GE Unveils World-Class Inspection Technologies Customer Solutions Center And Inspection Academy Headquarters At Lewistown, Pa. Facility

Investing more than $10M in Lewistown Site Expansion, GE’s State-of-the-Art Facility Addresses Global Demand for Industrial and Infrastructure Inspection Solutions

GE recently announced the grand opening of its state-of-the-art Customer Solutions Center (CSC) at GE Measurement & Control’s Inspection Technologies site in Lewistown, Pa. GE has invested more than $10M in this expansion project, positioning itself to meet the growing demand for industrial and infrastructure inspection technology solutions worldwide. The enhanced facility will also serve as the North American hub for GE’s Inspection Academy, which trains both GE employees and customers on GE’s latest non-destructive testing (NDT) tools, helping address a global shortage of experienced, well-trained NDT personnel. Critical in supporting safe operation and quality control, non-destructive testing enables the detection and evaluation of flaws in materials or structural properties, without producing harmful effects on the subjects being tested. 

Local officials joined GE executives for the official opening and ribbon cutting ceremony today. As part of this event, GE customers toured the facility and experienced GE’s complete Inspection Technologies product portfolio and how GE is helping customers address the most demanding inspection applications in real-world industrial environments across the oil and gas, power generation, aerospace, metals manufacturing, and automotive industries.

“GE is committed to making a difference in our customers’ lives through the development and application of innovative, advanced technologies designed to help them succeed,” said Jeff Anderson, general manager, Inspection Technologies for GE Measurement & Control, a GE Oil & Gas division. “The newly expanded Lewistown facility enables us to grow our new product development capabilities and manufacturing capacity, while continuing to shape the NDT industry through advanced training, research, development and collaboration efforts through our world-class Inspection Academy.”

GE’s newly completed, 52,000-square-foot expansion project has increased the facility’s floor space by more than 63 percent. This expansion supports the growing number of industrial operators who have embraced the use of NDT solutions to monitor the condition of their equipment and more accurately predict when certain components might need repair or replacement – helping them to avoid costly, unplanned maintenance outages. GE’s technology is also used to inspect the quality and integrity of new products—such as jet engine blades before they are installed, and infrastructure assets including bridges and pipelines.

The expansion will also enable GE to maintain its position as a technology thought leader in developing and manufacturing a wide range of remote visual inspection, ultrasonic, electromagnetic, advanced radiography and computed tomography systems as well as data management software. These NDT systems are used to help assess the health of industrial assets throughout the lifecycle by providing timely, quality assessments of critical equipment.

GE’s Customer Solutions Center, Inspection Academy
GE’s new Customer Solutions Center will work with GE customers to help solve the world’s toughest inspection challenges. Currently GE hosts more than 200 customer visits a year at the Lewistown site; a number that is expected to increase significantly with the expanded facility. At the Customer Solutions Center, GE customers can participate in training sessions, demonstrations and customization exercises through a series of interactive interfaces and multimedia presentations designed to address their unique needs. Additionally, knowledgeable GE domain experts are available to assist customers with technical questions and offer one-on-one support.

The facility is also headquarters for GE’s Inspection Academy, a global training and knowledge-sharing program for GE customers and employees. Inspection Academy provides access to the latest NDT technologies as well as high quality training in the application of a wide range of NDT modalities to help customers improve their probability of detection, boost productivity, establish lifelong career skills and build confidence for better decision making. Inspection Academy also offers partnership opportunities with local colleges and universities, such as Penn State University.

Local Economic Benefits for Lewistown and Central Pa. Region
GE’s newly completed facility expansion has benefitted the central Pennsylvania region. The site currently spends more than $5M per year with Pennsylvania suppliers and continues to make significant investments in new product developments each year. Additionally, all of the firms hired to design and build GE’s expanded facility are located in the central Pennsylvania region, including RAL Architecture and Design, Lewisburg; Zartman Construction, Northumberland; Michael L. Norris and Associates, HVAC/Plumbing/Fire Suppression/Electrical Engineering, State College; and Penn Terra Engineering, Site Design, State College.

GE is committed to making a difference in its customers’ lives through the development and application of innovative, advanced technologies designed to help them succeed. Demonstrating this ongoing customer-centric approach, the Lewistown facility is one in a series of new GE Customer Solutions Centers that have opened around the world. From these facilities to Industrial Internet software solutions, GE is committed to providing analytical intelligence to support the prediction and prevention of problems and get the right information to the right people at the right time – so that industrial products that power the world can be made stronger and safer. 

About GE
GE works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit www.ge.com.

About GE Oil & Gas
GE Oil & Gas is a world leader in advanced technologies and services with 37,000 employees in more than 100 countries supporting customers across the industry—from extraction to transportation to end use. Making the environment, health and safety, quality and integrity our highest priorities is The Way We Work. Our technologies and services include: surface and subsea drilling and production, monitoring and diagnostics, measurement and controls, large-scale LNG, pipeline compression and inspection, well site and industrial power generation, technologies for the refining and petrochemical industries, and modular CNG and LNG units for transportation sectors. Through our customized service solutions, training programs and technologies, GE Oil & Gas partners with customers to maximize their efficiency, productivity and equipment reliability; develop their next generation workforce; and fully benefit from the megatrends of natural gas, the growth of subsea and hard-to-reach reserves and the revolution in asset health management.