General Electric Company (GE)

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GE Industrial provides a wide range of products and services, including appliances, lighting, factory automation systems, plastics and resins, security and sensing technologies, and equipment services. An increasingly important segment is GE Industrial's high-performance engineered plastics, which are used in cars, computers, telecommunication equipment, and construction materials.

[edit] Products and Services

GE Industrial Revenue

• Consumer & Industrial
  • Provides home appliances, lighting, and electric system equipment such as switches, capacitors, and generators.
• Electrical Distribution
  • A part of the Consumer & Industrial segment of GE Industrial that provides the equipment used in the distribution of electricity.
• Equipment Services
  • Provides services in the form of maintenance and productivity upgrades for GE products, including infrastructure products such as the locomotives produced by GE's rail division.
• GE Fanuc
  • GE Fanuc's Embedded Systems subsidiary sells technological products including ethernet switches, avionics, single board computers, communication devices, and sensor processing devices. GE Fanuc's Automation Solutions provides products aimed at increasing efficiency by automating the manufacturing process. Automation Solutions also provides services such as asset management tools that help to identify points of inefficiency within a company's manufacturing process. GE Fanuc's CNC subsidiary provides, as the name implies, computer numerical control systems (CNCs). In addition, this division offers productivity solutions such as mechanical modification services and manufactures CO2 lasers for heavy-duty metal cutting.
• Inspection Technologies
  • Provides technology that allows customers to detect structural damage in a variety of products, including aircraft and locomotives. This segment's products include ultrasonic detectors, visual detectors, x-ray detectors, simulation software, and testing equipment.
• Plastics
  • Sells a variety of plastics and resins for a variety of industrial uses.
• Security
  • Provides security services and products for commercial, governmental, and military customers.
• Sensing
  • Makes sensors and sensor systems for use in a broad range of industries. Its sensor products monitor atmospheric pressure, humidity, and air quality, among others.

GE has successfully streamlined the manufacturing process in its industrial segment, cutting average production time from 31 days to 26 days. The resulting increase in customer satisfaction led to a rise in total industrial orders from $74 billion in FY2006 to $90 billion in FY2007.

[edit] Trends and Forces

[edit] Plastics Prices

Around 30% of GE Industrial's 2005 revenue came from the sale of plastics. The plastic industry is very cyclical and highly sensitive to changes in raw material input costs, specifically oil, and the prices manufacturers can charge. Also, plastics are often highly substitutable, making it important for GE to constantly improve its technology and maintain efficient production processes.

[edit] Competition

Lighting

GE's main competitor in the lighting products market is Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. (PHG). Another significant competitor is Osram Sylvania Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG (SI).

Appliances

In appliances, GE's largest competitor is Whirlpool (WHR), which owns the Maytag line of home and commercial appliances. Whirlpool currently leads GE in terms of market share, accounting for around 50% of the U.S. market.