GE opens new facility in Welland

Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Federal Minister of International Trade, joined GE global executives and representatives from Welland and the Niagara Region in a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the start of construction for GE’s multimodal “Brilliant Factory” in Canada. The facility is expected to create 220 jobs with operations commencing in early 2018. The first phase of the investment is US$165 million.

The facility will initially manufacture GE Power’s reciprocating gas engines, components for compression, mechanical drive and power generation, and manufacture components for GE transportation diesel engines. The multimodal design enables future production expansion for other GE global businesses including Power, Oil & Gas and Transportation.

Elyse Allan, President and CEO, GE Canada, commented: “Export Development Canada’s (EDC) commitment to building global business activities and the outstanding support offered by the Ontario government, Niagara Region and City strongly influenced our decision to build the factory in Welland. I look forward to continuing our outstanding collaboration to create jobs and economic growth.”

John Rice, Vice-Chairman and President GGO, GE, added: “The City of Welland becomes an important link in our global integrated network and the new future that we have charted for GE with the convergence of industrial and digital. Canada has all the essential ingredients to succeed in this new digital industrial reality. The flexibility of the Economic Development Corporation and other export credit agencies, combined with GE’s global manufacturing capabilities allows us to replace EXIM financing and compete effectively for global tenders. Canada is a key partner to GE as we seek to meet the needs of our customers in 180 countries around the world.”

Heiner Markhoff, President and CEO GE Water and Distributed Power Business, said: “Today is a significant day for GE in Canada and for GE’s Distributed Power business. Today, we’re breaking the ground on which we will grow our reciprocating engines business for decades to come. At the greenfield plant in Welland, GE is planning to invest $165 million U.S. dollars. Here, we will run three-dimensional machining simulations for CNC programs, gain real-time analytics to better understand the operating conditions of a machine or a test cell, install lights-out machining and combine all with advanced lean manufacturing practices.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne said: “Ontario is a smart choice for companies looking to grow their business and create good jobs. With this investment in Welland, GE has cast a vote of confidence in Ontario's culture of innovation, highly skilled workers and dynamic business climate.”

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/hse/30082016/ge-breaks-ground-in-welland-28421/