Dive Brief:
- GE Appliances awarded more than $150 million in contracts to U.S. suppliers to support its new laundry machine plant in Louisville, Kentucky, according to a Nov. 20 press release.
- The new contracts will cover steel, aluminum, plastics, castings, resins, parts and components used to construct washer and combo washer-dryers at the facility, which is set to open all production lines in early 2027.
- U.S. Steel, Jones Plastic and Engineering, and RCM Industries are among the companies to receive the new contracts, with GE Appliances now counting more than 6,500 U.S. suppliers, per the release.
GE Appliances ups U.S. supplier spending
Dive Insight:
GE Appliances is pouring more money into domestic sourcing as it continues to pursue a “zero distance” supply chain strategy.
Earlier this year, the company announced plans to invest more than $3 billion into its U.S. manufacturing operations, adding to the $3.5 billion it has spent since 2016. The latest funding includes a $490 million project to expand laundry production at the Louisville plant.
Beyond growing its supplier base, the company is boosting supplier collaboration to localize materials earlier in the production process, according to the press release.
“Instead of waiting until designs are finalized, we’re involving them from the very beginning of development,” said Ashley Eckert, a senior director of sourcing for GE Appliances, in the release. “That early collaboration helps us design for manufacturability, shorten lead times, improve competitiveness and ultimately deliver better products for our customers.”
GE Appliances is also investing heavily in automation and other new technology to support its “zero distance” approach for its supply chain.
The company has already automated many of the processes used to build appliances such as ovens and refrigerators while enhancing end-to-end visibility and accelerating material movement, VP of Supply Chain Bill Good told Supply Chain Dive in an interview earlier this year.
