By Liz Young
GE Appliances said it has awarded $150 million in contracts to American suppliers as it prepares to move manufacturing of some product lines to the U.S. from China.
The 22 suppliers will provide steel, resin, parts and components for GE Appliances to make washers and combination washer-and-dryer machines at a renovated factory in Louisville, Ky.
GE Appliances, owned by China's Haier Smart Home, said the suppliers are located across 10 states, including four suppliers in Kentucky, four in Tennessee and three in Indiana. The value of the contracts ranges from about $330,000 to roughly $41 million.
The investment adds to the company's plan announced earlier this year to spend $3 billion over the next five years to expand and modernize its U.S. factories, a move that is expected to help blunt the effects of new U.S. tariffs by reshoring some work now done in China and Mexico. The effort includes a $490 million expansion of the washing-machine factory at the company's home base in Louisville.
The contract awards come as companies increasingly seek to work more closely with their suppliers to help cut costs, control exposure to tariffs and avoid disruptions like those seen during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ashley Eckert, senior director of sourcing at GE Appliances, said the company's new contracts are part of a shift to involve vendors from the beginning of development rather than waiting until designs are complete.
"That early collaboration, we felt like it's going to help us for design, for manufacturability, reduce lead times overall, stay competitive, and then ultimately drive a better product for both our customers and the consumer," Eckert said.
Eckert said that, as an example, one part was redesigned using a supplier's input to reduce the cost by 25%.
Suppliers say the contracts will allow them to invest in their own operations to increase production capacity.
Jones Plastic, which makes products such as the glass-and-plastic top lid of washing machines and is a longtime supplier of GE Appliances, plans to hire staff and buy more injection-molding machines and material-handling equipment.
The contract award enables Jones Plastic to "present a little bit more of a high level of confidence for what the future holds by continuing to make those investments," said Ryan Jones, co-owner and chief operating officer of the Louisville-based company.
Ethan Hamblen, chief executive of Franklin Park, Ill.-based RCM Industries, which makes aluminum die-cast parts, said he plans to buy about $5 million to $10 million of new equipment and hire at least 30 people because of the contract.
GE Appliances' largest supplier, U.S. Steel, said the deal has opened up a discussion about what else the appliance maker could purchase from the steel manufacturer.
"It moved the conversation from 'sell and buy components' to what strategically we can do together," said Marcos Corradin, the company's director of marketing and strategy.
Manufacturers have been looking to work more closely with suppliers to make their supply chains into a competitive advantage after widespread disruptions during the pandemic.
"It used to be just companies competing with companies, but now it's supply chains competing with supply chains," said Phillip Coles, a supply-chain professor at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
Tariffs introduced this year on U.S. imports have led some businesses to look at sourcing more products domestically, which requires finding out what's possible to source in the U.S., said Rob Handfield, a supply-chain management professor at North Carolina State University.
Some companies are "starting to become much more integrated and closely involved with suppliers, because they're recognizing they have to work together to solve these problems," Handfield said.
GE Appliances, which also makes products such as refrigerators, ovens and dishwashers, said it expects to begin production of washers and combination washer-dryers in Louisville in early 2027.
Write to Liz Young at liz.young@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 20, 2025 08:00 ET (13:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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