The New York-listed multinational is known for innovative creations in various sectors, including the electric light bulb, the first US jet engine for commercial aviation, “rotate-only” CT scanner and HA Gas turbines, which recently won a Guinness World Record for efficiency, according to Wouter van Wersch, President & CEO of GE Asia Pacific, at a briefing for ASEAN media visit, which The Myanmar Times took part.

Among those milestones, the “Brilliant Factory” in Haiphong, northeastern Vietnam, is the latest example, he continued. The firm boasts 23 factories in the region but only five “Brilliant Factories” – production unit with advanced manufacturing technologies and digital efficiency – worldwide.

After almost a decade of operations, GE’s Haiphong multimodal factory has produced and exported more than 6,000 units of generator system to date and reached more than US$1 billion annual exports. The site today counts about 1,000 employees and is expanding its local workforce to more than 1,500 employees in response to the growing global demand for renewable energies.

Olivier Fontan, GE Renewable Energy’s vice president, highlighted that sourcing is a key factor for the firm’s manufacturing business, and Haiphong is “really a good place” for this.

Vietnam was chosen because of the country’s availability of skilled labour, logistics and government support, among other factors, according to Mr Fontan. Human capital – capacity building for local employees – was a key challenge in upgrading the plant.

“It is a long and challenging journey to transform and develop a Brilliant Factory,” Trang Vu, the plant’s general manager, explained in the press conference. “We have very strong targets in terms of product and service quality, implementing advanced manufacturing technologies and a sustainable improvement culture.”

Tech and efficiency

By optimising the manufacturing processes, GE said the Haiphong Brilliant Factory will save up to 50 percent of the product lead time and minimise inventory by about 20pc, while enhancing productivity by up to 20pc.

The site will abide to the company’s international standards for quality and performance and is built around four pillars, according to Trang Vu. They are: lean manufacturing using data analysis, the processes and operations of making machines are constantly optimised and refined; digital maturity, with all machines linked via Predix to provide efficiency and performance; advanced manufacturing, with augmented reality and virtual reality; and additive manufacturing process.

“The Haiphong Brilliant Factory is an example of how GE’s innovations can help us unlock goals that previously were impossible,” van Wersch emphasised.

Vietnam is GE’s major investment destination in the ASEAN region. In May 2018, the Boston-headquartered multinational said it signed deals in Vietnam worth about $5.58 billion for power generation, aircraft engines and services, its largest single combined sale with the country so far.

GE is also active in Myanmar, with a branch office in Yangon.

In November last year, Myanmar energy sector leaders and GE Power and Renewable Energy experts held the “Powering Myanmar” conference to discuss energy asset modernisation and digitisation opportunities.

Electricity and energy minister U Win Khaing said at the event that GE is assisting Myanmar in efforts to improve its aviation, public health, and energy infrastructure by providing the latest technology solutions, knowledge, experience and best practices.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/ges-vietnam-plant-embraces-manufacturing-tech.html