Manitou Opens R&D Test Center

The Manitou group, the rough-terrain handling equipment manufacturer, has inaugurated a new test center in Ancenis, France. The new facility was designed to perform endurance and durability tests on all Manitou prototypes.

Manitou said the 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, Manitou said.

Further, several test robots and driving tests are included in the various tests  performed. The test benches also make it possible to analyze the resistance of the major parts and a number of other types of components.

 Construction began in May 2017 and represents an investment of €1.5 million. The new facility includes a driving circuit, an RT 2012-certified building and will have 16 employees, specializing in driving and test bench maintenance.

Jean-Yves Augé, R&D director of the Manitou group said, “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.”