GE’S New Mebane Operations: Simpler. Smarter. Faster

June 9, GE celebrates the grand opening of its Mebane Customer Experience Center and renovated factory space. The centre, upgraded facility and new advanced manufacturing labs will bring collaboration, product development and manufacturing to a new level by enabling GE to accelerate product development and manufacturing. Combining engineering, product development, testing and manufacturing operations in a co-located, centralized location will ultimately allow GE to bring products to market with improved speed and agility.

World-class facility
GE’s Carolina Star-certified Mebane facility is focused on Advanced Manufacturing and Lean processes. The result of a US$6 million renovation, the enhanced 400,000square-foot facility features
• ~360,000 square feet of floor space for manufacturing
• ~11,500 square feet of advanced, innovative laboratory space, including:
o IEEE and IEC Product Accelerator Lab
o IEEE and IEC Low-Voltage/Medium-Voltage Product Certification Lab
• ~30,000 square feet dedicated to office, global showroom and learning center
• 8 major product lines
• 500+employees

Co-location = collaboration
In Mebane, teams with deep domain expertise are co-located and work together in an open, high-tech environment as one team to better serve customers. From new product design, manufacturing, sourcing, product management and engineering, the cross-functional team focuses on ways to improve customers’ experience.

A customer destination for collaboration and discovery

Creating quality, customer-focused solutions is key to meeting market demands. This is why the expansion includes:
• interactive product showroom, where customers can touch, see and feel products, and engage in technology development
• learning centre, for continuous training opportunities for new products and processes
• product accelerator lab, providing opportunities for early input in the product development process
• product certification lab, facilitating product compliance with speed and accuracy

Driving speed and innovation through advanced manufacturing
GE is laser-focused on investing in Advanced and Lean Manufacturing to create a quality and customer-centric culture. The factory also will utilize GE’s Proficy Manufacturing Software to deliver critical production insight to optimize efficiency and accelerate production. Lean manufacturing is about eliminating waste, reducing cycle time and improving quality.

GE has implemented lean manufacturing methodologies into the Mebane facility by investing in
• digital fabrication equipment
• dedicated fabrication cells
• progressive build and moving lines with integrated quality checks
• paint and plating lines

Product certification lab world-class testing and third-party certification
In-house advanced testing includes UL, KEMA and TUV certification capabilities, enabling a 30% reduction in product development cycle times and ongoing quality assurance.

Mebane’s testing capabilities include:
• high current
• partial discharge
• lightning impulse
• power frequency withstand
• temperature rise
• highly accelerated life
• mechanical endurance
• breaker analyzer