RIYADH — GE has signed a groundbreaking partnership agreement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Obeikan Investment Group, one of the largest diversified business entities in the Kingdom with more than 20 factories specialized in packaging, paper, plastics, glass, among others across the Middle East, Africa & Europe. GE will partner with the Group to provide advanced digital technologies, transforming key manufacturing plants into smart factories.
Marking GE Digital’s regional growth into the Food & Beverage (F&B) and Consumer Package Goods (CPG) sectors, the partnership will support the digitization of Obeikan facilities and beyond. Initially, two Obeikan plants will be digitally transformed, with the potential to scale and convert the group’s other plants across the Middle East, Africa & Europe in the future.
This conversion will bring the Group unprecedented levels of efficiency and productivity, leveraging GE Digital’s Brilliant Manufacturing solutions. Solutions to be deployed – and powered by Predix, GE’s platform for the Industrial Internet – include Digital Twin, a digital replica of physical assets; Asset Performance Management (APM), allowing for more intelligent operations through a complete view of assets and predictive analytics; and ServiceMax, a cloud-based field service management (FSM) solution.
Currently, data from Obeikan’s factories is collected and stored in numerous databases. Using GE Digital’s Brilliant Manufacturing solutions enables manufacturers to make precise, real-time decisions through data-driven insights, thus optimizing operation performance. These solutions are the digital technology behind smart factories, linking all aspects of a facility into an intelligent system, using data and analytics to allow for informed, accurate decisions.
Eng. Abdallah Obeikan, CEO of Obeikan Investment Group, said: “The practical application of GE’s digital industrial solutions was highlighted at GE’s Saudi Arabia Minds + Machine event in October 2016. We were energized by the potential for growth and enhanced productivity that GE’s solutions can deliver. Converting our factories into smart factories will enable us to make gains in terms of efficiency, reduce costs and achieve manufacturing excellence. We firmly believe that digitization of our assets is the key to value creation, sustainability and elevating our customer care services – and we will continue to explore digital industrial solutions that enable us to achieve even higher growth in the Kingdom and the region.”
Ali Saleh, VP and Chief Commercial Officer, GE Digital MEA, said: “Our partnership with Obeikan is path-breaking as it marks the first regional application of GE Digital solutions in the F&B and CPG industries. While our digital industrial solutions now find extensive deployment in the energy, oil & gas, and aviation sectors, working as a partner with Obeikan Group presents numerous opportunities for both companies to boost industrial output in new verticals. This aligns with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to further expand and diversify the manufacturing sector. Obeikan is a leader in its businesses, and the application of digital industrial solutions will help achieve stronger business outcomes.”
Hisham Albahkali, GE’s President & CEO for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, said: “GE is partnering with the Kingdom in driving digital industrial transformation, and has signed several agreements that will promote local industry. This underlines our commitment to supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to drive economic and industrial diversification. Our new agreement with Obeikan Investment Group marks a new milestone for us as it strengthens the application of our Industrial Internet solutions for new business verticals.”
The agreement will be executed through a phased approach. The first will focus on centralized data collection, followed by the implementation of a manufacturing execution system. The phases that follow will include the digitization of scheduling, dashboards, asset performance, and inventory, among others. GE Digital will also introduce its advanced suite of digital solutions aimed at strengthening workflow efficiency, process improvement, and improved levels of productivity. GE will work with Obeikan to roll out complete training programs on all new technologies, to fully localize and empower the company’s employees.
Obeikan Group, as a leader in the regional packaging industry, has the distinctive capabilities of manufacturing excellence alongside state-of-the-art technology platforms. Obeikan and GE will partner to offer GE Digital solutions combined with Obeikan’s manufacturing excellence competencies to regional industry leaders, to enhance their productivity and competitiveness through the development of people, converting analog assets into smart assets, digitizing standard operating procedures, and asset performance management, among others, thereby taking regional manufacturing capabilities to new heights.
GE introduced its advanced digital capabilities in the Kingdom through several landmark partnerships announced last year. With a presence of over 80 years, three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East with over 2,000 employees driving the Aviation, Digital, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Power and Transportation businesses. — SG
