Pass the baton: GM’s Trey Hickey on mentoring the next wave of manufacturers

In this episode of Catalyst, Tammy is joined by Trey Hickey, lead process engineer at GM's Spring Hill facility in Tennessee. Trey was a finalist in the Next Generation Leadership category at the Manufacturing Leadership Awards. He built his foundation at Nissan before joining GM, where he now works in one of the most advanced manufacturing plants in the country. Trey and Tammy talk about servant leadership and what the next generation of talent brings to manufacturing. They also discuss how AI can give people back their most precious resource: time.

Highlights from the episode include:

• Merging a business and technical mindset. Earning an MBA helped Trey see engineering projects through a broader business lens. When installing a new piece of equipment, he now thinks through not only the numbers, but bigger picture issues like people, planning, training and change management.
• Solve a daily frustration for people. As an AI champion in his department, Trey asks colleagues what takes up the most time in their day. Working together to address those tasks helps build interest. Once people see how AI can help, they start bringing forward ideas of their own.
• Keep the Godfather's know-how. Early on, Trey worked with a maintenance engineer everyone called the Godfather. Whatever broke, Paul had seen it before. Good documentation allows AI to pass that kind of knowledge to the next generation.

Check out the full episode to hear about Trey's start working construction with his dad. He also shares how a friend uses AI to tell nonprofit stories around the world.

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Please note that the views expressed in this episode may not necessarily be those of NTT DATA.