Manitou Group, the manufacturer of rough-terrain handling products, has inaugurated its new R&D Test Centre.

Inaugurated in the presence of a number of elected officials, this new site is designed to assess the endurance and capacities of the group's prototypes. With a number of high-performance test benches, the models are put to the test for cycles that can last up to several thousand hours, the equivalent of the average life span of a machine.

The tests guarantee the robustness of the company's products from launch while reducing the development turnaround times. Several test robots and driving tests feature in multiple configurations among the tests performed. The test benches also make it possible to analyse the resistance of the major parts and a number of other types of components.

Begun in May 2017, the work, representing an investment of 1.5 million euros, was finished in January, 2018. This new space includes a driving circuit and an RT 2012-certified building.

Jean-Yves Augé, R&D director of the Manitou group, explains the purpose of such a project: “By automating the various test phases, we are able to accelerate the evaluations on our machines to provide our users with ever more reliability. This is about certifying the capacity and endurance of all our ranges and our future innovative products. We are fully involved in continuous improvement.”