UK-based Electrified Automation has been awarded £6 million (US$7.4 million) in government funding to further develop its innovative process for manufacturing electric motors that are more cost-competitive, powerful and efficient than many of the products currently available in the marketplace.

The grant was awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Center (APC) Collaborative Research and Development program, which supports the development of innovative low- and zero-carbon automotive technology.

PIMMS (Process Innovations for electric Motor Manufacturing Solutions) is a consortium including Electrified Automation, Winman and Aspire Engineering. The PIMMS project will design and deliver manufacturing processes for high-volume electric motor production alongside a software solution to automate the manufacturing environment that will offer so-far unmatched data-gathering capability.

The aim of Project PIMMS is to remove the barriers that prevent OEMs and Tier1s achieving high volume electric motor manufacturing—specifically in relation to coil winding, mechanical assembly and automated test solutions.

A traditional manufacturing model is resource intensive, particularly in terms of managing supply chain and customers, which limits the UK’s ability to compete in the global economic marketplace.

To help level up the playing field with overseas manufacturers, PIMMS also includes a software platform to automate all areas of the manufacturing environment, linking the production facility with the external world.

As global motor production increases so does the need to find end of life solutions for electric motors. To respond to the sustainability challenge project PIMMS will develop innovative 3R (Recycle, Reuse and Remanufacture) strategies for electric motors to optimise their value and achieve closed loop manufacturing.