Element Wixom Invests in Transportation Testing

Element Wixom’s investment is increasing testing capabilities and equipment by adding new water jet cutting capabilities, including a large 5 ft. x 5 ft. bed for faster precision sectioning of components and coupons, regardless of material grade, heat treatment or surface coating and up to six inches thick. There is also an additional surface grinding and notching capacity for Charpy V-notch (CVN) impact specimen preparation.

Chris LaMothe, Element’s Executive Vice President, Transportation and Industrials, comments: “We are delighted with the investment at Element Wixom. By targeting both increased capability and our operational procedures we sought to further expand and improve the laboratory.

“The results speak for themselves. This lead time improvement allows us to serve our clients more than 25% faster than before with newly streamlined and traceable procedures. Through continual improvement and investment we aim to deliver excellent quality and rapid testing turnaround. Element Wixom’s location is a key part of the strong presence Element has in the Detroit area with a total of four Element laboratories servicing the center of the automotive market in the US.”

In addition to the new capabilities, investment in operational restructuring through 5S and lean continuous process improvement will reduce test completion times and report delivery to clients. The ongoing re-structuring of our internal operations minimize bottlenecks and identify critical paths with customer deadlines.