GE has launched an innovative digital solution that provides a one-stop-shop for industrial services with a unique marketplace where buyers can float electronic requests for quotes to pre-qualified suppliers.

SourceNow offers an innovative, intuitive, easy-to-use solution that solves the challenge of sourcing highly-skilled and highly-specialized industrial services. The solution was developed by a small startup-concept team from GE’s Power Services Middle East and Africa (MEA) unit based in Dubai, UAE and is particularly useful for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that often have limited access to, or awareness of, high quality suppliers.

Michelle Wu, CIO and VP of Digital Technology for Power Services MEA, said: “SourceNow will change the way industrial services suppliers and customers do business.”

“The large number of verified vendors and customer review ratings help to offer competitive prices and bring speed and efficient options to buyers. We have seen consumer goods industries use digital solutions to provide various scales of products, ranging from e-books to food service delivery. However, SourceNow provides services on a larger scale with simplicity and easy access to complex and sophisticated services in sectors such as power generation and oil and gas.”

At the heart of SourceNow are three critical elements that have helped to create an easy-to-navigate digital solution connecting suppliers to customers, while simplifying complex sourcing processes:

•    Powered by Predix, GE’s platform for the Industrial Internet – purpose-built to meet the scale, complexity, speed and security requirements of industry.
•    125 years of GE’s industrial domain expertise in quality services.
•    More than 110 years of GE’s industrial procurement and sourcing knowledge across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.  

With over 430 registered industrial services suppliers, SourceNow currently offers more than 20 different categories of industrial services in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt. These categories include welding and fabrication, machining, EPCs, shop repairs, equipment rentals, manpower and much more.

“Looking at the broader picture, SourceNow builds on our commitment to help industrial services suppliers and SMEs grow faster. By connecting them and giving them easy access to each other, the digital solution can support their business objectives and speed up their decision-making processes,” Wu added.

The launch of SourceNow in the Middle East and Africa builds on GE’s efforts to promote the development of local SMEs and indigenous entrepreneurship in the region’s industrial sector. In the UAE, GE’s Ecomagination Center, located at Masdar City, aims to drive the development of innovative solutions to solve sustainability challenges collaboratively.

In Saudi Arabia, Dussur and GE signed a joint venture worth over $267 million to strengthen “Made in Saudi” capabilities by expanding manufacturing processes to create the capacity to supply most of KSA’s annual demand for gas turbines and boost the local supply chain to benefit SMEs.

In Kuwait, GE’s investments in the industrial ecosystem include the Kuwait Technology Center (KTC), which serves three core areas for energy sector customers across the Middle East and Africa: training, tooling and engineering.

In Egypt, the GE Egypt Digital Innovation Challenge was recently held in collaboration with the Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC). More than 185 submissions, from 18 governorates, helped to find digital solutions for industrial challenges. – TradeArabia News Service