For companies that make their products from raw materials and a host of individual components, testing is a critical ingredient in maintaining quality and determining the lifespan of a product. The real-world is an unforgiving crucible for testing the operation and durability of mechanical parts. There is simply no technical or theoretical substitute.
At CRL, we believe so strongly in the benefits and necessity of product testing, we’ve built our own in-house testing facility. 3,975 square feet of space in one of our Vernon, CA manufacturing plants is dedicated to putting our products through their paces.
Each new product, from a shower hinge to a commercial windscreen, is rigorously tested. Strenuous protocols are established for each product line, always meeting or exceeding industry standards. We also monitor feedback from our customers and our expert contractors and installers. When issues arise, we don’t hesitate to put a product back into testing to ensure we’re delivering maximum quality.
It’s not enough to performance test the products and components we make ourselves. We test every component – such as pivots, closers, latches, and locks – that we source from third parties before it is ever assembled in one of our products. Our reputation depends on every part performing up to our high standards.
At CRL, we push testing boundaries. For example, the industry standard for testing a hinge on a shower door is 20,000 cycles (1 cycle is the act of opening and closing the shower with installed hinge). At CRL, we test our hinges to 100,000 cycles – 5X the industry standard.
Our approach to performance testing is also scientific. Simply testing a product tens-of-thousands of times until it finally fails provides only a single data point – the product’s operational lifespan. Our products and our customers benefit from more sophisticated analysis of the state of a product throughout for the testing process.
For example, after X-thousands of repetitions, has the radius of the fastening area worn down or shifted? It is still within tolerances? How does the wear factor for a particular component impact the operability and lifespan of the product as a whole? This in-depth assessment of individual components at pre-set intervals throughout the testing process leads to incremental – literally, piece by piece – improvements to product quality.
Quite frankly, the CRL approach to testing is just plain fun. Who wouldn’t thoroughly enjoy pushing a hinge, door, handle, or piece of glass to its limit and beyond. Rigorous testing, and even a little breakage, is a fundamental component of the CRL manufacturing process, ensuring that each and every product we deliver is of the highest quality and worthy of our customers’ trust.
