The group, eight subcontract manufacturers and a specialist design agency, is already supplying components to 10 projects focused on battery development and electric motors and is expecting this figure to more than double over the next 12 months in a £15m sales drive.
MAN offers every engineering discipline imaginable, including automation and control systems, casting, fabrication, forging, plastic injection moulding, PCB development, precision machining and high volume pressings. It MAN boasts sales of more than £75m and employs over 800 people.
The collective also boasts a strong relationship with the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and is currently exploring collaborations with professors in this field to look at how it can aid the drive for increased supply chain capacity.
Says Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer and chairman of the Manufacturing Assembly Network: “I can’t remember the last time all members of our group have been so excited about the potential opportunities presented by just one sector… spend on automotive electrification is going through the roof and legislation is driving it.
“A single electric car can contain anything between 70 and 150 electric motors, which makes it a very exciting opportunity for parts manufacturers. We are already supplying a number of firms with electrical steel laminations.
“You also need forgings, that could be the shaft, and that’s where KimberMills International come in, whilst Alucast could develop the castings for the motor casing.
“Better still, we have Grove Design and its eight-strong team of designers who can overcome production issues and develop prototype parts quickly. It’s a single-source solution and one we believe could generate in excess of £15m of additional orders by the end of 2019.”
In 2013, only 3,500 electric cars were registered; that number has rocketed to over 192,000.
Says chairman of Kimbermills International Larry Joyce of the phasing out of traditional fuelled vehicles by 2040: “That may seem far away, but it represents an absolute deadline for the production of vehicles as we know it. There is even pressure from MPs to move the deadline to 2032, so the market may potentially be disrupted much sooner.
“What we need to do as SMEs is to make sure we are at the forefront of this sector and invest in the skills and technology we are going to need to produce the components electric vehicle manufacturers require. It’s a big challenge, but one the MAN group is definitely up for.”
