roper plant now features two 500-foot-long assembly lines that begin with the base range platform and, by adding the correct components, can manufacture gas, electric or induction ovens. Robot arms from ABB pick up and reposition oven cavities and cooktops. Metrology equipment measures assembly of precision.
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It previously took 20 operators to assemble the main oven tops. Now only five operators work the line, mostly loading and unloading the robot cells, with the other 15 people reassigned to different lines elsewhere in the plant.
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“We’re in a community of about 7,000, and we employ a little over 2,500. Although we continue to grow in volume, we can’t continue to grow in population. When you look at the state of Georgia and how manufacturing is coming into Georgia, many of the manufacturers are seeing the same challenges with the labor market,” Ingram said.
Editor's note: For more of this story, click over to IndustryWeek for the full write-up.
