GM Wants Suppliers To Think About Replacing People With Robots

General Motors might be indirectly coming for people's jobs.

GM has launched a new Overall Automation Maturity Index, or OAMI, that asks major suppliers to grade how automated their operations are on a five-point scale.

The program started in March, when GM began sending surveys to suppliers asking them to audit their own manufacturing operations against criteria covering the whole chain—from raw material purchasing through production and final delivery. In some cases, GM is also auditing supplier plants directly.

The five levels run from manual operations to basic mechanization, semiautomation, integrated automation, and finally smart factory/adaptive automation. People familiar with the matter told Crain’s Detroit that GM is targeting a 4.5 out of 5. Several executives on the supply side believe the expectation is that they hit those levels or lose out on future business.

GM insists the policy is not a mandate.

The automaker says the strategy is meant to create a “resilient, world-class” supply chain, with robotics and artificial intelligence playing a much larger role in how parts are built. That sounds terrible for the people whose jobs exist precisely because factories still need human hands—the kind of people who buy Chevrolets.

"GM has implemented a survey wherein suppliers benchmark their current levels of automation. Since there is currently no industry standard to measure automation across suppliers, the survey serves as a common benchmark and reflects a moment in time," GM's Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Communications Lead Patrick Sullivan told AutoGuide in an emailed statement. "The associated metrics are goals (not requirements) and we want to work with suppliers on increasing their productivity, safety, quality, and competitiveness."

Some suppliers are concerned about the cost of major automation upgrades, how those investments will be funded, and how any financial gains would be divided with GM.

UAW president Shawn Fain has framed artificial intelligence and mass automation as a profound threat, calling the shift a fight for humanity. That may sound dramatic, but GM’s new scoring system shows why the union is not hallucinating.

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