WUXI, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 5, 2005--Demonstrating its strong commitment to the Chinese economy, GE today announced the opening of its first quartz manufacturing facility in Wuxi New Zone, located in East China's Jiangsu Province. The new facility represents an investment of more than $23 million. It joins two existing GE plants in Wuxi and will serve the lighting industry in China, and around the world, with furnace and finishing operations for high-purity, small-diameter quartz tubing. All of the plant's technology, facilities, and equipment, including furnaces and drying ovens, are new and state-of-the-art, allowing GE to promote the highest standards of product quality, as well as safety and environmental compliance.
"GE has made another sizeable investment in China to support our growing local and global customer base with high-quality quartz materials produced in accordance with industry best practices," said Fred Zhou, country manager for the Quartz business in China. "We anticipate rapid growth in the Asian quartz market - as much as 30 percent annually. With the addition of this manufacturing facility now operating in Wuxi, GE has established a strong presence that will enable us to further meet increasing demand for GE materials solutions in China, Asia, and around the world."
The new facility, which is operational, was officially unveiled today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the mayor of Wuxi, Xiao Ping Mao; Wuxi New Zone vice director Xiao Hong Zhu; Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO of the Quartz business; Jeff Davis, Quartz business vice president of sales; Zhou; and many others in attendance.
World-Class Quartz Tubing
Drawing on GE technical expertise, state-of-the-art equipment, and industry best practices, the Wuxi facility will produce quartz tubing with low hydroxyl (OH) content and best-in-class dimensional control. Recent process improvements have enabled tubing with higher purity, tighter tolerances, and better surface finish quality. This has resulted in improved optical uniformity, increased lamp life, and more consistent operating parameters when compared to competitive quartz offerings. As Maryrose Sylvester adds, "By utilizing our best in class technologies, we are now able to locally deliver the highest value solutions to our important global customer base."
Leadership in Safety & Environmental Compliance
The new plant already has an enviable safety record of 800,000 man-hours with no lost time accidents. GE teams from other China facilities have studied the facility to learn best practices for improved worker safety. To assure the plant meets the stringent Chinese water emission standards for fluorides, a state of the art wastewater treatment plant has also been constructed.
In addition to the new Quartz manufacturing plant, GE has two other facilities in the Wuxi New Zone: GE Healthcare, which manufactures ultrasonic instruments and magnets for medical diagnostics; and GE Infrastructure, which produces chemicals for water treatment. GE's Quartz business operates six other facilities globally (four in the United States and one each in Germany and Japan).
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work - a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
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