Smithers expands tire and wheel testing facilities in China

Testing, consulting, information and compliance services provider Smithers has moved its tire, wheel and product testing operation in Suzhou, China into a new 7,200m2  building in the Xiangcheng district. The company says the new space supports the company’s continuous growth plans and ongoing commitment to high-level services for its global clients.

Smithers states that moving to the new building has allowed for significant expansion of each testing group’s laboratory footprint. The size of the product testing lab has been increased by 90%, with plans to invest in more testing equipment to further expand testing capabilities. In addition to laboratory space, the new building includes state-of-the-art classrooms and conference rooms for on-site training and industry meetings.

As part of the expansion, Smithers has also added a new slip angle and camber angle tire durability machine to its tire and wheel testing laboratory. This machine can provide dynamic camber angle and dynamic slip angle control from -5° to 5°, expanding the lab’s test capabilities to meet the requirements of OEMs. The new equipment has a maximum speed of 350km/h (217mph) and a maximum testing load of 3,000 kg (6,614 lb). The tire and wheel lab also expanded its IPLR chamber to accommodate truck and bus tires in addition to passenger and light truck tires.

“This new space offers a significant opportunity for us to increase our service portfolio in support of our clients in Asia. We are already working to determine the next steps of our plan to invest in additional testing capabilities,” said Derek Read, vice president of Asia operations, materials science and engineering, Smithers. “Additionally, we look forward to hosting our industry partners and peers in our new on-site training and gathering annex in the future.”

Smithers says that both the product testing laboratory and the tire and wheel testing laboratory are fully operational in the new space and are already conducting testing work for clients.