McLaren repurposed their Formula 1 factory choosing Nederman components for the process.
In the pursuit of net-zero sustainability and business longevity, it is now more than ever a vital component to the workplace to improve and continually evolve standards in business processes to help better protect the planet, people and production.
McLaren, the 2nd oldest active and most successful Formula 1 team, repurposed their old Formula 1 factory into a new composites factory. The reason for this was to give themselves space for new equipment in an environment equipped for constant evolution and adaptation, with a drive for increased in-house production to reduce costs and turnaround times. Nedermans LCP SmartFilter Ex was a critical component for this process.
The aim and focus was to design a sustainable factory from the ground up for optimised material flow. Working with a cost cap meant ensuring effective spending to squeeze out every last ounce of performance. Any gains obtained through this redesign and restructure was a good investment, as it has resulted in an environment that produces more parts in-house quickly and efficiently.
In this case, dust extraction carried various problems. Existing systems currently accessible were not powerful, nor durable enough to deal with the amount of dust generated, resulting in dusty work places that many workers carried with them to their homes. The extensive clean up processes resulted in excessive reliance on PPE. Manual clean-up operations resulted in less time producing the components, increasing turnaround times and impacting on productivity output. Operation was also found to be cumbersome, and noisy as well, with certain elements not working efficiently in terms of handling and resulted in a noisy environment.
Current systems were resource heavy and inefficient, due to their ‘always-on’ nature, with no in-between if the requirement for the specific job was not as great. The re-circulation system was also not ideal, with a need for a proper extraction system for certain areas, to extract the potentially volatile particulate, filter the air and vent it completely clean to the atmosphere.
Nederman presented a proposal to fix all of these issues, with the LCP SmartFilter Ex at the heart. A multi-point extraction system with automatic shut off dampers to ramp up or down dependent on the need or number of machines running at any one time, resulting in a drastic reduction in resource usage. Everything is powered by a 75kw fan housed in an acoustic sound box to reduce external noise. This resulted in particulate effectively extracted from the source, and the air filtered and vented out into the atmosphere completely clean. Explosion relief panels were installed to the filter that in the event of explosions, the vents will open and transmit it away from the workshop.
The workplace is now virtually dust free and clean up times are massively reduced allowing for more time to focus on production. An added bonus from this, as one Technician noted, is that they now “go home clean”. Work areas have also received a drastic reduction in noise through the use of silenced nozzles on the hose reels, so technicians can now communicate effectively during prep & assembly.
This example of upfront investment in the right extraction and filtration system shows what a drastic improvement can be had on resource usage, employee wellbeing, optimised operation and efforts to achieve net-zero to protect people, the planet, and the longevity of our business’ success and existence.
“It’s a more sustainable system as it ramps up and down. It’s not running if the machines aren’t running. We get a much more efficient use of the electricity we are putting in with a much better draw out of the system tray.”, Ross, Composite Factory Director, McLaren Racing
“I go home clean now. Before, I would jump in my car and wipe dust off of my forehead… I don’t get that anymore”, Andy, Composite Technician, McLaren Racing
If you are thinking of joining the clean air revolution, discover more about the LCP SmartFilter Ex and the rest of the Nederman range of extraction and filtration products and solutions. If you would like to speak to us, please contact our clean air experts.
We have extensive experience of various challenges in the different industries and our experts are very skilled, helpful and professional. With us, you can feel secure that we take care of you and your needs. You are always welcome to contact us regardless if you have a short question or a more complex and complicated one. A warm welcome to Nederman.
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