29 Dec 2010

Rough Treatment at the ASSA Test Lab

An important part of R&D in ASSA products takes place in the company's own test lab where locks and fittings are exposed to extremely rough treatment before they are approved.

It’s crash, bang, wallop and whoosh all day long at ASSA’s test lab in Eskilstuna. Keys are turned hundreds of thousands of times, lock cases jimmied, panic bars opened and door closers closed a million times over.
ASSA products are exposed to various kinds of tests in a forest of test rigs as part of advanced R&D and quality assurance efforts.

Impact testing

Impact testers fitted with chisels and screwdrivers try to jimmy various locks, fittings and cylinders to investigate how the products and their attachment fittings stand up to break-in attempts.
“For example, cylinders must remain in place and not come loose when they are exposed to this treatment,” says Björn Bovin, Manager, ASSA Test Lab, ATL.

Must withstand vibrations

In another part of the lab, electromagnetic locks are vibration tested in something that looks like a small barrel. It can be compared to a loudspeaker to which an amplifier sends signals to cause a membrane to vibrate at different frequencies. Locks are exposed to vibrations whenever a door is slammed, and they must also cope with vibrations that occur during transportation, e.g. on container ships.

Important quality assurance

ASSA Test Lab naturally takes part in the final phases of development projects, but it also plays an ongoing part by monitoring and ensuring that product quality is maintained.
“Quality assurance by means of qualified testing is ever more important in today’s world where a product often comprises a number of components that are made at different locations,” says Björn Bovin.
Our rough tests are a way of safeguarding a consistently high quality level from a product’s very first delivery right through the entire product life cycle.