Renato Vidal, site leader at GE Aviation’s Lafayette facility and a veteran of GE’s Brazil operations, took the helm in Lafayette in 2018.
He said: “Today is a celebration of a terrific team whose collaboration and commitment to quality and safety make us better every single day,” Vidal said. “The facility is incredible, the technology we work with is amazing, but ultimately, our people are at the core of our success.”
In March 2014, GE Aviation announced its intentions to build the advanced manufacturing plant in Lafayette as part of the historic CFM LEAP engine production ramp. CFM is a 50/50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines.
The site’s construction was an instrumental piece of a decade-long expansion of GE Aviation’s supply chain footprint, which included similarly advanced manufacturing operations in Auburn and Huntsville, Alabama, and Asheville, North Carolina, among others.
The formerly flat, open field along Lafayette’s Sagamore Parkway quickly became a bustling construction site, and a year and a half after the initial announcement, the 300,000ft2 plant officially opened.
Local talent was a major factor in the decision to build the Lafayette site. Between the world-class engineering school at Purdue University, the Aviation Maintenance Technology programs at Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University, and an already experienced manufacturing workforce, a qualified talent pipeline was a major plus.
“There’s a tremendous amount of engineering and technical talent coming out of these local schools,” said Tony Denhart, GE’s university relations manager. “The fact that GE Aviation has an advanced manufacturing operation literally down the street where they can go see the product up close and personal… That shows them how inspiring a GE career can be, and it can be close to home, too. It’s been a win-win.”
The site first opened to focus on LEAP-1B engine final assembly, LEAP-1A engine core assembly and LEAP MRO services.
An influx of talent, growing employee experience, and a self-directed teaming approach to each day’s work have all proven catalysts for Lafayette’s success. That success recently translated to a new final assembly line: GE’s Passport engine.
[caption id="attachment_36861" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
A GE Passport engine[/caption]
The Passport powers Bombardier’s record-setting Global 7500 business jet and is a candidate to re-engine the US Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress bombers. This move helps diversify Lafayette’s product portfolio.
Lafayette team’s work has continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past seven months, the resilience of the Lafayette team has shown. In April, as GE Healthcare was tapped to double its ventilator production rates in the world’s fight against COVID-19, 40 Lafayette assembly technicians answered the call.
The team travelled to a GE Healthcare facility in Madison, Wisconsin, to help build hundreds of ventilators that were eventually shipped around the world.
“GE Aviation has been an important part of our local economy and the pandemic has created challenges for everyone, particularly those in the aviation industry,” Dennis Carson, director of economic development for the City of Lafayette, said. “Despite this, GE and its local team have stayed the course, providing good employment opportunities, along with corporate and employee participation in the community. We look forward to our continued partnership.”
“This year has certainly been unlike any other,” Vidal added. “But we stick together, keep each other safe, and continue to deliver for our customers. I couldn’t be prouder to be part of this team.”
