McLaren Applied
McLaren Applied has secured UK government funding for an 18-month research programme.
Confirmed:
- Programme to investigate the viability of automating high-performance stator winding
- Collaborators include Peregrine MLS and Warwick Manufacturing Group
- Stators are currently hand-wound, increasing production time and cost and reducing efficiency
Context:
The technology to machine-wind mass-produced stators (a stationary component of an electromagnetic device) is already in use. But, there is currently no capacity to automate the production of high-performance variants. These require an even denser wind than standard, making their construction a more costly, time consuming and labour-intensive process.
Comment:
Thomas Keenan, head of motorsport operations at McLaren Applied, said: “We at McLaren Applied are very excited by the capabilities this funding will unlock, and the benefit it will bring to all members of the project team. The funding support enables the project team to invest in the winding automation of high-performance stators to exacting standards, reducing the number of hours in the manufacture of our market leading performance alternator products.
“For McLaren Applied, it will enable our business to maintain our competitiveness in existing markets while increasing the scalability of our products into new adjacent sectors, allowing the growth of our business in this critical area.”
Coming next:
The ability to produce next-generation alternators using machine-wound stators with higher output, and reduced size, weight and cost, will provide new opportunities in applications where competitive advantages are hard to identify. Not only would this strengthen McLaren Applied’s position in the motorsport, automotive and aeronautical markets, but also create new, world leading supply chain capability in the UK.