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01/11/2011
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A €350 million investment will develop the MIRA Technology Park into a first-rate engineering facility for the global motor industry, says Terry Spall, commercial director, MIRA
 In its 65-year history, MIRA has established itself as one of the automotive industry's pre-eminent research and testing facilities, not just for the UK motor industry, but increasingly for OEMs and the supply chain around the world.
It is unusual, in that MIRA has a full array of workshops and engineers spanning every aspect of vehicle technology adjacent to a secure test track facility. A new suspension system, for instance, can be designed from a clean sheet of paper, fabricated, put through its paces on the track and then be on a shaker rig, all within one secure facility – a rarity in the automotive consultancy industry.
The fact that, in 1952, MIRA had 100 engineers and today has more than 550, and is still growing, says it all. But to be successful in the 21st Century, with all the demands that the motor industry is being asked to meet, meant that MIRA had to undertake its biggest shake-up since the first cars trundled across an 800-metre stretch of Belgian Pavé 61 years ago.
Embedded expertise
MIRA's site is huge: it covers 335Ha and, at its longest point, measures 3.2Kms across and, at its widest, 2.4Kms. Most of that is the proving ground, but there are also a lot of laboratories and buildings leased to a variety of clients (thirty at present), predominantly automotive, but also embracing aerospace, rail transport and ground military vehicles. For the past five years, these facilities have been running at a 98% occupancy rate, which speaks volumes for the facilities and its embedded expertise.
The UK is one of the easier places to set up and run a business, and it is second only to the USA, in terms of its research base. Indeed, when it comes to technology and innovation, its credentials couldn't be higher, with global recognition. English being the main business language also helps.
Moreover, the Midlands is still the home of the British motor industry, with some 1,500 companies in the region related to the automotive sector and about €14bn worth of business collectively going through those organisations, from OEMs to the supply chain.
The futuristic MIRA Technology Park is part of the forward plan for the company laid down by its new CEO Dr George Gillespie, who made it very clear from the onset of his appointment in 2009 that MIRA had to "unlock" its potential.
For the last two years, with a revised management team in place, a master plan has been gradually formulated, gaining pace over the past 15 months, to redefine the site and its operations, not only to create space for large numbers of other businesses that might want to locate to MIRA, but also to create a new MIRA engineering facility that will see it through the next few decades.
As a result, a total of 87.5Ha, with more than 139,000m2 of floor space, is being devoted to the MIRA Technology Park that will see its first clients in situ by late 2013/early 2014 and fully occupied, at the latest, by the turn of this decade.
Although it is located within an hour of Birmingham airport and two from Heathrow, and is adjacent to major road and rail links, MIRA's setting is very rural, so the Technology Park wouldn't be allowed to become a sprawling industrial complex. Instead, MIRA has opted for a campus-style design, with a heavy emphasis on renewables, mainly photovoltaic, and a minimum Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) rating of 'very good.' Other on-site amenities will include an hotel, restaurants, coffee shops, along with some convenience retail, tennis courts and sports facilities. MIRA believes that, if it puts creative people in a positive environment, then you will get the most out of them.
Tailor made
The management at MIRA has spent many hours listening to, and absorbing, what potential clients from around the globe want and it became clear from these discussions that a 'one size fits all' policy wouldn't work. It wouldn't be practical for the simple reason that, as soon as the clients moved into an office, laboratory or testing facility, they would immediately start fine-tuning and rearranging it to their own needs.
Basically, MIRA has created a route whereby it can deliver a tailor-made building for each client, which they can then lease or purchase at a later date. Each building will be bespoke to them and their operations. It will need to fit in with their corporate identity and their own strategic plan. The number of engineers and what type. Is it just offices or workshops? Does it include laboratories etc? The number of variables is huge, but MIRA decided to create a platform that would allow them to deliver tailor-made facilities. A further advantage of the MIRA Technology Park is that clients don't need to install costly test facilities, such as kinematics and compliance (K&C) or acoustic laboratories, since any one of 35 laboratories, plus the proving ground, can be hired from MIRA, as and when required.
Global crossroads
Although the technology park will be research and design focused, there could be some light manufacturing to support those operations. It will also support digital communications, because of the smart vehicle work being done at MIRA, especially with the innovITS ADVANCE advanced test track on site, which is one of the few, if any, independent facilities in Europe. Just as with any new building development, MIRA has a 'show home' that it will shortly be able to present to potentially interested parties: this is a four-storey unit, with six configurable client facilities, containing offices, workshops and laboratory space that can be customised to individual needs that will be open next March.
MIRA's Technology Park is at the crossroads of the global motor industry: it is ideally located between the North American and European OEMs and supply chain, and conveniently placed for Far Eastern OEMs and suppliers seeking to strengthen their presence in Europe.
Founded in 1946 as the Motor Industry Research Association, MIRA has established itself as a world-class facility for vehicle engineering. Unlike some test grounds, MIRA has a full suite of engineering facilities – from an aerodynamic wind tunnel, through to a vehicle semi-anechoic chassis dynamometer. It has recently commissioned its own innovITS ADVANCE facility, said to be the only independent cityscape test facility in Europe.
Where MIRA doesn't have full-time expertise, it has forged strategic partnerships with world leaders in the relevant fields, including: Torino Design for styling; Drive System Design for specialist transmission know-how; and Brüel & Kjær for turnkey noise, vibration and harshness solutions in China.
MIRA is represented in eight countries outside the UK - close to regional automotive hubs including Japan, China, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, India, Turkey and Brazil.
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Author
Terry Spall
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