GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Auto Plant Is Now ‘Factory Zero’

For several decades now, the sprawling General Motors assembly plant that straddles the border of Detroit and Hamtramck has been officially known as the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center. Within GM
GM
and the larger community, it is more often referred to as D-Ham. As of today, it officially has a new name: Factory Zero. 

The new name is both a call-back to Factory One in Flint, Michigan, and a reset of GM as a manufacturer of zero emissions electric vehicles, according to plant director Jim Quick. Factory One was the home of the Dort-Durant factory that dates back to 1880 and was the starting point for Billy Durant’s acquisition spree of other companies that would ultimately become GM.

The new direction for D-Ham marks the start of the vision that has been articulated by GM leaders including CEO Mary Barra for building a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. To that end, the first products from Factory Zero will be the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV and the Cruise Origin robotaxi. 

D-Ham ceased production of its previous products including the Chevrolet Impala and the Cadillac CT6 early in 2020 before the pandemic lockdowns began. Within days, crews moved in to start removing all of the existing equipment. By the time the lockdown began in late March, the work was at a stage where it would have been problematic to stop so GM received a waiver to continue as long as safety procedures were put in place. 

As a result there has been no delay in the schedule for revamping the plant. In fact, Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of Global Manufacturing stated that work has been moving at a pace that allows the automaker to accelerate the production launch of the Hummer. When GM first announced its intention to revive the Hummer as an electric truck earlier this year, the company said it should launch in fall 2021. Johnson wouldn’t be pinned down on a new date except to say that it will be announced soon. The Hummer EV will be officially revealed publicly on October 20 during the baseball world series. 

Factory Zero will be over 4 million square feet in size when it resumes operation, making it among GM’s largest. When it gets up to its full rated capacity of 270,000 vehicles annually, it is expected to employ about 2,200 people. As of early 2017, the plant had 1,800 employees. 

As part of the renovation, it has been stripped back to the bare walls and all equipment removed in such a way that as much as possible can be repurposed, reused or recycled. Interestingly Johnson and Quick declined to discuss specifics of the new layout such as how many assembly lines it would have when asked if the Origin, Hummer and other products would be produced on the same line. Instead they referred to a new modular assembly process. This likely means that major subassemblies like the skateboard platforms would come together on smaller lines which are made possible by the reduced complexity of these systems compared to  traditional internal combustion platforms.

GM has committed to investing $2.2 billion to create Factory Zero and suppliers that will be located on-site are investing another $800 million. Along with the new modular assembly, the factory will also assemble battery packs and feature a new body shop and paint shop. Initial pre-production will likely start sometime in spring 2021 if not sooner.