Tag: ge

General Electric resumes talks to sell its industrial solutions business to ABB

General Electric has resumed negotiations to sell its industrial solutions business to ABB, according to a report on Reuters.com. 

The US conglomerate’s industrial solutions business includes products such as circuit breakers, relays, panel boards and other technologies for sectors including power generation, telecommunications and mining.

Swiss company ABB had previously talked to GE about possibly purchasing the business, and the price it offered was said to be $2 billion.  Continue reading General Electric resumes talks to sell its industrial solutions business to ABB

Video: Siemens predicts small number of companies will dominate industrial internet

Only a small number of companies will dominate the industrial internet, according to a business development executive at Siemens, who was speaking to RoboticsAndAutomationNews.com at Hannover Messe. 

The German engineering giant recently launched its MindScape IoT platform and more than 50 individual apps for a variety of scenarios in industry.

Matthias Lutz, business development manager, digital factory division, Siemens, says: “I personally do see a couple of platforms co-existing in future, and maybe a couple of very specialised ones.

“But in the end, in my opinion, I think it’s a matter of two to three large platforms.”  Continue reading Video: Siemens predicts small number of companies will dominate industrial internet

Huawei links up with GE Digital to offer industrial cloud solution

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Huawei’s Catherine Du, pictured here at Hannover Messe, says the company decided it was the right time to expand its industrial IoT portfolio

Huawei and GE Digital are partnering to jointly launch their industrial cloud-based predictive maintenance solution. 

In an interview with Robotics and Automation News, Catherine Du, Huawei’s director of marketing, said the company is looking to increase its share of the nascent but fast-growing sector of business.

“Huawei is one of the leading ICT vendors,” said Du. “We supply a wide range of technologies to the market, from Big Data to IoT, so we feel that now is the right time for us to reach out to the industrial space and build new partnerships.”

And although Huawei’s current focus is on the industrial market, the company is looking to promote its brand globally going forward, in the wider business-to-business market and in the consumer space, says Du.  Continue reading Huawei links up with GE Digital to offer industrial cloud solution

The human factor: GE Digital automation boss hints at new directions for Predix

Exclusive interview with Matt Wells, of GE Digital. By Abdul Montaqim

GE Digital is a subsidiary of General Electric, the quintessential American multinational corporate conglomerate with operations in more countries than the United Nations. 

But far from being just one of its parent company’s dozen or so subsidiaries, GE Digital is something of a shooting star, outperforming many other subsidiaries to the point where it is informing, if not transforming, the entire culture and ethos of the company.

Nowadays, General Electric likes to be known as a “the world’s digital industrial company”, except they capitalise the words to emphasise the importance of the virtual realm.  Continue reading The human factor: GE Digital automation boss hints at new directions for Predix

GE, Nokia and Qualcomm unveil ‘first’ private LTE-based trial network customized for industrial IoT

ge predix windmill

GE Digital, Nokia Networks and Qualcomm Technologies say they have successfully demonstrated a private LTE network for the industrial internet of things market.

LTE stands for “long term evolution” and refers to an advanced version of the 4G network.

The new GE-Nokia-Qualcomm network meshes together each party’s platforms and technologies.

The companies plan to further research and conduct live field trials throughout 2017 based on this demonstration, which they says is “designed to advance the digitization of industrial processes”.  Continue reading GE, Nokia and Qualcomm unveil ‘first’ private LTE-based trial network customized for industrial IoT

Clearpath Robotics raises $30 million to expand Otto self-driving logistics vehicle technology

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Funding from iNovia Capital, Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures and previous investors will expand new Otto Motors division

Clearpath Robotics, a leading provider of self-driving vehicle solutions, announced today the completion of a $30 million investment led by iNovia Capital with participation from Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, RRE Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.

Clearpath will use the funding to grow the company’s industrial division, Otto Motors. Clearpath launched Otto Motors in 2015 to focus on self-driving vehicles for material transport inside manufacturing and warehouse operations.

Matt Rendall, CEO and co-founder of Clearpath, says: “Factories operate like small indoor cities, complete with roads, traffic, intersections and pedestrians.

“Unlike city streets, a factory floor is a controlled environment, which makes it an ideal place to introduce self-driving vehicles at scale. Companies like Google, Tesla and Uber are still testing, whereas our self-driving vehicles are commercially available today.”  Continue reading Clearpath Robotics raises $30 million to expand Otto self-driving logistics vehicle technology

Caterpillar, GE and Microsoft invest in Sarcos Robotics exoskeleton

sarcos guardian exoskeleton

Sarcos Robotics says its Guardian exoskeleton (pictured) will be capable of lifting hundreds of pounds when it is commercially available

Sarcos Robotics, a developer of dexterous industrial robots for use in unstructured environments, has secured $10.5 million in funding from a group of top-tier strategic investors including Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures, and Microsoft.

Additionally, Cottonwood Technology Fund and two other private investment firms, together with the company’s three co-founders, Ben Wolff, Dr Fraser Smith and Dr Marc Olivier, invested in the financing round.

The company says the infusion of capital will be used to expand the Sarcos team and to accelerate the production and deployment of Sarcos’ Guardian line of robots that are significantly reducing the risk of injury and the cost of performing many of the world’s most dangerous and difficult tasks.  Continue reading Caterpillar, GE and Microsoft invest in Sarcos Robotics exoskeleton

General Electric and Oracle to ‘digitally connect every industrial asset in the world’

ge digital

General Electric and Oracle have formed a strategic partnership focused on building what the companies claim will be a “first of its kind platform” for companies to “digitally connect every industrial asset in the world”. 

Through this collaboration, GE Digital and Oracle will develop and integrate complementary solutions across their product portfolios.  Continue reading General Electric and Oracle to ‘digitally connect every industrial asset in the world’

General Electric opens $11m futuristic robotics and 3D printing plant

ge Nozzle Automatic Polishing with Robot in the GE Oil & Gas Talamona plant_2 small

General Electric has launched two new high-tech component production lines at the GE Oil & Gas plant in Talamona, Italy.

A new nozzle production line is the first completely automated line for GE Oil & Gas, and a new additive manufacturing line will use laser technology to 3D print burners for gas turbine combustion chambers.

These new advanced manufacturing lines establishes this site as a centre of excellence for the oil and gas industry. 

The official unveiling of the upgraded turbine and compressor components manufacturing facility is the result of a €10 million, two years’ investment to establish the plant as one of its most cutting production centres. Previous investments in 2013 increased the plant’s production capacity.  Continue reading General Electric opens $11m futuristic robotics and 3D printing plant

General Electric invests $400m in first advanced manufacturing plants

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GE has opened its new state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing Works (AMW) in the US as the GE Power business continues to introduce tomorrow’s technologies, today.

The announcement comes on the heels of GE’s grand opening of its first additive manufacturing center in Pittsburgh in early April and represents the next step forward in GE’s journey as the world’s premiere digital industrial company.

GE has invested $73 million in the facility to date and will invest another $327 million across the GE Power Greenville campus over the next several years to drive innovation and the faster development of best-in-class technologies that deliver more value for customers across the globe. At least 80 engineering and manufacturing jobs are being created with the facility’s opening.  Continue reading General Electric invests $400m in first advanced manufacturing plants

Clearpath to provide GE Healthcare repair center with self-driving vehicles

The Clearpath Otto logistics robot
The Clearpath Otto logistics robot

A fleet of Otto self-driving vehicles will automate just-in-time parts delivery within Milwaukee facility 

Clearpath, the developer of Otto – a self-driving vehicle designed for material transport, has been selected to automate just-in-time parts delivery in a GE Healthcare repair facility being expanded near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“The Otto fleet will optimize GE Healthcare’s just-in-time manufacturing process to help enable repair cells to operate at full capacity,” said Matt Rendall, chief executive officer at Clearpath Robotics.  Continue reading Clearpath to provide GE Healthcare repair center with self-driving vehicles