GE Appliances (GEA), a Haier company, has been selected by Supply & Demand Chain Executive as a recipient of the Top Supply Chain Projects Award for 2021 for the transformation of its inbound transportation strategy and the creation of its new Southern Logistics Center (SLC) in Crandall, Georgia that opened on March 9, 2020.

GE Appliances was the first company to create a parts distribution center in northwest Georgia near the Appalachian Regional Port – connected by an inland rail spur to the Port of Savannah – where off-loaded shipping containers are quicky distributed to GEA’s nearby plants. Opening a week before U.S. COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns occurred, the new Southern Logistics Center has been integral to enabling GE Appliances to provide materials and components needed to produce essential appliances at its nine U.S. manufacturing plants, even during widespread supply chain shortages affecting other companies.

“The success of our Southern Logistics Center has been a homerun for our supply chain,” said Harry Chase, director for advanced manufacturing-strategic materials for GE Appliances. “It’s one of those investments that just keeps delivering wins: reducing 3 million miles of trucking and helping the environment, avoiding the congestion of west coast ports, improving our responsiveness to customers, creating good jobs in an area that needed them, and helping keep production parts flowing over the last 16 months as the pandemic just kept throwing one curveball after another. We are extremely thankful for the support and continued partnership from the state of Georgia, the Georgia Port Authority and the Georgia Department of Economic Development.”

The Top Supply Chain Projects (formerly known as SDCE 100) spotlights successful and innovative transformation projects that deliver bottom-line value to small, medium and large enterprises across a range of supply chain functions. These projects show how supply chain solution and service providers help their customers and clients achieve supply chain excellence and prepare their supply chains for success.

“The supply chain industry has been challenged with a host of supply chain disruptions over the last year. Yet, the winners on this list continued to re-tool and innovate,” says Marina Mayer, editor for Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics. “Whether it be moving a customer to a cloud-based solution or implementing a more sustainable shipping option, these top supply chain projects reflect the supply chain industry’s strength and resilience to overcome disruptions and work better, smarter and more efficiently in the years ahead.”

GE Appliances builds more than 2,500 appliances per hour in nine U.S. plants, which requires the purchase, storage and distribution of more than two billion parts and components. With the opening of the $32 million Southern Logistics Center, the fulfillment of those parts became easier. The 504,000 square foot center is the largest investment and first fulfillment and distribution warehouse at the Appalachian Regional Port (ARP), located in Murray County, an inland extension of the Port of Savannah.

Comprehensive Logistics Co., Inc. (CLI), a third-party logistics company, operates the Southern Logistics Center under an agreement with and on behalf of GE Appliances. CLI is an innovator of material flow visibility technologies and warehouse management processes.

Go to www.SDCExec.com to view the full list of all 2021 Top Supply Chain Projects winners.

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