Magna is one company that most drivers have never heard of, but they’ve almost certainly had some interaction with.
The 66-year-old Canadian company is one of the world’s largest auto parts suppliers, making everything from seats and mirrors to advanced driver assistance systems for major car companies.
The company supplies parts to at least 59 global automakers, including BYD, Tesla, Hyundai, Ford, Volkswagen, and Xiaopeng. The entire vehicle, including the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, is hand-built.
With 330 manufacturing and assembly plants in 28 countries and annual sales of approximately $42 billion, Magna is located deep in the global automotive supply chain.
The company is now embedding artificial intelligence across its footprint.
“AI is already embedded in multiple layers of Magna’s supply chain and manufacturing operations,” Sharath Reddy, the company’s SVP of research and development, told Business Insider. “We don’t think of this as a standalone technology.”
Magna AI Betting
Magna is deploying a five-part AI strategy across its manufacturing plants. Bloomberg/Getty Images
Magna’s AI investments are focused on five areas: product quality, equipment maintenance, factory safety, energy savings, and production speed.
The most obvious example for customers is an AI-powered image inspection system. Similar to the camera systems Business Insider featured at Ford factories, Magna uses high-resolution scanners and machine learning to detect defects and anomalies in parts in real time.
The greatest benefits from AI will not come from thorough end-to-end automation. Rather, the most obvious benefits come from applications that are “closest to physical manipulation,” Reddy said.
There are two important examples. Magna uses AI to keep its factories running smoothly. Systems that monitor vibration, temperature, and pressure can predict equipment failures before they occur, allowing plants to avoid costly downtime. The company is also introducing autonomous mobile robots to move heavy objects between workstations.
Another layer focuses on efficiency. Magna uses machine learning to track energy usage, water consumption, and industrial waste across your facility, alerting you to anomalies and identifying ways to reduce costs.
Ultimately, Magna is working toward what the company calls an “integrated factory,” where data, software and automation systems are connected across plant-wide operations.
The challenge, Reddy said, is that the value of integrated systems is becoming more diffuse.
“It’s not a single metric, it shows up across schedules, material flows and decision-making,” he said. “The value is real, but more dispersed.”
AI helps predict global risks
Magna says AI is also helping companies adapt more quickly to global risks. Milos Vujinovic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The auto industry has experienced years of turmoil, from tariffs and trade tensions to material supply shortages and uneven global EV demand.
Automakers have introduced news monitoring models to accommodate that heterogeneity. For example, last year Business Insider reported that General Motors was using AI to monitor disruptions in its global supply chain.
Reddy said Magna is taking a similar approach. AI won’t replace “the basics of supply chain management,” he said. Instead, it acts as an “amplifier” for potential threats.
“The short-term impact will be improved visibility and faster decision-making, including earlier signals, stronger scenario modeling and a more coordinated response,” he said.
Rather than a single breakthrough, Magna’s factories are increasingly software-defined in steps, with intelligence layered into each part of the system to ensure results are delivered.