The new test centre enables wide-ranging testing of products and components.
Throughout its 60-year history, Kesla’s products have been renowned for their good quality. However, maintaining and improving quality requires continuous hard work. As part of its quality effort, Kesla is investing in a recently commissioned test centre. In addition to the traditional measuring and testing tools, it includes items such as hydraulic power units for operability testing. Operational testing of the products will continue to be done during the manufacturing process in production. On the other hand, the centre will focus on inspecting subcontracted components, testing components subject to complaints, diagnosing root causes for problems and refurbishing products.
The test centre is located in Joensuu, which is the main base of the company’s resources for product development, quality and after-sales marketing. Kesla’s operations are steered by the ISO 9001 quality certificate and the ISO3834-2 welding certificate. Most of the components are supplied by the company’s factory in Ilomantsi, but a significant number of components are also supplied by other subcontractors. The subcontractors are expected to meet the same quality standards. An important part of the test centre’s operations is quality control of the supplied components.
Quality control is carried out in the centre but also in the reception of goods. Everyone working there is also a trained inspector. Any deficiencies found in the inspection phase improve the quality of Kesla products, thus reducing complaint-related costs and increasing customer satisfaction. In cases of complaints, the relevant component is tested in the test centre. If necessary, the entire batch is subjected to inspection. Besides testing, the expertise of product designers and after-sales marketing personnel is tapped into in the process.
Kesla has made significant investments in the quality of its products in recent years. Therefore, each product to be launched needs to have a quality management plan that predetermines the allowed variance in quality and testing targets. These are based on identified risks and the management of residual risks. The test centre provides operational opportunities for after-sales marketing as well. The facilities of the test centre are well suited to refurbishing individual components in cases where this is reasonable. Refurbishing individual machines and implementing system updates are also possible in the facilities. The facilities are good for training sessions as well. Source