Daily Manufacturing News Digest – the industry stories you should be aware of today

Posted on 23 May 2023 by The Manufacturer

Each day The Manufacturer compiles the top manufacturing news stories from around the web. To make your life a little easier, we trawl through all the major trade publications, broadsheets and business magazines to find you the most important manufacturing news each morning. Don't forget to bookmark this page and check back daily.

Tesla aims to reduce cost with new manufacturing process

At a recent event for investors, Tesla presented an idea that may change the way cars are made around the world. The manufacturing idea is called the unboxed process. If it succeeds in reducing the cost of electric cars, analysts say the process might change the way all automakers build cars.

Tesla claim it can reduce costs by making large pieces separately and putting them together at the last moment. In the ‘unboxed’ system, parts of the car such as the outside metal, doors, and front end are painted separately and then joined together at the end. Some parts of the car will be first connected to a large battery pack and then added to the overall structure.

Tesla said in a statement that it wants to: “build more vehicles at a lower cost.” The aim is to cut the final cost of an electric car from over $40,000 to under $30,000. The assembly system will not be used until at least late 2024, when a manufacturing centre opens in Monterrey, Mexico. Tesla is building the centre for a cost of $5bn. Read more via VOA

Warship returns to sea after major refit

HMS Iron Duke, the nation’s most advanced frigate, is back at sea for the first time in more than five years. The Type 23 frigate, known affectionately as the Iron Duck, sailed from Plymouth, supported by Babcock engineers who have been working with the ship’s crew to get her ready for sea at the international defence company’s Devonport facility.

In all, 1.7 million hours of labour from shipwrights, engineers, technicians and experts of the Babcock team, alongside the Royal Navy, contributed to the biggest overhaul of Duke-class ships to date in the life extension programme, including major structural work twice that of any other. Read more via Babcock

Making a beeline for sustainability

Steelworkers at Tata Steel in Shotton are preparing to welcome a new colony of bees housed in hives on one of the site’s many green spaces as part of the company’s commitment to biodiversity.

The site is already famous for hosting nesting sites for one of the UK’s most important visiting sea birds, the common tern—in fact it used to be the logo for the site.

Works Manager Bill Duckworth said, “We have recognised that true sustainability requires a holistic approach, so our own commitment includes reducing our site’s carbon footprint, developing and producing products and services that support sustainable construction, protecting and expanding the biodiversity that co-exists on our site, and maximising our material efficiency and achieving zero onsite waste.” Read more via Tata Steel

Rolls-Royce’s Pearl 10X engine development programme is full steam ahead

The programme is advancing at pace and has successfully accumulated more than 1,500 testing hours, both on the Advance 2 demonstrator and the Pearl 10X engine configuration. The team is now preparing for the start of the flight test campaign on Rolls-Royce’s dedicated Boeing 747 flying testbed in Tucson, Arizona, US, which will start later this year.

The Pearl 10X is the newest member of the state-of-the-art Pearl engine family and the first Rolls‑Royce engine ever to power a Dassault business jet. All the tests completed to date confirm the reliability of the engine and show it will meet the performance requirements to power Dassault’s flagship, the Falcon 10X. Read more via Rolls-Royce

Johnson Matthey and Hystar agree strategic hydrogen partnership

Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies, and Hystar, a Norwegian high-tech hydrogen company, have signed a three-year strategic supply agreement to ramp up renewable (green) hydrogen production. This delivers on JM’s published milestone of winning at least two strategic partnerships in Hydrogen Technologies by the end of 2022/23.

JM will supply membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), key performance-defining components for electrolysers, as part of Hystar’s commercialisation ramp-up. This represents the next step in the collaboration between the two companies which began in 2021, focused on electrolyser stack development and manufacturing scale-up, using the components provided by JM and Hystar’s patented cell design. Read more via Johnson Matthey

Hilton Foods accelerates progress against sustainability targets

Hilton Foods, a leading international multi-protein producer, has published an update on its Sustainable Protein Plan.

First launched a year ago, the new strategy brought together existing ambitious targets under three pillars: People, Planet and Product. These areas, embedded in the business, are a core part of Hilton Foods‘ overall growth strategy, providing customers and ultimately consumers with sustainable affordable proteins.

Over the past year Hilton Foods has made significant progress in the Sustainable Protein Plan. This includes bringing forward plans to submit even more ambitious targets to the SBTI this August. These will be consistent with achieving 1.5°C and see the business commit to reach net zero well before the current 2050 target. Read more via The Manufacturer