GM’s Factory ZERO – First U.S. Plant to Install 5G

Cadillac Lyric – a serious run at German luxury SUVs that define the segment.

General Motors today said that Factory ZERO, aka Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, is the first automotive plant in the U.S. to install dedicated 5G fixed mobile network technology. Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband service is operating now at Factory ZERO, with its claimed exponential increases in both bandwidth and speed supporting the ongoing transformation of the all-electric vehicle assembly plant as it prepares to begin producing EVs in 2021. (Cadillac LYRIC – Taking Back the Luxury EV Lead?)

A 5G Ultra-Wideband network has considerably faster download speeds and greater bandwidth than 4G networks. Factory ZERO is being completely retooled with a $2.2 billion investment, the largest ever for a GM manufacturing facility. Once fully operational, the plant will have more than 2,200 good-paying U.S. manufacturing jobs. Hamtramck is huge with 4 million square feet of space. (see AI – GM Doubles Down on EVs in Bid to Win Global Race)

“Factory ZERO will be GM’s flagship assembly plant in our journey to an all-electric future,” said Phil Kienle, GM vice president of North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations. “… an essential step in the transformation of this plant, and signals how important advanced manufacturing is in the ongoing race to an EV future.”

The so-called “Internet of Things” is changing manufacturing plants, enabling connected devices to deliver benefits to quality and safety. Countless systems and equipment rely on connectivity, such as robotics, sensors and the Automated Guided Vehicles that deliver materials across the factory floor.