Prodrive Composites, which makes lightweight composite components, says that it has upgraded its facility in Milton Keynes, UK.
The company has now installed a Zund automated prepreg cutting machine to support the throughput of raw material and cutting of material kits for laminating, doubling the cutting department’s capacity. Prodrive’s laminating production space has been expanded by 50%, the company says.
It also plans to install a new autoclave to facilitate up to five additional cure cycles allowing a further 50 parts to be cured every day from 24,000 components in 2018 to an estimated 35,000 parts per annum.
Prodrive Composites says that it has transitioned from hand trimming to 5 Axis CNC Machine Trimming for the manufacture of some large components and invested in two in-house 3D printers for prototype development. This offers greater flexibility in terms of modifications and improvements at no additional cost.
‘We have secured a new long-term contract with one of our customers on an existing platform as they look to onshore,’ said Matt Bradney, director of business development. ‘Further discussions are taking place with other organisations along similar lines. All of these are large users of carbon fibre components but in very different application levels and market segments. They have been in the past and continue to be let down by their overseas supply chain. The current state of the exchange rates in the Eurozone and the US dollar means a UK supply route is becoming increasingly attractive.’
This story uses material from Prodrive, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
