GE Healthcare, the $17-billion division of General Electric Company, today announced the expansion of its Bangalore manufacturing operations to enable more customised products for local use. It also rolled out its first computer tomography (CT) system manufactured in India.
The CT system manufacturing facility has a yearly capacity of 40 units. The systems cost about $200,000 (Rs 90 lakh) if assembled here, a cost advantage of 10 per cent. With more indigenisation expected, costs may be brought down further, said the company.
It said it’d be augmenting its network to tap opportunities in tier-II and tier-III towns. And, may even tie up with companies that sell healthcare products and have a distribution network, to reach healthcare practitioners in these places. Many hospitals and diagnostic centres are coming up in these towns and looking for affordable and reliable systems.
Today, with medical imaging equipment, like CT and MRI systems and nuclear medicine being imported, waiting periods are long. GE Healthcare’s efforts to produce more high-end products locally is aimed at making many of these more affordable for practitioners, especially those who need such technologies in tier-II and III towns.
“In the past we designed, developed and manufactured ultrasound, ECG, x-ray systems and many sub-systems in India. We are making in India products conceived locally and that speak to local needs, while giving solutions that can be taken to other emerging markets,” said John Dineen, President and CEO, GE Healthcare.
The company set up its first manufacturing plant in the country in 1991. It signalled an aggressive approach by announcing plans to manufacture GoldSeal HiSpeed CT/e single and dual slice systems exclusively in India for both domestic and exports worldwide. The manufacturing plant in Bangalore has capacity to produce upto 300 HiSpeed CT/e units in one year with an option to increase capacity further.
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“Globally, we are seeing a major shift from a ‘what we can offer’ to a ‘what can I offer you’ syndrome and I believe that has a lasting impact on customers – the whole idea is to understand the needs of the market. We aim to make healthcare more accessible through solutions developed or manufactured locally meeting local needs,” said V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia.