At the GE Healthcare factory, located in Buc (Yvelines), on the edge of the Versailles national forest, it is time for celebration. The American group, the result of the spin-off of General Electric in 2023, inaugurated, on Tuesday, October 1, the first assembly line for medical scanners in France.
With giant scissors to cut the red ribbon, an audience of local elected officials and a congratulatory video message from the Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci, extolling the virtues of the health reconquest, the global medical imaging giant has set the small dishes on a large scale to celebrate the return of the scanner industry to national soil. Because since the American acquisition of the General Radiology Company in 1987, then a subsidiary of Thomson, the production of these devices, used in the diagnosis of numerous pathologies and whose demand continues to increase today, had disappeared in France.
In operation for several weeks, this new assembly line is intended to supply the entire European continent, whose market is estimated at two billion dollars (1.8 billion euros). To begin this French renaissance, GE Healthcare ($19.6 billion in revenue in 2023) paid one million euros to repatriate to Buc – its European headquarters – the assembly stages of the Revolution Maxima, its best-selling scanner model in the world.
China Parts
Until now these were made in China, which caused significant delivery times for European customers. “ Instead of three or four months, we can now process orders in four weeks. » explains Jean-Philippe Bousquel, General Manager of Imaging at GE Healthcare International.
The manufacturer, which shipped its first scanner assembled in France to the Montargis hospital center (Loiret) in mid-September, aims to deliver between 200 and 250 devices per year to hospitals, clinics and radiology centers. The blue, white and red label is still far from being conquered. Because if the generator is French, the vast majority of the parts that make up the scanner, such as the tube, an essential element that allows x-rays to be produced, continue to be manufactured outside Europe, particularly in China and India. The assembly is also not carried out entirely in France: the rotary positioner is pre-assembled in the group’s Chinese factory before being sent to Buc.
Testing and calibration, these configurations customized to the customer’s needs and constituting the essential added value of the product, as well as research, development and design, are carried out entirely in France, the group states. “ French origin represents more than 50% of the value chain of this device », insists Elie Chaillot, CEO of GE Healthcare International. Ultimately, the company plans to expand its local supplier network to replicate the model of its flagship mammography device, Pristina. Launched in 2016 in Buc and exported around the world, the latter features more than 90% of components from Europe.
