Ricardo has today announced that production has now started at the brand new
state-of-the-art, high performance engine assembly facility that it has
constructed at the company's Shoreham Technical Centre in United Kingdom.
The facility has been designed and configured around the
requirements of its lead customer, McLaren Automotive, for whom it will act as
the production supplier of the all-new McLaren M838T 90 degree, V8 twin-turbo
engine. The high-performance, low emissions engine has
been designed and developed by McLaren Automotive in partnership with Ricardo,
and will power the McLaren MP4-12C high-performance sports car that is due to go
on sale from May 2011. With pilot production of engines commenced and initial
deliveries already taking place, commissioning of the new Ricardo engine
assembly facility will be continued over the next two months as production
volumes are ramped up.
When fully commissioned in the late spring of this
year, this impressive new high quality assembly center will be capable of
producing up to 4000 engines annually across two daily shifts.
This facility builds upon the established reputation of the Ricardo
Performance Products group which has, for example, seen the company produce the
advanced Ricardo-designed transmissions for the iconic Ford GT and the Bugatti
Veyron supercar, as well as numerous driveline systems and components for the
highest levels of competitive motorsport.
At the core of the new 600
square meter building is a ten station vertical conveyor based mini-line
supported by incoming materials inspection and line-side delivery of components.
Each station is equipped with a sophisticated 'human-machine interface' (HMI)
providing guidance to each operator on the precise sequence of operations
required at each stage. The tools and assembly equipment used at each station
are instrumented and provide data - down to the level of the torque applied to
each fastener - directly into a central warranty database for each engine built,
and hence provide complete finished product traceability.
