£22m Proving Factory opens to bring low carbon auto technology to the market
Fri 13 February 2015
View all news
The Proving Factory, a strategic alliance between Productiv and Tata Steel, has opened for business with plants in Coventry and South Yorkshire. The initiative, opened by the Business Secretary Vince Cable at the Coventry site, was originally conceived and nurtured in the LowCVP's Innovation Working Group. It will take low carbon vehicle technologies developed by small high-tech British companies and university research departments, 'industrialise' and then produce them at ‘proving volumes’ of 10,000-20,000 units a year.
Once a product is adopted by a car maker, The Proving Factory puts it into production, and ultimately supports the process of handing it on to higher production volumes in the mainstream automotive supply chain.
The initiative was originally launched by Dr Cable two years ago, after receiving funding from the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI). Since the launch the partners have been busy building the team and facilities needed to develop and manufacture the first technologies. The Proving Factory now has a 6,000m2 site in Coventry where the engineering and systems assembly operations are located, and a 1,000m2 component manufacturing facility in South Yorkshire, housing state-of-the-art machine tools. 50 people have been recruited so far, with this number set to increase to 250 over the next four years.
The Proving Factory was established to manage the gap in the UK supply chain, between small technology developers designing innovative low-carbon automotive technologies and vehicle manufacturers’ need for a route to volume production, to integrate new technologies into their vehicles.
Nine technologies have now gone through the development stages, with two due to start production this quarter. The range of products being handled by The Proving Factory reflects the fact that there isn’t just one solution to the challenge of developing new low-carbon powertrain technologies, rather a whole suite of options are needed to address different duty cycles and applications.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “When I visited this site two years ago I was standing in an empty shed, talking about a great idea. Now with £13 million support from government that idea has been transformed into state-of-the-art machines, new jobs and a host of technologies that will help produce the next generation of low-carbon vehicles.
“The government’s industrial strategy is backing the automotive sector as it goes from strength to strength, giving business the confidence to invest over the long term and helping to develop cutting-edge technology that will create high-skilled jobs.”
Richard Bruges, chief executive of Productiv, said:“With tight emissions regulations levied on both the UK and the EU, vehicle manufacturers are under increasing pressure to make their products cleaner and more eco efficient than ever before. But we know that there is no one solution to this challenge. We have a team of experts in place who can make an informed decision on which technologies might form a part of a greener automotive industry and the facilities and skills to turn them into products.”
Henrik Adam, chief operating officer at Tata Steel, said: “The Proving Factory, as well as supporting the development of new technologies for the automotive industry, is setting a benchmark for more efficient production processes as well as leading to the design of novel materials."
The LowCVP's Managing Director Andy Eastlake said: "The Proving Factory completes the full spectrum of innovation support mechanisms, funded by the UK Government, which are helping take blue sky ideas to full-scale automotive production."
The role of the Proving Factory and the full range of support available to UK innovators - from initial idea to market-ready products - will be the focus next week's LowCVP innovation event to be held at the Transport Systems Catapult in Milton Keynes.
Related Links
< Back to news list