UK NEWS

Hyperbat wins major Lotus contract

A UK manufacturer of electric vehicle battery packs has sealed a multi-million-pound contract to supply Lotus with batteries for its new all-electric Evija, said to be the world’s most powerful production car.Hyperbat was formed to bring together Williams Advanced Engineering’s (WAE) EV battery expertise with Unipart’s capability in manufacturing safety-critical products for premium OEMs.

Full production of the battery packs will take place on the firm’s new production line at Unipart Manufacturing Group’s site in Coventry, where the manufacturing process will involve assembling 12,000 components split across 500 unique parts, with 100,000 welds in each pack. The mid-mounted battery pack will support a target output of 2000 PS, and performance targets of 0-62mph in under three seconds and a top speed of over 200mph.
For further information www.hyperbat.com

Mazak hails success of Discovery Week

Yamazaki Mazak welcomed over 500 attendees to its European Technology Centre in Worcester last month as part of its annual open house. Themed ‘Discovery Week’, the event aimed to address some of the key production challenges facing UK manufacturers and subcontractors, with support from over 25 dedicated partners in the areas of tooling, tool management, swarf management, CADCAM and finance.

Alan Mucklow, managing director UK, Eire and National Distributors, said: “Our annual open house is key to ensuring that we remain connected to UK manufacturers and subcontractors, which has redoubled in importance given the emergence of new market challenges. With the launch of technologies such as the VCN-700 machining centre and Mazak iCONNECT, we hope to help our customers address these challenges and seize new opportunities in 2023, and that UK manufacturing can continue along its upward trajectory.”
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Manufacturing output surges, reveals survey

UK manufacturers have seen output surge three times faster than orders in the last quarter, with business confidence indicators also starting to show the first signs of a more stable economic backdrop after years of global and domestic uncertainty. The findings come in the Q4 Manufacturing Outlooksurvey published by Make UK and business advisory firm BDO. According to Make UK, it is extremely rare for output to surge faster than orders to this degree. It last occurred when companies were stockpiling ahead of a potential ‘no deal’Brexit at the end of 2019. The survey gauged the responses of 303 companies.
For further information www.bit.ly/3NolK7e

£5m digital laboratory

Coventry University will soon host an innovative digital laboratory to help students learn the in-demand skills required within the engineering and healthcare sectors. The Precision Digital Manufacturing and Healthcare Technology Lab has been awarded £5m from the Office for Students (OfS) and will be equipped with technologies such as 3D metal printing. Students from Coventry University’s Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing will be among those to benefit from the facility. The lab will also foster a collaborative approach and potentially lead to developments in prosthetics and wearable technologies.
For further information www.bit.ly/3hoQ8lj

OAS wins workplace wellbeing award

An Abingdon training centre specialising in technology and engineering has won Oxfordshire Mind’s annual ‘Commitment to Workplace Wellbeing’ award. The accolade recognises the efforts of Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) to improve the wellbeing of its learners, training staff and industry partners by making positive changes throughout the training centre and beyond. OAS is a partnership between the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), run by MTC Training. The facility helps businesses to thrive by delivering the crucial engineering skills needed to succeed.
For further information www.oas.ukaea.uk