Indians help GM attain 'breakthrough'

Helped by 'critical support' from its India Science Lab, the automobile giant has evolved a new maintenance technology.

Helped by 'critical support' from its India Science Lab, General Motors has developed a proactive technology that predicts in advance as to when one has to go for maintenance of its machines and equipment.

Alan I Taub, Executive Director, Research and Development at GM said here that the technology had been implemented in one of GM's plants and it's on its way to find application in other locations.

'It's a proactive maintenance technology where we use real-time diagnostics to our equipment with this technology developed to actually see patterns that are not otherwise visible predicting when a particular machine required maintenance,' he said.

ISL played a 'critical part' in the technology's development, and one of the researchers here has been awarded the McCuen Award for his key role, said Taub, who termed the technology as a 'scientific breakthrough in predictive maintenance.'

GM's Vice-President, Research & Development and Strategic Planning Lawrence D Burns lauded the technology for its application, and acknowledged its role in reducing the amount of maintenance and increasing the throughput of plants.

Director of ISL, the only GM R&D lab located outside North America, Dr BG Prakash said the data mining technology enables one to 'forecast' as to when one has to go in for maintenance — whether it's robot, machine or equipment.

Taub said GM is looking to keep the momentum going at ISL, where it has committed a $20 million investment, and the number of researchers working there is expected to top 100 by early next year.