Manufacturers use materials testing to determine the mechanical properties of materials, components, and products. By stressing a specimen in tension, compression, or flexure, its properties can be measured against recognized performance standards such as those published by ASTM, ISO, and other organizations. Since materials testing is used to verify that materials and products perform as expected in their end use applications, a robust testing program is a vital part of any quality assurance process. Disruptions to your testing program can result in delayed shipments, upset customers, and lost revenue. For this reason, it is crucial to ensure that measures are being taken to prevent system downtime when planning the introduction or evolution of your testing program.
To avoid the costs and risk associated with testing downtime, companies often outsource their testing to third party labs. However, third party test facilities are highly expensive and come with other associated risks, such as higher chances of incorrect test procedures being used and a greater risk of compromised data integrity. In-house testing is generally preferred, but many manufacturers are concerned about the costs and downtime risks of an in-house program. In order to make an informed decision, they must take into consideration the quality of the testing equipment and the ability of their equipment provider to service and upgrade their equipment.