As brands reshore to EU, world renowned testing lab sets up in Prague

A new product testing lab targeted at the bike industry is to launch in Prague by November of this year in response to the volume of production now taking place in Europe.

Brand’s looking to further reduce lead times and the expenses of shipping prototype goods across the globe will be able to call upon ACT Lab, part of the Cotecna Group who signed an equity deal in April. The bike industry facing arm currently has 81 staff globally and is headed up by a series of ex-Shimano staff, including President and CEO John Bogler.

He told CI.N last week while introducing the new lab to visitors at Eurobike: “It’s not so cost effective now to be shipping product across the globe. Prague is central, has a nice business atmosphere and the more localised plot will take out the risk of missing key launch times for those operating on tight model year schedules.”

The business has been adaptive to trends in the mobility marketplace and has rapidly geared itself up to be able to handle even the latest trends in cargo bikes with universal fixtures to accommodate large wheelbases on test rigs. With a 3 to 6 month validation period on its test equipment by independent verifiers and delays attributed to Russia’s war in Ukraine, plus Covid, the lab could have been ready sooner, we were told, but the time is being used wisely.

“We’re finding at the moment that innovation is vastly outpacing the development of standards, so for some innovations we receive we are creating hybrid test plans to cover a range of standards. With this in mind, we are working directly with legislators around the globe and in some cases we are even contracted by Governments as their test lab on such things,” explains John.

While the business already has product and chemical testing lab locations in China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the USA, the more central location is in direct response to movements of the firm’s customers. There is also a testing lab specifically for helmet products.

“With Giant, Decathlon, Portugal’s Bike Valley and many others moving supply chains into Europe for some lines we’re definitely responding to this trend of localisation. That is going to mean that this will not be our last in Europe; in fact we think over the next four years another three may open. These will likely be in Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium,” says John.

The business has over time become experts in consulting with business on what standards must be met and what safety labelling is to be applied and lately has been fielding questions on the UKCA mark that has gone backwards and forwards with Government indecision. Though some companies are getting ahead of the curve, with stickers to be seen on product as soon as Q4 of this year, there is no legal requirement until January 2023, as it stands.

The firm’s testing lab services include, but are not limited to: