GE Supply, Shelton, Conn., outlined details for an engineering and con- struction support initiative that will allow GE to market its products to meet the electrical needs of design-build firms worldwide.
"We're trying to sell them equipment that is required for the construction of new facilities or additions to facilities. We are able to establish ongoing service capability for their MRO requirements in-country either through GE Supply or through an in-country GE distributor-affiliate," said Dale McCoy, Kenwood, Calif., global business development manager for GE's engineer-constructor group. "The prime purpose is to maximize the sale of GE products through GE Supply to the engineer-constructor market globally."
Support for this work will come from three new Centers of Excellence, each with a project team dedicated to domestic and international engineering and construction projects. The teams will aid businesses through GE's global affiliates and partners, and resources available in each region. Teams are located in Houston, Texas, and Martinez, Calif., and the company plans to locate the third team on the East Coast.
GE Supply's size and lineage make it possible for the distributor to offer an unusual array of products and services through the Centers of Excellence program, McCoy said. "To our knowledge there is no distributor organization that has a separate organization like we have put together to focus 100% on the engineer-constructor business (and) that is also tied to a major electrical equipment manufacturer-in our case, the largest in the world," McCoy said.
Advantages for clients, McCoy said, are "focus, speed, simplicity, knowledge of the global markets, in-depth knowledge of the engineer-constructor and in many cases their end-clients, as well as the ability to network on a global basis not only with the GE business partners, but with GE distribution around the world, and teamed 100% with our global operations organization, and acquisitions and in-country capabilities."