Lead the Charge in Lithium Battery Manufacturing

Summary

Lithium battery manufacturing isn’t new. Organizations around the globe have been building lithium batteries for many years. However, five years ago the world could not have anticipated the boom in the industry coming from rapid expansion of production of electric vehicles (EVs). As a result, the market has completely changed, and manufacturers are trying to adapt rapidly.

First and foremost, the scale at which manufacturers can achieve their goals has changed. The players in lithium battery manufacturing—across the entire value chain—are facing an ever more crowded market. Companies both new and old have ambitious EV growth goals, and many are looking to control their supply chain to improve efficiency and maintain competitive advantage. Often that means vertical integration of new processes. In other cases, it may mean planning for different feedstocks to expand supply options.

Moreover, as industry continues to grow and market needs change, the science behind battery technologies continues to evolve. As processing capabilities and battery chemistries change, nobody can say definitively which technologies will prove to be commercially viable. To be ready, most companies will need to build flexibility into their operations to adapt when change comes—potentially many times.
 

Complexity challenges

Many of today’s companies across the lithium battery chain are adding capability by partnering or licensing technology from companies that specialize in specific processes and unit operations. These organizations often procure full process units from these companies and integrate them into their projects and operations.

However, integration is rarely an easy task. Consider a company using a variety of programmable logic controllers to make cathode active material. It might make sense for that company to explore manufacturing its own precursor cathode material (pCAM) to improve efficiency and supply chain robustness. However, pCAM production has unique processes that bring new and different automation challenges, likely requiring capabilities not currently being used in existing operations. For example, such companies may use model predictive control to reduce variability and ensure quality requirements. Bolting on external solutions is possible but will likely result in custom engineering and a complex architecture. Such a solution will be difficult and time-consuming to support and is unlikely to scale well.
 

Leveraging an integrated portfolio

The solution to increasing complexity is finding the right partnership to help navigate change. It all starts with the technology. The most experienced automation suppliers offer comprehensive automation platforms designed from the ground up with a boundless automation vision for seamless integration at every level. These automation platforms provide solutions across the entire value chain, from mine to manufacturing. Not surprisingly, the best solutions come from providers with a wide portfolio of technologies, from instrumentation to control systems, to advanced analytics, testing and more. In such solutions, every technology a team adds can be easily integrated, with little to no custom engineering and limited impact on the plant architecture. And, with one seamlessly integrated solution, organizations have a single point of contact, making it easy to navigate pitfalls when they arise.
 

The people behind the products

The benefit of working with a trusted partner doesn’t start and end with technology, however. Having access to a wide network of experts is equally valuable. For example, many lithium battery value chain projects are executed in one world area, for example North America, but license technology that comes from another world area, such as Europe. On such a project, global automation solution providers leverage their North American operations and local impact partner networks for effective, efficient project execution, and have the capability to leverage resources from around the world to ensure implementation meets the most exacting specifications possible. In many cases, with teams stationed around the world, experienced providers can have one team on the project working locally from within an hour of the project site, and another team working closely with the original equipment manufacturer halfway across the globe, helping ensure every project standard is met consistently and effectively.

And when the project is over? The same network of local impact partners—typically with locations a short drive from the site—will be ready to support the project across its lifecycle.
 

Partnership drives success

An automation partner can provide a foundation for lithium battery manufacturing project and lifecycle success, but only if they have the tools and expertise across the entire value chain to eliminate complexity both today and in the future. The best solution providers provide the expansive portfolio and expert personnel that reduce complexity and design for efficient flexible operations that will meet the changing needs inherent in an ever-evolving industry.