Company to share supply-chain strategies, site selection process and new technologies involved in $100M Lafayette facility at Logistics Summit, Sept. 22 INDIANAPOLIS - GE Aviation, a global leader in jet engines and aircraft systems, is preparing to launch a "facility of the future" at its new $100 million jet engine assembly facility in Lafayette, Ind. On Sept. 22, at the Indiana Logistics Summit, the company will discuss the development of this facility which will begin operations Sept. 14 and is scheduled to start production Jan. 1.  At the Summit, GE Aviation will provide an inside look at the supply-chain strategies, site selection process and new technologies involved in the state-of-art facility that will soon be producing the best-selling engine in commercial aviation. GE Plant Leader Eric Matteson will join speakers from Fair Oaks Farms, Google, NASA, Cummins, Indianapolis Colts, INDYCAR, NCAA, U.S. Congress, Moffatt & Nichol, Transportation Weekly, Harvard Business School and more at the Indiana Convention Center for the 13th annual Summit.  The new GE facility features some of the most advanced manufacturing techniques in the world and represents a major milestone in technology development in this country. GE Aviation considered 135 different parameters during the site selection evaluation, and logistics was a major component of that assessment because the Lafayette facility will not have any raw material inventory on site.  "Our company relies on 200 global suppliers as well as over 1,500 domestic suppliers," Matteson said. "One of the reasons we selected Lafayette for this state-of-the-art facility was because of its proximity to our primary warehouse near Cincinnati and the central location between large airports in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta." Long runways are required for handling cargo planes carrying large jet engine components that are flown in from around the world. Turbine and fan components that are bigger than cars will be flown into Chicago and then trucked to and from Cincinnati and Lafayette. "Logistics are the lifeblood of most organizations that produce a product and it's very gratifying to know that our state's infrastructure and logistical advantages played a significant role in GE Aviation's decision to locate its new plant in Lafayette," said Ports of Indiana CEO Rich Cooper. "Because of the extreme sensitivity of all the parts for GE's jet engines, they will arrive exclusively by air-ride truck. No state in the country has more pass-through interstates than Indiana and our 1,200 miles of this national highway system will help ensure those trucks reach the plant in a timely fashion." The daylong Summit opens with a Keynote Breakfast featuring a presentation titled "From Grass to Glass Logistics" by Dr. Michael McCloskey, a founding farmer of Fair Oaks Farms, one of the nation's largest dairies, and CEO of Select Milk Producers, the fifth largest milk cooperative in the country.  The opening reception for Summit attendees will take place on Monday, Sept. 21, at The Crane Bay as part of the Colts VIP Tailgate leading up to the Colts' game against the New York Jets. Tickets to the reception are complimentary with Summit registration, and include a Morton Steakhouse buffet, cocktail bars hosted by Jim Beam, visits from Colts cheerleaders and former players, the live broadcast site for the Colts' pregame show, an NFL memorabilia auction and much more.