FANUC America Wins Prestigious Innovation Award from General Motors

FANUC earns GM Innovation Award for its Zero Down Time solution, using predictive analytics to reduce downtime and improve performance.

Published
Reading Time
3 min
Share Facebook X LinkedIn Email

General Motors Honors FANUC as Inaugural Winner of Coveted Supplier Innovation Award

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., June 2, 2016, FANUC was named a GM Innovation Award winner during General Motors 24th annual Supplier of the Year awards ceremony held on Thursday, March 10th at COBO Center in Detroit, Mich.  

GM debuted its Innovation Award to recognize five suppliers among thousands globally who brought new innovations to the company that benefit customers. FANUC was named a first-ever Innovation award winner for its Zero Down Time (ZDT) Application, which analyzes data from GM’s robots throughout its factories to detect potential problems that could lead to a failure.  If a potential failure is identified, ZDT notifies GM and FANUC’s Service Center, so parts and support can be delivered to address the issue before any downtime occurs. FANUC America has released a YouTube video regarding the GM Innovation Award and FANUC Zero Down Time.

“We partnered with Cisco to create highly secure connections from our robotic equipment in GM’s factories to Cisco’s Cloud Data Center where FANUC is able to perform analytics on how the robots are performing,” said Rick Schneider, Chairman and CEO, FANUC America. “The ability to collect data from our robots and analyze it in the cloud, to predict potential equipment issues before downtime, occurs allows us to proactively address our customer’s needs. With ZDT, we can also take advantage of the data collected from our robots to optimize GM’s manufacturing systems by reducing energy consumption, extending equipment life, improving cycle time and quality.  Reducing downtime through ZDT has proven to have a direct and positive impact on GM’s plant’s performance.”

“With the FANUC ZDT solution, the robot is connected through a network and a Cisco data collector in the plant through to the Cisco cloud – all resulting in a sound and highly-secure solution end to end.  By transferring the equipment data through a secure platform to the Cisco Cloud, Cisco and FANUC are building the manufacturing data highway, which will allow GM to collaborate with their large ecosystem of equipment suppliers and more easily perform preventive analytics and optimization with their equipment,” said Bryan Tantzen, Sr. Director, Cisco IoT Vertical.

Currently, FANUC has applied ZDT to thousands of robots in 27 GM factories in 5 countries.  In addition to monitoring the robots for potential problems, ZDT keeps track of robot usage and sends reminders at appropriate intervals to ensure important maintenance activities are completed on time.  

"We're honored to receive GM’s prestigious Innovation Award," said Schneider. “FANUC is committed to developing innovative, world-class products that provide manufacturers the ability to keep their production lines running uninterrupted.”

As a manufacturing equipment supplier, FANUC was the only indirect supplier (non-vehicle component supplier) to win the esteemed Innovation Award for the Zero Down Time solution. 

During the event, GM also recognized 110 of its best suppliers from 17 countries who have consistently exceeded GM’s expectations, created outstanding value, or introduced new innovations to the company. FANUC was also selected as a GM Supplier of the year for the 11th year in a row.

GM recognized the most suppliers since debuting the Supplier of the Year event in 1992, representing a nearly 40 percent increase compared to 79 recipients in 2014. More than half are repeat Supplier of the Year winners from 2014. 

“We 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 recognize tonight not only have brought innovation, they delivered it with the quality our customers deserve.”

About FANUC America Corporation

FANUC America Corporation is a subsidiary of FANUC CORPORATION in Japan and provides industry-leading CNC systems, robotics, and ROBOMACHINEs. FANUC’s innovative technologies help manufacturers maximize productivity, reliability, and profitability. Headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, FANUC America has facilities throughout North and South America. Learn more at www.fanucamerica.com or explore collaborative robots at crx.fanucamerica.com.

Connect with FANUC America on YouTube, X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.