Two members of the A2LA staff, Kelsey Roberts and Steve Medellin, had the opportunity to attend the grand opening of TÜV Rheinland’s new furniture testing laboratory near Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 5th, 2020. The event included a tour of the facility, demonstrations of TÜV Rheinland’s testing equipment and methods, and presentations by both TÜV Rheinland staff and David Panning of BIFMA. A2LA currently accredits twenty TÜV Rheinland testing laboratories, including this new Michigan facility, and it was a privilege to be involved in such an important event for one of our customers.
This new facility will provide a valuable service to North American furniture manufacturers, as it significantly expands the region’s capacity to test furniture for compliance to international safety and quality standards. This new facility is strategically located near the headquarters of the Business and Industrial Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) which will allow these two organizations to communicate more readily on standardization requirements and testing operations.
“I see why they call Grand Rapids ‘furniture city.’ This has been a really fascinating experience, getting to see this testing process and speak with everyone here,” said A2LA Marketing Manager Kelsey Roberts, who attended the event. “We’ve been supporting quality in the furniture manufacturing space for many years and are focused on increased support for the BIFMA Compliant program.” A2LA offers a specific accreditation program that supports BIFMA’s newly launched BIFMA Compliant program, in addition to other accreditation options for furniture testing laboratories.
TÜV Rheinland is a trusted global leader in inspection, testing, and certification services, contributing to product safety and quality all over the world. Like A2LA, they are committed to strengthening the global quality infrastructure and ensuring that consumer products meet local and international requirements. To learn more about TÜV Rheinland and this new facility visit TUV.com/world.