GM honours 110 of its best global suppliers

On March 10, General Motors recognised 110 of its best global suppliers during its 24th annual Supplier of the Year awards ceremony held at Cobo Center.  The announcement represents the most suppliers GM has recognised since debuting the Supplier of the Year event in 1992.

Automotive suppliers from 17 countries including Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec of India, received GM’s coveted Supplier of the Year award for going above and beyond GM’s requirements, designed to provide customers with the most innovative technologies that benefit customers and the industry’s highest quality vehicles.

GM’s 2015 recognition represents a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of suppliers recognised compared to 79 recipients in 2014. More than half of the suppliers are repeat winners from 2014.

“Our priorities are focused on building positive supplier relationships, bringing new, customer-centric innovations to GM, and being the OEM of choice among suppliers,” said Steve Kiefer, GM vice-president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. “The companies we recognise tonight not only have brought innovation, they delivered it with the quality our customers deserve.”

During the event, GM debuted an Innovation award to recognize five suppliers who brought new innovations that benefit customers.  Inaugural winners include Autoneum Holding AG; Delphi Automotive; Delta Electronics; Gentex Corporation; and FANUC Corporation. 

Autoneum – provided new lightweight acoustic material in the 2016 GMC Acadia that reduces mass by 20 percent while improving acoustic performance. 

Delphi – provided industry-first vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communication technology to provide 360-degree object detection, which can see beyond the line of sight and around large obstructions. GM will be the first to market with this technology available on the 2017 Cadillac CTS.

Delta Electronics – supplied an on-board charger module in the 2016 Chevrolet Volt that converts AC power into DC power with the purpose of recharging the battery pack of an electric car.

FANUC – developed an assembly plant paint robot application designed to prevent unexpected downtime while enhancing overall robot performance.

Gentex – introduced industry-first rear camera mirror on the 2016 Cadillac CT6 that eliminates C-pillar obstacles and increases field of vision up to 300 percent.

GM also honored three companies – LGE/LG Chem, Brake Parts Incorporated, and repeat winner Lear – with its Overdrive Award. The honour, first debuted in 2012, recognises supply partners for extraordinary leadership in cultural change and commitment initiatives that drove exceptional business results for GM.

The Supplier of the Year, Overdrive and Innovation award winners are chosen by a global team of GM purchasing, engineering, quality, manufacturing, and logistics executives.  Winners were selected based on performance criteria in Product Purchasing, Indirect Purchasing, Customer Care and Aftersales, and Logistics.