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December 03, 2007

GE to close bulb plants in U.S., Brazil

Associated Press

October 4, 2007 at 5:55 PM EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — — General Electric Co. [GE-N] said Thursday it will close a number of lighting plants in Brazil and the United States as part of a plan to restructure its consumer and industrial division, potentially cutting more than 1,400 jobs in the process.

Louisville, Ky.-based GE Consumer & Industrial said it will close all of its lighting operations in Rio de Janeiro, which will affect about 900 jobs.

The company also plans to close some lighting factories in the U.S., which will affect about 425 jobs. “A portion” of the U.S. jobs will be transferred to other GE lighting facilities, the company added.

Another 80 jobs will be affected by a transfer of some operations from facilities in Mexico and the U.S. to other locations.

General Electric


Fairfield, Conn.-based GE said it is closing the facilities, in part, because of a changing lighting market, in which demand for the incandescent bulb has declined over the past five years but is now increasing due to new technology and efficiency standards.

The company also said it can now buy some of the components it needs to produce bulbs at more competitive costs than making them.

“The restructuring we are proposing, while very difficult due to the impact on employees, would be one of the most important things we've done in the 100-plus-year history of GE's lighting business,” said Jim Campbell, president and chief executive officer of GE Consumer & Industrial.

The industry is changing quickly as global demand is shrinking for incandescent light bulbs and products are being developed with new efficiency standards and technology, he said.

The company also can now purchase components at competitive prices, making it more expensive to continue making the lighting-product components in-house, he said.

“It doesn't make sense for us to continue with an inefficient model,” he said. “The proposed plan would allow us to continue to reinvent our production model to use our global factory more efficiently and effectively.”

The company needs to shift its resources toward new products like LEDs, high-efficiency incandescent bulb and other items that consumers and businesses are seeking, Campbell said.