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UK coil-winding tech ‘could transform motor production’

12 October, 2021

UPDATED:  A UK company has developed a coil-winding machine that allows rectangular wire to be formed on its edge, and used instead of multi-turn round-wire windings. Electrified Automation, based in Bridgwater, Somerset, believes that this development will transform the way that electric motors are manufactured at scale.

The company, started up in 2020 by Lloyd Ash after he sold Ashwoods Electric Motors, claims that its coil-winding machine is the first capable of forming copper wires as thin as 0.8mm, and achieving less than 2% swell on the corner edge radius. This will allow motor-makers to maximise the amount of copper and turns they can fit into each slot.

“We recognise that coil-winding is often a barrier preventing our customers from moving into volume manufacture, so we have developed a number of solutions to automate the manufacturing process,” says Electrified Automation’s managing director, Jim Winchester. “Combining this technology with our other offerings means we are now starting to transform the way in which our customers consider manufacturing electric motors.”

The company, founded in 2020, is working on a variety of technologies that will help permanent magnet motor manufacturers to produce coils for their motors cost-effectively. It claims to have come up with new approaches to stator forming, coil winding, copper welding, rotor assembly and software integration, and is working with customers around the world to help them to accelerate production by providing high-volume manufacturing processes and equipment.

♦  Electrified Automation has won a contract from the UK motor developer and manufacturer Saietta to supply it with equipment and processes to ramp up production of its axial-flux motors, initially aimed at the Asian two- and three-wheeled vehicle market. The contract will result in a significant increase in production capacity and staffing for Electrified Automation.

"Winning the contract with Saietta within the first year of starting our business is a fantastic achievement for us," says Electrified Automation's managing director, Jim Winchester. "It will also deliver benefits to the local economy. We have already tripled our team in Bridgwater since the start of the year, and will be recruiting more specialist engineers and technicians as we continue to grow our business."

Electrified Automation’s flat-wire coils could transform the way motors are made

Electrified Automation is also planning to capitalise on the recent UK government investment aimed at helping the automotive, aerospace and off-highway industries to transition towards zero-emission vehicles. "We see a huge opportunity for Electrified Automation in supporting these businesses as they take their products to the mass market," says Winchester.




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