Giant of the industrial age, GE, has opened the doors on its first Innovation Centre in sub-Saharan Africa today. The centre, which is one of 10 worldwide, has been built in Kilarney, Johannesburg and will be house permanent GE staff as well as facilities for training and research.
Much is being made of the design of the Centre, which is GE Green and LEED-certified. Local architects Paragon Interface took the lead on the building itself. The interior is full of furniture by African designers curated for the modern tech hub feel by Monna Mokoena of CulArt Productions.
It’s upstairs, though, that’s most interesting to us where the healthcare division has installed a miniature hospital complete with MRI machines, X-ray suite and the Giraffe post-natal ICU equipment manufactured by GE. The purpose of this suite is two-fold; as well as a handy sales tool, it’s also intended as a training suite of the kind rarely found on the continent.
A full health training centre is also due to opened in Kenya later this week.
GE is selling the Centre as part of its transformation from an industrial manufacturer into a “Digital Industrial” company, and its African CEO Jay Ireland says that this space, with its collaborative working areas, will help foster that mindset among botoh GE and its partners. He also said there are plans to install maker tools including 3D printers and C&C machines.
“It’s not about GE people sitting here and thinking up ideas,” Ireland said, “It’s about bringing in outside people to work with us and coming up with solutions for Africa’s problems.”
While digital may be the future, GE remains a massive manufacturer and Ireland said that he’s talking to several other African countries about creating more manufacturing capabulity and serving more of GE’s global supply chain in both machinery and services from here.
Already, it’s newly opened coachhworks in Johannesburg which assembles locomotives for Transnet is on track to outproduce its historical transport centre in Pennsylvania.
Around 55% of the trains assembled in South Africa are manufactured locally too.
