Mahle Powertrain has achieved ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification for its Real Driving Emissions Centre (RDEC) in Northampton, UK.
The ISO/IEC standard covers testing and calibration in laboratories and is expected to become a universal requirement across the vehicle emissions testing industry.
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Mahle notes its RDEC facility is the first such facility in the UK to achieve the certification.
Mahle Powertrain’s RDE Centre is used to develop customer vehicle calibrations to global emissions standards, validate vehicle designs for environment extremes (-40C to +60C, 5,000M altitude) or support homologation witness testing.
The supplier maintains the ISO standard is due to become an assurance benchmark across the vehicle emissions testing industry to ensure accuracy and consistency of emissions test results.
“We have had this standard in our sights for a while, but it is very complex when applying it to the large numbers of factors involved in the measurement chain for emissions such as CO2, NOx and hydrocarbons,” said Mahle Powertrain Build and Test chief engineer, Derek Wise.
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By GlobalData“However test data quality is central to what we do, so we targeted being the first in the UK with the standard specifically for vehicle emissions.”
The ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is based on the published ISO standard: ‘general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.’ It is recognised as the main standard within the industry, which laboratories must hold in order to be considered technically competent.
It is designed to improve technical competence, testing accuracy, reliability and repeatability. According to UKAS (United Kingdom Accredation Service), Mahle Powertrain’s RDE Centre is the first vehicle emissions testing facility in the Britain to receive ISO 17025:2017 certification for its vehicle emissions test processes and procedures.
“While other vehicle emissions laboratories certainly hold ISO 17025:2017 certification, this is the first time we have audited the actual emissions test procedures,” added UKAS assessment manager, Chris Downs.
“It gave our assessors a first-hand insight into the processes involved as a result.”
