OXFORD, UK
,
July 3, 2023
(press release)
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Global technology company Helixx creates unique digital manufacturing ecosystem powered by Siemens Xcelerator technologies to provide ‘Factory in a Box’ solution and enable customers to build mini commercial EVs anywhere in the world ● Helixx leverages industry-leading Siemens Xcelerator digital business platform to accelerate delivery of software-led manufacturing ecosystem ● Facilitates sustainable, commercially viable production of low-cost mini commercial EVs in licensed hubs anywhere in the world ● Siemens ‘digital twin’ technology enables Helixx to design, realise and optimise every stage of factory set-up and manufacturing process ● Development cost and complexity reduced by 20 per cent ● Realtime monitoring of and reaction to digital data at Helixx Mission Control in UK ensures every factory operates at optimum efficiency Helixx, a new UK-based global technology company, has announced an extensive technical partnership with global technology leaders Siemens. The agreement gives Helixx full access to the Siemens industry-leading, end-to-end Xcelerator digital business platform to design, develop, validate, deliver, and manage its innovative manufacturing system. The broad scope of the technical partnership is one the most extensive and unique applications of Siemens Digital Industries capabilities and has been specified by Helixx from scratch to realise its goal of supporting sustainable economic development by facilitating rapid manufacture of affordable zero-emission urban mobility solutions worldwide. In a world-first, the Helixx manufacturing system will empower customers to operate licensed factories, known as Helixx Mobility Hubs, producing a range of mini commercial electric vehicles (EVs) virtually anywhere in the world. The Helixx vehicle range will comprise of CARGO commercial delivery van, TRUCK pick-up for construction sites, and open-body TUK and closed-body RIDE for ride-hailing. Helixx is responsible for engineering the vehicles and the manufacturing system by which they are produced. While Helixx will manufacture the first vehicles at its concept hub in Oxfordshire and in further pilot hubs in the UK and Singapore producing 10,000 Helixx vehicles a year by 2025 the brand’s mission and ambition go far beyond that. Steve Pegg, Helixx CEO and Co-Founder: “Helixx has created the world’s first commercially viable system for a factory of the future. But Helixx is not manufacturing a product; it’s a process that can be handed over via a licence to customers anywhere in the world. It enables Helixx partners not just to make a much-needed zero-emission commercial vehicle, but to also run the entire manufacturing system and supply chain autonomously with minimal complexity. “Entering into a technical partnership with Siemens and having access to the company’s industry-leading Xcelerator digital transformation platform is pivotal to Helixx’s strategy and a key part to unlocking global growth and supporting our customers. The partnership with Siemens enables Helixx to develop quickly and amplify efficiency, transparency and quality continuously at every stage of the value chain – from initial factory feasibility study to vehicle end-of-life recycling.” The Siemens Digital Industries Xcelerator platform supports automotive and aerospace OEMs across the globe, and its technology can be seen across major industries from food, energy, and marine. Uniquely, Siemens combines the powers of hardware and software to provide an indispensable asset to any company that designs, engineers and manufactures its products. Siemens technologies are used in one-in-three manufacturing machines globally. A key advantage of the Siemens Xcelerator platform is the system’s ability to offer a ‘Digital Twin’ for every single element of the Helixx manufacturing ecosystem. Many businesses use digital twins for individual or one-time applications. Digital twinning everything, which entails creating a digital realisation of each physical process, component, facility, and environment, will give Helixx a unique advantage through the ability to design, realise and optimise, right from first principles. Every stage of the process, from each initial customer factory site survey, equipment installation, operator training, supply chain management and manufacturing to retail, productivity, service and maintenance and vehicle end-of-life recycling can be modelled via Siemens digital twin technologies and validated ‘in the cloud’ prior to realisation. Once each customer factory, or Helixx Mobility Hub is operational, it will be fully integrated into the Helixx ecosystem and digitally monitored and managed in real-time at Helixx Mission Control in the UK. Steve Pegg, Helixx CEO and Co-Founder: “Leveraging the Siemens Xcelerator software will enable Helixx to weave digital threads through the entire fabric of our business model. Development cost and complexity of not only our mini commercial EVs but the entire end-to-end operational chain has already been reduced by 20 per cent. This simplification unlocks the crucial commercial viability for small, affordable EV manufacturing for our licence holders. “The technology, which encompasses elements including simulation, collaboration, software systems engineering, accelerated product development, manufacturing, operations, and IoT-analytics, effectively enables us to ‘see the future,’ at every stage and on every level of detail from micro to macro. From determining the resources required to build a specific number of vehicles and optimising operator ergonomics to validating the efficiency of processes and the longevity of components, the Siemens Xcelerator provides a complete and continuous holistic digital overview.” While the Siemens Xcelerator will enable Helixx to capture an incredible wealth of data - with thousands of digital touchpoints across every mobility hub - all of which will be fed in real-time into Mission Control in the UK, the genius of the Helixx ecosystem is that it removes any potential element of complexity from the customers and operators in the Helixx mobility hubs. Information sent to the factories and operators will be kept to a simple functional level via a personalised subscriber experience interface layer. Clear jargon-free instructions will ensure optimum ease and efficiency of production. Data received in real-time from each Mobility Hub will feed into Mission Control and enable Helixx to instantly spot any quality or production issues, which in traditional automotive manufacturing are only spotted in ‘batch testing’ when it is effectively already too late to resolve, leading to significant cost implications. In addition to using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning controls to predict and prevent issues, Helixx will be able to quickly spot efficiency trends and share the knowledge with all the other hubs in the ecosystem to optimise performance and profitability across the entire network as easily as updating the software of an app. Siemens: “The approach being taken by Steve Pegg and the team at Helixx is unique to anything that we have ever seen before at Siemens throughout the entire global automotive industry. Not only do Helixx customers not need to research and develop a product, but they are also free from the cost and complexity of developing a manufacturing system. Instead, everything is provided for them through the Helixx ecosystem, powered by the Siemens Xcelerator digital manufacturing platform.” “A modular product from a modular factory is the production architecture needed to realise the factory of the future. Siemens is pleased to provide technical support and deploy our end-to-end digital twin technologies to help Helixx deliver its ground-breaking vision and production model to reality and play a part in bringing zero-emission mobility and supporting sustainable economic development in emerging markets.” Call to action…… / watch a video unpacking Helixx factory of the future here xxxxx Media contact: media@helixx.com
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