Main

New SFI Testing Facility is Open For Business
May, 2000

The TPP machine is an integral part of driver suit and accessories testing.

In an effort to streamline its program and better serve its customers, SFI recently opened its own testing facility.

For the entire existence of SFI, manufacturers had their SFI testing done at various labs around the world. While they did good work, there were areas that needed improvement. A complaint from SFI manufacturers was that there were delays in getting their results. Their jobs were getting pushed back at the labs in favor of other industries' testing. Also, there were sometimes problems of consistency in test results between the different lab facilities.

Not only were the manufacturers adversely affected by these problems, but they also inhibited SFI's business. The SFI program revolves around the compliance testing. If a company can't receive its test results in a reasonable amount of time, then SFI can't enroll new manufacturers or provide certification labels. The move to open its own lab was a natural step taken by SFI.

In 1998, SFI President Arnie Kuhns presented his plan for an in-house lab to the SFI Board of Directors. They approved the proposal and ever since then, the new SFI lab has been offering its testing services to manufacturers. The lab occupies a 2,500-sq. ft. building in Escondido, California, just a few miles north of the main office in Poway.

The SFI body block apparatus tests seat belts to the SFI Spec 16.1.

The SFI lab addresses all of the problems the manufacturers were encountering at the other facilities. Here, their testing has priority over non-SFI testing. Therefore, the results are provided efficiently and in a timely manner.

Special care is taken by Lab Manager Michael Sherbo to ensure that all test machines are calibrated. Consistency is important to the companies testing their products at the lab. If testing procedures are consistent, the companies can compare their result data between different test runs. This can be very helpful when developing a new product design.

All of the services provided by the SFI lab are in line with the prices charged at other labs. Some of the types of testing available are mechanical properties testing such as tensile, elongation and yield. The different tests for driver suits and accessories include Thermal Protective Performance (TPP), flammability, thread heat resistance, zipper heat resistance and thermal shrinkage. Seatbelt breaking strength and window net tests are other services offered by SFI.

The lab is continually growing and adding new equipment. There are plans to acquire a spin box machine that can perform rotational integrity and explosion containment tests on products like clutches and bellhousings.

The goal of SFI is to provide its manufacturers with a state-of-the-art testing facility. They are well on their way to achieving that goal with about two-thirds of the lab already set up. Daily testing operations continue during the setup process and completion is expected by the end of the year.

A plan to develop the website to include lab information is in the works, but in the meantime, contact the SFI main office for testing quotes or with questions.

Contact Info:

SFI Foundation, Inc.
15708 Pomerado Road, Suite N208
Poway, CA 92064
USA

Phone 858-451-8868 Fax 858-451-9268
Email sfi@sfifoundation.com