GE Consumer & Industrial
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GE Appliance Park GE Consumer and Industrial a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Louisville, KY. GE Consumer and Industrial is a top supplier of appliances in the world. GE Consumer and Industrial is part of GE Industrial, itself a major part of the conglomerate General Electric, one of the world's largest corporations. The division operated under the former name of General Electric Appliances or GEA until September of 2005.
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[edit] Production
In 1951 construction began in Louisville, Kentucky on Appliance Park, the 1000 acre manufacturing facility that would eventually employ 25,000 full time employees.
By late 1951 AP1 (Appliance Park Building 1) opened with Laundry Care being manufactured in the 10-acre building, which included washers and dryers. AP1 was the location of the world's first non-government used computer that was stored in what is today the GE Industrial Data Center. From 1951-1953 AP2 - AP6 were finished bringing production full steam at Appliance Park.
AP2 made Ranges until 2000 when GE moved production to Mexico. Currently AP2 runs approximately 25 employees to support AP3 dishwasher operations.
AP3 currently makes dishwashers and plans for portable dishwashers have been approved to start in early 2007. AP3 makes up the largest percentage of Appliance Park employees, with over 1,000. Hotpoint, GE Profile, and GE Monogram models are all made here.
AP4 utilizes empty space to support AP3's dishwasher operations. AP4 is also the Information Technology headquarters for GE Industrial.
AP5 is where the Refrigerators are put together with parts made from other locations. Until the 1980's AP5 was the largest building in terms of employees, production, and production space.
AP6 contained Room Air until the division was sold in 1982 after its most profitable year. Since them AP6 has been leased out to vendors and suppliers for GE and other companies.
[edit] Production Support Operations
The remaining buildings are PSO or often referred to as the "Back 40." At the start of the park, GEAP was a self-sufficient city that provided for its own needs. Until recently it had its own Post Office staffed by United States Postal Service employees to handle the high volume of mail entering Appliance Park, KY. The Back 40 is what made the production possible in the 50's, 60's, and even into the 70's.
AP10 is a 47-acre warehouse on the western side that is used as a distribution center for GE Appliances and others such as Kenmore that GE manufactures. Over three miles of conveyors deliver completed products from the assembly lines to the warehouse for storage.
AP20 The Boiler House is where the main power was made due to the high demand of service needed by GEAP which could not be reliably provided by LG&E at the time AP was built.
AP21 is the electrical sub station that is powered from LG&E.
AP24 is an Industrial Waste Treatment Plant that treats all of the waste from Appliance Park.
AP26 MACO along with EHS inhabit Bldg26.
AP27 is the Mill Water Pump House where GE's water supply and water runoff are processed. All water runoff from the 1000-acre facility is sent to the Mill House where it is skimmed and skimmed over a couple days before excess water is allowed to trickle to the reservoir. The stored water is used to supply water mains for GE's private water source which supplies Fire Hydrants to supplement the domestic water supply that the Louisville Water Company couldn't provide if ever needed for a major fire at GEAP.
AP28 is also known as "The Firehouse." GE Appliance Park employees its own fleet of Firefighters, EMT's, Hazardous Materials Team, and Security Guards complete with Ambulances, Fire engines, Fire trucks, Haz-Mat units, and Patrol trucks.
AP35 GE Consumer and Industrial Global Consumer Center. GE Industrial's CEO's Office along with the President of the division and many other executives reside in AP35. Also in AP35 is engineering and Research and Design. This building utilizes its many conferences rooms to talk to Consumers and Customers about how to redesign products and receive feedback from end users.
AP90 is the GE Consumer and Industrial Global Training Center
[edit] The Landfill
GE utilized its own landfill on approximately 20 acres from the early 50's until the mid 1980's when the EPA started enforcing stricter policies for big companies. Chemicals such as TDI, MDI, Arsenic, and PCB's were dumped into the ground for over 30 years before the landfill became inactive.
[edit] The Appliance Park of Today
Today's Appliance Park is nothing like that of the 70's and before. The days of 25,000 employees have been replaced with 3,000. Outsourcing and Contractors have replaced construction crews, general maintenance, and janitorial duties. Once a self-sufficient facility where raw materials would enter and finished products left has been replaced with other facilities that make the components and ship them to AP to be assembled together.
[edit] Recycling and ecomagination
In order to decrease operational expenses at Appliance Park, a recycling initiative was introduced in December, 2006. In addition to cutting costs, this initiative aims to make the site more environmentally friendly in order to better adhere to GE's "ecomagination" campaign. Major waste streams include cardboard, wooden pallets, metals, electronics, and plastics. Waste office paper will be recycled through the Metro Louisville's "Office Paper Recycling Program". Proceeds will benefit BrightSide, a city beautification campaign initiatived by Metro Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.
[edit] Protection
The Firefighters, EMS, Haz-Mat, and Security force is the only of its kind left in GE. The force patrols the park for Fire, theft, and safety hazards 365 days a year. They have a 21-member force with KY certified EMT's protecting the park. At one time the guard force was at 70 members but has drastically been reduced over the last 20 years to coincide with Appliance Park.
