GE Consumer & Industrial

GE Consumer & Industrial
Private
Industry Appliances
Lighting
Founded

Schenectady, New York (1905 (1905)),

Louisville, Kentucky, (incorporated January 2004 (2004-01))
Headquarters Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Area served
 Worldwide
Number of employees
 12,000 (2013 est.)
Parent Haier
Website www.geappliances.com

GE Appliances & Lighting, (formally known as GE Consumer & Industrial), is an American manufacturer, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

GE Appliances & Lighting is a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Haier and is one of the largest suppliers of appliances in the world. It was created in January 2004 when GE Consumer Products (founded in 1905) merged with GE Industrial Systems (founded in 1930). From 2010 to late 2014, GE Appliances & Lighting was a sub-business under GE Home & Business Solutions.[1]

On 8 September 2014, General Electric agreed to sell GE Appliances & Lighting to the Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux for US$3.3 billion in cash. The Electrolux acquisition was the result of General Electric's nearly six-year-long plan to sell the Appliance & Lighting division that included negotiations with Electrolux and other firms, such as Samsung and LG. The deal will combine Electrolux's existing primary U.S. mainstream appliance brand, Frigidaire, with GE's stable of products, including the Monogram line of luxury appliances. As part of the deal, Electrolux agreed to continue using the G.E. Appliances brand names, such as the mainstream "GE" appliance marque, for a limited period, and also agreed to assume General Electric's 48.4% stake in Mabe, a Mexican appliance manufacturer.[2]

The transaction — the largest ever for Electrolux, the second-largest consumer appliance manufacturer after Whirlpool — would have nearly doubled Electrolux's business in North America (the market that represented nearly 29% of Electrolux's revenue in 2013).[2] The deal carried a US$175 million termination fee clause if Electrolux was unable to complete the acquisition. It was terminated in December 2015 due to regulatory concerns.[2]

GE announced in early 2016 that Chinese appliance conglomerate Haier will purchase the appliance division for $5.4 billion.[3]

GE Appliance Park

Appliance Park production operations

In 1951 construction began in Louisville, Kentucky on Appliance Park, the 1,000-acre (400 ha) manufacturing facility that would eventually employ 25,000 full-time employees. At the start of the park, Appliance Park was a self-sufficient city that provided for its own needs, right down to mail handling (until recently, Appliance Park had its own post office, staffed by United States Postal Service employees, to handle the complex's high volume of mail). In fact, Appliance Park was such a large and self-sustaining facility that the Postal Service granted Appliance Park its own ZIP code, 40225, in 1952.

Louisville Production Support operations

The remaining buildings at the Appliance Park are Production Support Operations (PSO), often called the "Back 40".

Landfill

GE utilized its own landfill on approximately 20 acres (8.1 ha) from 1953 to the mid-1980s, when the EPA started enforcing stricter policies for big companies and mandated that GE close Appliance Park's landfill.

Recycling

In order to decrease operational expenses at Appliance Park, a recycling initiative was introduced in 2006. In addition to cutting costs, this initiative aims to make the site more environmentally friendly. Major waste streams include cardboard, wooden pallets, metals, electronics, and plastics. Waste office paper will be recycled through the Metro Louisville's "Office Paper Recycling Program". Proceeds will benefit BrightSide, a city beautification campaign initiated by former Metro Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

Protection

The Security Force, operated from Appliance Park's Building 28, patrols the park for safety hazards and consists of a 21-member, Kentucky state-certified EMT team providing basic, on-site emergency medical services that services Appliance Park and its employees year-round.

2015 fire

A "mammoth" fire occurred on the morning of April 3, 2015 at the Appliance Park.[7] Building 6 (AP6) partially collapsed and was predicted to be a total loss. The 6-acre (24,000 m2)[8] building, located at 4000 Buechel Bank Road, was mostly being used for storage, with portions leased to GE suppliers and logistics partners. More than 200 firefighters from 18 local agencies were involved in fighting the eight-alarm fire,[9] which led to a production halt and evacuation of the other buildings in the complex.[5] No injuries or fatalities were reported, but "shelter in place" orders were issued for homes and businesses within a 2-mile (3.2 km) radius (later reduced to a one-half mile radius) of the Appliance Park due to noxious and acrid smoke.[10] No hazardous materials were known to be stored at the site. Because of the huge volume of smoke, gases and runoff from burning plastics and other materials the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection and USEPA were called in to monitor emissions from the fire and found they were not toxic. However, area residents reported leaf-size pieces of ash and burned insulation materials in their yards.[8] The cause of the fire remained unclear;[11] a local fire chief said that investigators were leaning toward a lightning strike as the probable cause.[5]

The fire was contained, but not extinguished, by the early afternoon of April 3. A statement issued by GE later that day indicated that production at the complex would remain halted over the weekend and at least through the end of the following week as the company conducted "a thorough evaluation of all other buildings" and replenished inventories of parts destroyed by the fire.[10] The shelter-in-place order was canceled for residents within one-half mile of the site the following Sunday, April 5.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lyane, Rachel (January 4, 2010). "GE Establishes New Division for Appliances, Lighting (Update1)". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Bray, Chad (September 8, 2014). "In 2nd Try, Electrolux Reaches Deal to Buy G.E. Appliances Unit, for $3.3 Billion". DealBook. The New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/01/15/haier-buying-ge-appliance-unit/78836088/
  4. ↑ "Calculating the Future: GE Unveils Platinum LEED®-Certified Data Center — a Sustainable Investment Supporting Global Business Growth". GE Newsroom (Press release). GE. August 18, 2011. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "6-alarm fire at GE's Appliance Park contained; shelter in place ordered". WHAS-TV. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ "New Monogram Experience Center Offers Something Extraordinary for all the Senses". GE Consumer & Industrial Press Room (Press release). Archived from the original on July 17, 2006. Note: the press release does not have a date associated with it.
  7. ↑ Olsen, Karan; Botelho, Greg (April 3, 2015). "Fire engulfs GE industrial park in Louisville, Kentucky". CNN. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "GE fire expected to burn for several days". WLKY. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Fire destroys storage building at GE's Appliance Park; 2nd and 3rd shifts canceled". WDRB. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Neighbors within 2 miles of GE fire ordered to remain indoors". WAVE-TV. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ "No hazardous materials in fire, smoke". Louisville Courier-Journal. April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Shelter in place advisory has been lifted for residences surrounding GE". WLKY. April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
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