GM Recognizes Five Suppliers for Innovation

As part of its annual Supplier of the Year awards, General Motors Co. has recognized five companies for their product innovation: Autoneum Holding, Delphi Automotive, Delta Electronics, Fanuc and Gentex.

GM designated 110 companies from 17 countries as suppliers of the year for 2015. That’s the biggest group of winners since GM launched the program in 1992, and represents a 40% increase over the 79 suppliers recognized in 2014. More than half the companies on the 2015 list are repeat winners.

Winners are chosen by a global team of GM executives for exceeding requirements in engineering, quality, manufacturing, purchasing and logistics.

The carmaker also named three Overdrive Award winners for cultural change and commitment to initiatives that helped it achieve “exceptional” business results. These suppliers include Brake Parts, LG Group/LG Chem and Lear—a repeat-winner of the four-year-old award.

Among the innovation winners, Autoneum was cited for a new lightweight acoustic material that reduces mass by 20% while improving acoustic performance. The technology bowed in the 2016 GMC Acadia crossover vehicle.

Delphi’s vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communication technology provides 360° object detection that can sense objects behind large obstructions and beyond the driver's line of sight. Described as an industry first, the system was introduced on the 2017 Cadillac CTS midsize luxury car.

Delta Electronics supplies a new on-board charger for the 2016 Chevrolet Volt that converts AC into DC power. Fanuc developed a more efficient assembly plant paint robot that GM says helps prevent unexpected downtime.

Gentex was honored for launching an integrated video camera/mirror on the 2016 Cadillac CT6 flagship car that can boost the driver’s rear field of vision by as much as 300%.