Prodrive Composites, based in Milton Keynes, UK, spreads itself wide. While it began making composite part for the motorsports industry, it has since expanded its capabilities into aerospace, automotive, marine, defense, electric/hybrid and prototype development.
‘Our composite business was actually spun out of a very small organization which was established to supplement the composite supply chain for the World Rally program,’ Matt Bradney, director of business development at Prodrive Composites, told Reinforced Plastics. ‘We first started developing parts for rally cars such as the Porsche 911, and this market is still important to us, representing probably about a 20% of our business.
‘We also work with a number of automotive brands in world endurance championships and GT3 and GT4 track racing, and supply some parts to the World Rally Cross Championships, so there’s still a big element of sport within our business.
‘However, in the 15 years Prodrive has focused on spinning out this race car technology to other segments,’ Matt explained. ‘We currently cover contractual engineering and development, mechatronics, hydraulics, electric, hydro-electricals, hybrid electrical, hybrid vehicles, suspension power and drive vehicle systems, amongst other things. As a company we’re very good at using lateral thinking to take technology from one application and applying to another.’
The company’s work in aerospace includes making first class cabins for the Boeing Dreamliner and components for helicopters, drones and satellites, while in the marine sector Prodrive is supplying the UK Royal Navy with structural composites and has created components for racing yachts. ?Recently the company moved up a level by increasing production capacity, making a series of facility and equipment upgrades. According to the company, the facility improvements will significantly increase productivity and capacity, in order to support larger scale customer programs.
This article appeared in the Jan/Feb issue of Reinforced Plastics. Log in to your free Materials Today profile to access the article.
Prodrive Composites, based in Milton Keynes, UK, spreads itself wide. While it began making composite part for the motorsports industry, it has since expanded its capabilities into aerospace, automotive, marine, defense, electric/hybrid and prototype development.
‘Our composite business was actually spun out of a very small organization which was established to supplement the composite supply chain for the World Rally program,’ Matt Bradney, director of business development at Prodrive Composites, told Reinforced Plastics. ‘We first started developing parts for rally cars such as the Porsche 911, and this market is still important to us, representing probably about a 20% of our business.
‘We also work with a number of automotive brands in world endurance championships and GT3 and GT4 track racing, and supply some parts to the World Rally Cross Championships, so there’s still a big element of sport within our business.
‘However, in the 15 years Prodrive has focused on spinning out this race car technology to other segments,’ Matt explained. ‘We currently cover contractual engineering and development, mechatronics, hydraulics, electric, hydro-electricals, hybrid electrical, hybrid vehicles, suspension power and drive vehicle systems, amongst other things. As a company we’re very good at using lateral thinking to take technology from one application and applying to another.’
The company’s work in aerospace includes making first class cabins for the Boeing Dreamliner and components for helicopters, drones and satellites, while in the marine sector Prodrive is supplying the UK Royal Navy with structural composites and has created components for racing yachts. ?Recently the company moved up a level by increasing production capacity, making a series of facility and equipment upgrades. According to the company, the facility improvements will significantly increase productivity and capacity, in order to support larger scale customer programs.
This article appeared in the Jan/Feb issue of Reinforced Plastics.
