Custom Products of Litchfield Inc. (Custom Products) was granted ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation status on February 11, 2011. The laboratory accreditation uses criteria and procedures specially developed to determine technical competence and will provide customers assurance that the destructive tests and measured data recorded at the Litchfield, MN, testing facility are accurate, reliable and will meet domestic as well as international industry and governmental consensus standards.
“Our testing services are a crucial part of our commitment to safety and standards,” says Randy Reinke, president and CEO of Custom Products. “This accreditation provides us with a validation that we perform our testing to the appropriate standards plus serve as a benchmark for maintaining that competence.”
The accreditation process was conducted by technical assessors from Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation Inc., (PJLA), using criteria and procedures specifically developed to determine technical competence. This process began on October 1, 2009 and was completed on February 11, 2011. The PJLA assessors completed a thorough evaluation of management and quality control systems in the Custom Products testing laboratory, and will also conduct an annual regular assessment. This criteria, based on the international standards ISO/IEC 17025, is used for evaluating laboratories throughout the world. An independent laboratory accreditation testing body, PJLA is a signatory for the International Laboratory of Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). This international recognition allows testing data from accredited labs to be more readily accepted in overseas markets, reducing or eliminating the need for retesting in countries other than the United States and reducing costs for manufacturers and exporters.
More than 738 tests have been performed in the Custom Products 1,500 square foot testing facility, with forces up to one million pounds applied at zero degrees Fahrenheit to safety structures designed by the company or in conjunction with its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) customers. Custom Products specializes in designing, manufacturing and testing customized cabs, Rollover Protection Structures (ROPS), Falling Object Protection Structures (FOPS), and Operator Protection Structures (OPS) to government and industry consensus standards.
“For our OEM customers seeking CE marking for their equipment, tests conducted in a 17025 accredited lab help these companies qualify for European certification,” says Reinke. “We believe we are the only ROPS manufacturer with this accreditation.”
