Hurricane Helene is impacting supply chains
LANSING Mich. (WLNS) – Cleanup continues in North Carolina and other states after Hurricane Helene.
More than 200 people have died, and hundreds are still missing. Ripple effects from the storm have reached Michigan. UAW officials said that too many workers were affected in North Carolina and could not come to work. This led to a parts shortage. Because of that, the GM assembly plant in Flint sent workers home Thursday and temporarily closed.
A spokesperson for the Lansing GM Plants told 6 News that the Lansing Plants have not been affected but they are watching the situation closely. According to Amy Broglin-Peterson, A Michigan State University professor in the department of supply chain, the Lansing plants are not immune to the same fate as the Flint plant. She added though, that there are also other ways the plants could be affected without having to full close.
She said it is possible the plants could slow production, they could prioritize manufacturing specific vehicles over others, or they could continue building and then add on the missing parts later. Broglin-Peterson mentioned that because of the port strike earlier this week, many plants were already preparing and stocking up inventory, so effects from Helene may come later than expected.
"While the situation in North Carolina is terrible, the timing is maybe somewhat better because of the fact that we were already planning and looking ahead to this strike as a probable event." Broglin-Peterson continued, "So I would imagine that the finished vehicle inventory is going to sit at a decent level for quite some time potentially. What could be impacted though is the production, slowing it down or stopping it entirely."
She said another thing to consider is all of the destruction around North Carolina and other states, which will make transporting materials trickier as well.
