One year into the future at GE

GE Power opened its “Factory of the Future,” the 125,000-sq.-ft. Advanced Manufacturing Works (AMW) facility in Greenville, S.C., with great fanfare in April 2016. The result of an initial $73 million investment—with another $327 million over the next several years across the GE Power Greenville campus, where the facility resides—AMW was commissioned to drive innovation and fast development of best-in-class technologies.

So, what’s futuristic about the place? It boasts state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, including a microcutter that shines a laser beam through a thin jet of water. The jet of water focuses the beam, cools the surface of the component being cut and flushes away debris. The system, which incorporates a Synova laser, GE holemaking software and a Makino milling machine, cuts ultrahard alloys to make turbine engine parts.

GE engineer Vinson Blanton watches Autonomous Prime. The robot’s LIDAR “eyes” let it move heavy parts around the factory. Image courtesy of GE Power.

The facility also has numerous 3D printers; ovens with argon atmospheres that cure ceramic-matrix-composite (CMC) parts; and an autonomous robot (called “Autonomous Prime” after the Transformers’ character Optimus Prime). The robot navigates using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), the same technology found in some self-driving cars.

Beyond the science fiction future evoked by laser beams and robots, the most forward-looking technology here may be the facility’s use of Industrial Internet of Things technology. Everything is linked by a digital thread. From design to delivery, the entire manufacturing process is connected, with monitoring and data analytics that reportedly fuel improvements at a pace undreamed of in past decades.