Parvalux Electric Motors is the UK's largest manufacturer of fractional horsepower electric motors and gearboxes. The Manufacturer’s Lanna Deamer paid the company’s Bournemouth site a visit.
Although it took four trains to get down to Dorset to visit the Bournemouth-based factory of Parvalux, it was incredible to see how essential DC motors are to such a variety of applications as diverse as golf buggies, medical air pumps, ventilators and even honey extractors. Electric motors are the beating heart of a whole plethora of products; chances are if it moves there’s a motor involved somewhere. Electric motors are everywhere; from the moment we brush our teeth in the morning to when we go to bed with the gentle murmur of a fan.
Throughout our day at work and at home, many items we use have a motor; you could be using a Parvalux motor without even realising it. Everyday household items, including white goods such as dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and fridges, are powered by DC motors, which convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. Starting the day with a hearty English breakfast in our Poole hotel, my colleague Tom St John and I suddenly realised we’d spent way too long stuffing ourselves with hash browns and needed to get a move on.
On our way to Parvalux, driving through the rainy streets (even though it was August), we found ourselves in a back-and-forth disagreement as to whether he drove through a red light or not – to this day I am convinced that he did; perhaps this is a mystery the editorial team can solve in a future episode of The Manufacturer Podcast. When we finally arrived at Parvalux, our first task was to put on a pair of PPE over shoes with steel cap toes. These made me look like a female version of Krusty the Clown, and it’s safe to say the shoes did not match my outfit – but sometimes safety comes first.
Our hosts for the day, Managing Director, Doug Sheppard, and Marketing Manager, James Cope, explained that Parvalux was first established in 1947 by Mr L. Clark in London, where he provided motor rewinds and repairs. The business relocated to Bournemouth on England’s sunny south coast in 1957, where it began designing and manufacturing complete gear motor units for industrial applications. In 2008, Parvalux acquired Essex-based EMD Drive Systems, nearly doubling the company’s turnover in the process.
The Clark Group’s ownership of Parvalux came to an end in December 2018 when Maxon Motor, a specialist for mechatronic drive systems, acquired the company. Parvalux’s electric motors have end application use in industrial automation, agriculture, materials handling, building automation, mobility solutions, leisure, medical devices, transport and logistics and have worked extensively with F1 teams in the automotive sector. However, its most significant sector is medical – Parvalux motors appear in stairlifts, patient hoists and crucially worked closely with the government during the COVID-19 pandemic producing ventilator motors.
Headquarters
Currently Parvalux has three different production sites, which we were given the opportunity to visit, starting with the headquarters that house administration, design engineering and test functions. This factory is set up to manufacture one-off and low to medium volume production motors across the company’s entire spectrum of range and options. As volumes increase, the production process adapts accordingly and hands over the production lines to the High-Volume Production team. The HQ factory is run as an independent business unit, on lean manufacturing principles that incorporate manufacturing engineering measured against daily production targets. It’s no secret that UK engineering and manufacturing are suffering a massive skills shortage, and many manufacturers have described it as their biggest challenge. However, walking around the factory floor we saw a diverse mix of people of all ages, genders and ethnicities. Doug explained that Parvalux is very proud to have achieved a near 50/50 split in terms of the gender demographic, which is quite unusual in the manufacturing and engineering industry.
The company has set a goal to become more diverse and make itself more dynamic. He went on to explain that the company is heavily invested in improving the skills gap, acknowledging research that shows that having a more diverse workforce allows better decision making. Manufacturers in all industries are currently feeling the pinch of the skills shortage and so Parvalux has the ambition to open up its own academy over the next five years, working with schools and colleges to bring students through the T-level system into apprenticeships across the business. Parvalux’s aim is to tap into local talent, but to also give back to the community by providing access to jobs.
Read the rest of the article here