General Motors prevents at least 75 factory stoppages with AI-driven supplier risk monitoring

From 2020 through 2023, multiple automakers had to temporarily shut down US production plants because of semiconductor chip shortages. In 2021 the shortage forced General Motors to cut production at eight facilities, and it halted US truck production again in 2022. The shortages pushed GM to rethink how it monitored suppliers, and since the pandemic it has had to increase tenfold the number of suppliers it monitors.

Over the last four years GM has developed AI tools to alert workers to potential supply chain network problems. Its engineers built a digitized supply map and a machine-learning tool that constantly tracks relationships between tier-one suppliers and their sub-tier partners. A communication hub monitored by risk analysts in Michigan activates when the system identifies a disruption, an AI article scanner called Risk Intelligence reads and classifies thousands of daily news articles, and a dashboard tracks supplier sites for signs of trouble such as shipping delays, overdue parts or missed schedules.

According to Sean Gaskin, GM's director of systems engineering and one of the program's architects, the technology has prevented at least 75 factory stoppages this year alone. Before Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina in September 2024, the system had predicted that supplier Auria Solutions would take a direct hit, and GM was prepared for the production-halting damage. The system has also helped the automaker avoid stoppages during events such as China's throttling of rare earth magnets, and the communication hub has triggered thousands of investigations.

• Map suppliers beyond direct parts suppliers to the companies behind them, so sub-tier risks become visible.
• Combine automated news scanning and supplier-site dashboards with a communication hub staffed by human risk analysts.
• Sharing early risk signals with suppliers can give them a chance to act quickly; GM calls it a win-win.