‘Nothing lasts forever’ is an expression, and a reality, that manufacturers of all sizes know all too well. When a product stops working—for whatever reason—the end-user must either repair it or replace it. For a large company like GE Healthcare (GEH), repairing its medical equipment enables hospitals to simultaneously save money, maintain operations and provide the best possible patient care.
Several years ago, GEH consolidated multiple U.S.-based repair operations into a 280,000-square-foot facility in West Milwaukee, WI. Managers there rely on lean and advanced manufacturing, 3D printing and software analytics to quickly repair and remanufacture all types of imaging, diagnostic and patient monitoring equipment.