CASE STUDY: GM’s Award-Winning Factory ZERO

Sue Pelletier July 18, 2022

GM completely renovated, retooled, and expanded an existing factory into an ML award-winning plant to drive its all-electric vision for the future.   

Company Fact File –

Company: General Motors
Sector: Automotive
HQ location: Detroit, MI, U.S.
Revenues: $10 billion+ annually
Employees: 5,000+ employees
Web url: www.gm.com

General Motors, a global automotive leader with a rich history of innovation, is committed to its vision of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion through the creation and manufacturing of electric, self-driving, connected vehicles and shared mobility services that will transform how people get around.

But to advance this vision of an all-electric future that is inclusive and accessible to all, the company needed a fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly plant with contiguous battery assembly. Rather than start from scratch, GM undertook a complete renovation to transform an existing 38-year-old plant into the Factory ZERO Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, a project that won the company High Achiever status in the Engineering and Production Technology category during the recent 2022 Manufacturing Leadership Awards program.

This was a monumental undertaking. In addition to adding a 1 million-square-foot expansion, retooling the general assembly area, modernizing and expanding the paint shop, and refurbishing and expanding the body shop, the company constructed a brand-new automated storage and retrieval addition for Ultium battery assembly. This allows for multiple vehicle styles and battery assembly to happen under one roof.

Renovations and new construction continue at General Motors Factory ZERO Friday, July 2, 2021, in Detroit, Michigan. GM is investing $2.2 billion to convert the former Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant into its first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly facility. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)
Renovations and new construction continue at General Motors Factory ZERO Friday, July 2, 2021, in Detroit, Michigan. GM is investing $2.2 billion to convert the former Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant into its first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly facility. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)
Renovations and new construction continue at General Motors Factory ZERO Friday, July 2, 2021, in Detroit, Michigan. GM is investing $2.2 billion to convert the former Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant into its first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly facility. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)
Renovations and new construction continue at the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 in Detroit. GM announced Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 the facility will be known as Factory ZERO, Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center. The name Factory ZERO reflects the significance of this facility advancing GM’s zero-crashes, zero-emissions and zero-congestion future. GM is investing $2.2 billion to convert the facility into its first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly plant. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)
General Motors Executive Vice President Global Manufacturing Gerald Johnson addresses the gathering at GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Friday, October 16, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan as the plant’s new name is unveiled: Factory ZERO, Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center. The facility will be known as Factory ZERO, which reflects the significance of this assembly center advancing GM’s zero-crashes, zero-emissions and zero-congestion future. GM is investing $2.2 billion to make Factory ZERO its first fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly plant. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)
Production is now set to begin at the former Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, less than two years after GM announced the massive $2.2 billion investment to fully renovate the facility to build a variety of all-electric trucks and SUVs. Pre-production of the 2022 GMC HUMMER EV pickups began at Factory ZERO this fall and GMC HUMMER EV is on track to deliver the first vehicles to customers by the end of the year. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors)