GE Consumer & Industrial
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GE Consumer & Industrial is a subsidiary of General Electric headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky at Appliance Park. GE Consumer & Industrial is a top supplier of appliances in the world. It was created in January 2004 when GE Consumer Products merged with GE Industrial Systems. Appliance Park has its own zip code, 40225.
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[edit] Appliance Park
[edit] Production
In 1951 construction began in Louisville, Kentucky on Appliance Park, the 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) manufacturing facility that would eventually employ 25,000 full-time employees.
By late 1951 Appliance Park Building 1 (AP1) 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 Appliance Park Building 2 (AP2) - Appliance Park Building 6 (AP6) were finished bringing production full steam at Appliance Park.
Appliance Park Building 2 (AP2) made Ranges until 2000 when GE moved production to Mexico. Currently AP2 runs approximately 25 employees to support Appliance Park Building 3's (AP3) dishwasher operations.
Appliance Park Building 3 (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.
Appliance Park Building 4 (AP4) utilizes empty space to support AP3's dishwasher operations. AP4 is also the Information Technology headquarters for GE Industrial.
Appliance Park Building 5 (AP5) is where the Refrigerators are put together with parts made from other locations. Until the 1980s AP5 was the largest building in terms of employees, production, and production space.
Appliance Park Building 6 (AP6) contained Room Air until the division was sold in 1982 after its most profitable year. Since then, AP6 has been leased out to vendors and suppliers for GE and other companies. AP6 is also the new location for various electrical systems engineering teams, moved from Connecticut in 2005.
[edit] Production support operations
The remaining buildings are Product Support Operations (PSO) or often referred to as the "Back 40." At the start of the park, Appliance Park 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 complex's high volume of mail.
Appliance Park Building 10 (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 (5 km) of conveyors deliver completed products from the assembly lines to the warehouse for storage.
Appliance Park Building 20 (AP20) The Boiler House is where the main power was made due to the high demand of service needed by Appliance Park which could not be reliably provided by LG&E at the time Appliance Park was built.
Appliance Park Building 21 (AP21) is the electrical sub station that is powered from LG&E.
Appliance Park Building 24 (AP24) is an Industrial Waste Treatment Plant that treats all of the waste from Appliance Park.
Appliance Park Building 26 (AP26) houses Central Maintenance (MACO) along with Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS).
Appliance Park Building 27 (AP27) is the Mill Water Pump House where GE's water supply and water runoff are processed. All water runoff from the 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) 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 Appliance Park.
Appliance Park Building 28 (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.
Appliance Park Building 35 (AP35) houses the 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. In 2007, the 9,000 sq ft (840 m²) Monogram Experience Center opened to provide architects, designers, contractors and other home-industry professionals the opportunity to interact with appliances from the Monogram Collection[1].
Appliance Park Building 90 (AP90) is the GE Consumer and Industrial Global Training Center
[edit] Landfill
GE utilized its own landfill on approximately 20 acres from the early 1950s until the mid 1980s when the EPA started enforcing stricter policies for big companies. Chemicals such as TDI, MDI, Arsenic, and PCBs 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 1970s 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 initiated by Metro Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.
[edit] Protection
The firefighters, EMS, Haz-Mat, and security force is the only one of its kind left in GE. The force patrols the park for safety hazards 365 days a year. They have a 21-member force with KY certified EMTs 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.
