Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 1, 1994 TAG: 9403010050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But that declining business was the past.
An aggressive plantwide program of cost control and quality improvement has made the Salem plant a world leader in the manufacture and sales of computerized industrial controls, employees were told Monday.
Thomas Brock, the GE vice president who led the plant back from the brink, had much praise for the teamwork of the plant's 2,200 workers at their annual meeting Monday at the Salem Civic Center. But he also cautioned them not to become complacent with their success.
"We're driving costs down faster than our competition," Brock said. The Salem plant's competitors, both in the United States and abroad, have been having problems and GE has become the company to beat, he said.
Keeping ahead of the competition is the only way to provide job security and for the company to grow, Brock said. "We've got to make sure we keep our eye on the ball."
Employees were welcomed to the meeting and ushered out with martial music with lyrics that declared over and over, "We are the champions." Brock told them their teamwork has improved the plant's operations and has gained credibility with upper management at the division's parent, General Electric Co.
The Salem plant does not report its financial results separate from its parent corporation, but it did reveal Monday some trend figures that validate Brock's claims.
Orders coming into the plant declined 4 percent last year, reflecting the difficulty of the global marketplace.
However, sales of completed industrial control systems increased 10 percent and net income rose 12 percent. This year, the plant expects more increases in sales and net income and looks for a healthy rebound in orders, as much as 20 percent, Brock said.
The global market has become increasingly important to the Salem plant; 60 percent of last year's sales were exported.
Of that business, Asia become the most important market for the Salem plant, accounting for 37 percent of total plant sales. The company expects foreign - particularly Asian - sales to occupy an even larger percentage of its business this year. Because of the growing importance of Asian sales, the Salem plant has moved its international sales manager and four other sales employees to Singapore. After training Asians to handle sales responsibilities in the region, those employees will return to Salem.
Playing a role in the sale of the plant's products globally is the important ISO 9000 certification it won last year for meeting international quality standards.
In the area of environmental health, employees were told the plant is making gains toward eliminating toxic discharges into the air or waters.
So far, the plant has eliminated its use of ozone-depleting CFCs; has reduced its water use from 2.2 million gallons a month to 1.2 million gallons; and is recycling or reclaiming 90 percent of plant wastes regulated by government.
An area in which the plant is doing better than its competitors but there is still room for improvement is in the keeping of promises to customers, such as making deliveries on time, Brock said. "Our credibility is extremely important to getting future orders," he said.
by CNB