GM to invest $100 million in Michigan facility to improve worker safety and productivity

General Motors will invest $100 million in its Customer Care and Aftersales Davison Road Processing Center in Burton over three years to improve technologies to modernize warehouse operations.

The result will be safer workplace safety and modernized operations to prepare for industry growth, GM said Friday.

“We are proactively investing in our workforce by reimagining the parts fulfillment environment,” said John Roth, GM global vice president for Customer Care and Aftersales. “These technologies will help to reduce physically demanding work on our employees and minimize ergonomic stressors, while also increasing storage capacity and order fulfillment speed.”

Roth said by creating the right environment for 1,460 employees at the facility, it ensures that GM’s customers get the right part on time to meet increased demand.

The Davison Road Processing Center, located about 5 miles east of Flint, is the main Customer Care and Aftersales hub for GM Genuine and ACDelco parts distribution. About 756,000 parts are packaged daily at the plant. Three different technology systems are scheduled to be implemented to enhance workplace safety by easing physically demanding work, GM said. Those include:

• Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS): Will store up to 46,000 pallets of processed parts, such as Hummer EV headlamps, for rapid shipment to other parts distribution centers across the country. This system will reduce the amount of lifting by an employee and the time it takes to pull a part from shelving.
• Automated Mini-Load System: Will store up to 146,000 parts for rapid shipment to other parts distribution centers. The system will bring sorted parts to employees and reduce the amount of walking and repetitive movements that sometimes lead to injuries.
• The Conveyance, Sortation and Palletization System: This will implement 3.5 miles of total conveyance that will move parts along to various stationary, employee workstations to reduce the amount of walking and lifting by employees.

GM will begin installation of the systems in November and they will be operational by April 2025.

“It’s great to see General Motors reinvesting in the workers who make this company run,” said Mike Booth, UAW vice president and director of the General Motors Department.

In January, GM invested a total of $20.5 million across three of its Customer Care and Aftersales facilities in Memphis, Tennessee; Ypsilanti and Burton to modernize operations and install technologies to support employees as demands increase.