Visit to Wipro GE Whitefield, Bangalore..

On 24 March 2023 students of MBA sem4, sem 3 and sem2 Operations of ASB were to get the best surprise of their lives. They were inside the college bus that took them to Whitefield at 8 15 am from the Anekal campus. By 10 am we were at the Xray unit of Wipro GE in Whitefield. Our visit to the more latest Computerised Tomography unit was about 5 kms away. Though we had issues with our college bus  transportation, we managed to reach the newer GE CT unit right on time. 

One of the groups of 28 were taken to the Ultrasound machine and ECG mfg unit while the other group of 22 were taken to the more advanced all-women CT assembly unit. 

After an initial updating by the Environmenr Heath and Safety group on what to do in case of an accident / mishap and how to move inside the plants, we went to the shopfloor visits. In the CT assembly unit, we were taken to the raw material store. The process of assembly was explained to us by our visit-in-charge Akshatha. It was interesting to see the present Value stream map (VSM) and future VSM of the CT assembly process. Since we were not allowed to take any pictures, we could not capture those excellent moments of discovery and understanding for us inside the plant. 

Two great industrial titans - Thomas Edison  (L) of GE and Henry Ford of Ford Motor co.

The other great learning was on the visual system in place on the GE shopfloor. More than great learning it was the discipline and rigour, concern for safety of shopfloor employees that struck us most. Since the production quota for the month was already over, there was no work pressure on the shopfloor. The explanation of the Kaizens on the shopfloor to improve the storage in the warehouse and the later assembly was great learning. 

The visit took us next to the second and older plant in the campus manufacturing Ultra sound machines and ECG equipment. The small 14" size monitor size compact ECG was also demonstrated to us. The detailed explanation of the construction of the different probes for the utrasound scanners took us back to the world of contact transducers. 

Lean six sigma concept was introduced to the world by General Electric though Six sigma concept was introduced by Motorola. All the production lines on this shopfloor were Lean Six sigma certified. On the shopfloor we were shown how the DMAIC process takes place and how the different lean tools like 5S, identification of the 7+1 wastes, Gemba walk etc.are deployed. Also, the coloured arrows on the GE shopfloor aisles reminded us of our visit to the world's top lean shopfloor of Toyota Kirloskar at Bidadi, Bangalore, to ensure smooth employee movement on the shopfloor. Since we were not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) we could not go near the assembling machines. 

Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) are protective gears designed to safeguard the health of workers by minimizing the exposure to a biological agent.  (in this case Xray radiation). Components of PPE are goggles, face-shield, mask, gloves, coverall/gowns (with or without aprons), head cover and shoe cover.

The green VSM on the shopfloor was a great learning as it exposed us to integrating environmental practices to the traditional Value Stream Mapping and how the Carbon footprint of the different processes in the assembly / manufacturing were being reduced. All the assembly was for the Indian market, except the CT machine which was exported to China for final assembly.

The stress on safety inside the plant cannot be overstated. Safety, quality and delivery on time are the greatest points in lean six sigma inside GE.

The visit was a great learning for the students on the superlative lean six sigma practices at GE which they will never forget in their whole lifetime. This Kadugodi facility of Wipro GE heathcare is relatively new. With Revolution Aspire, the 64 slice CT machine being assembled here, it is totally a Make in India product.

Since the cost of each of these CT machines could go in the range of INR 2 - 4 crores, all the products are made-to-order based on customer orders. The innovative way in which the engg stores was organised is a measure of GE commitment to lean six sigma practices on the shopfloor. 

A big heartfelt thanks to the Plant in-charge Saravanan and our guide Akshatha, besides our Operations PhD student Karthi (former GE employee) who was the great driving force to see the visit getting fructified. GE global turnover now at $75 billion is getting stressed as nimble and agile startups in the Industry 4.0 sector are giving a real run for for money for GE. 

We were really surprised at the low levels of digital transformation that was happening on the GE shopfloor. Hopefully GE with a labour strength of 1,75,000 globally is too big an elephant to make swift nimble moves keeping new startups at a hands distance.

Will GE, the giant tech company that started global operations in 1872 with Thomas Alva Edison in US, whom all global tech and manufacturing companies respect, revere and look upto, transform itself to grow into a nimble and agile large tech company in the next ten years ? With rumours that GE may hive off GE Heathcare (a big loss to the world of advanced global diagnostic medical equipments) and GE Energy this year and focus only on GE Aviation in the future, we have to wait and see what happens to GE in the near future. Click here..Hope that news is not true. 

Can the elephant rise and be flexible and dexterous once again ?

George