General Electric’s founder, Thomas Edison, is best known as the inventor of the incandescent light bulb back in the 19th Century. It was a major step forward which has enhanced the life of billions of people. But now, new more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs are consigning the incandescent bulbs to the history books. So it should come as no surprise that General Electric has announced that it is closing a number of incandescent bulb factories in the USA, Mexico and Brazil.

GE’s Jim Campbell explained the move, saying that “Global market demand for the most common household lighting product the incandescent bulb has dramatically declined over the past five years”. It reflects the growing consumer desire to select more efficient bulbs, which save money in the long run by cutting down electricity bills. It is a classic case of how the economic bottom line and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. Inefficiency is bad for wallets and bad for the environment.

Another interesting aspect to the GE announcement is that the company plans to place less reliance on manufacturing things directly. They want to rely more on offshoring which will free up financial resources for research and development. “In many cases, we can now purchase the components we need at a more competitive cost than we can make them. It doesn’t make sense for us to continue with an inefficient model,” Campbell said.