Adventures in Polymerland

Foss agrees. Members of the Web team, he says, "met every day at 5 PM for an action meeting. They dragged me in at least once a week, and we'd sit for an hour, make decisions, and go. That's when you have to draw on the experience of people from various functional areas. We made a lot of decisions very quickly that have changed the way that our business behaves. At the end of the day, it's really a behavioral discussion, not a technical one."

For now, Polymerland's competitive edge hinges on fundamental business processes. But in the future, staying ahead will depend on its ability to come up with the next big leap in service. One day, Foss promises, the site will offer not just plastics but also other things that the plastics industry needs: machinery and equipment, logistics support, even people. Polymerland could also join forces with other units within GE to offer services that are completely new, such as using smart applications to help manufacturers decide which plastic best fits a given job -- an idea that came out of GE Power Systems. Another idea, courtesy of GE Research & Development: using microchip sensors to monitor the pellet levels in customers' storage silos -- and then using that data to trigger automatic replenishment via the Web.

More important than launching specific innovations, though, will be maintaining progress. For Foss, the key challenges are to keep Polymerland focused on its customers and to keep it moving forward -- fast. "We are really at the beginning of the execution phase," he says. "We've got to keep going at 120 miles an hour, and we've got to keep fueling this process with injections of new talent and new thought. We've got to make sure that we don't get too comfortable."

Cheryl Dahle (cdahle@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior writer. Contact Peter Foss by email (peter.foss@polymerland.com).

Sidebar: Steal This Idea!

At GE, intracompany idea poaching isn't just tolerated -- it's encouraged. One strength that a company with 340,000 people brings to the world of e-commerce is an ability to share ideas with dozens of business units. "We take all of these ideas and steal them from one another," says Jose Lopez, 40, e-commerce leader for GE Power Systems, which sells gas, steam, and hydroelectric turbines.

A case in point is a program that allows GE Power to provide analysis of various product options via the Web. Each GE turbine is fitted with a device that sends data about its performance back to GE via phone line or satellite. GE Power collects that information and then links it to the division's Web site. Turbine customers can go to the site and request an analysis of how their turbine is performing in comparison with the rest of the GE fleet. The program then tells customers what actions they might take to boost performance.

GE Polymerland is borrowing the structure of that program to help its customers pick the right plastic for each job. And GE Aircraft Engines and GE Transportation Systems are using similar technology. Why? The potential payoff is huge. At GE Power, the analysis process, which takes weeks when done manually, can be done in a few minutes over the Web. "That's one thing that we have over the dotcom startups," Lopez says. "We have 'brick' ability, so we can leverage all these years of data and experience, and we can marry all of that to 'click' ability. And that creates this amazing tool for serving customers."