MAHLE Powertrain has achieved ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification for its Real Driving Emissions Centre (RDEC) in Northampton. The ISO/IEC standard covers testing and calibration within laboratories and is expected to become a universal requirement across the vehicle emissions testing industry. MAHLE’s RDEC facility is the first such facility in the UK to achieve this certification.

The centre is used to develop customer vehicle calibrations to the latest worldwide emissions standards, validate vehicle designs for environment extremes (-40 to +60degC, 5,000m altitude) or support homologation witness testing.

Derek Wise, chief engineer for vuild and test at MAHLE Powertrain, said: “The ISO standard is set 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 including CO², NOx and hydrocarbons.

“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.

Highly regarded within the engineering and automotive sectors, it is specifically designed to improve technical competence, testing accuracy, reliability and repeatability. According to UKAS, MAHLE Powertrain’s RDE Centre is the first vehicle emissions testing facility in the UK to receive ISO 17025:2017 certification for its vehicle emissions test processes and procedures.

UKAS’s assessment manager Chris Downs said: “While other vehicle emissions laboratories certainly hold ISO 17025:2017 certification, this is the first time we have audited the actual emissions test procedures. It gave our assessors a first-hand insight into the processes involved as a result.”

He concluded: “The standard’s requirements are specific and demanding, incorporating and extending those of ISO 9001:2000. For MAHLE Powertrain’s testing procedures to be recognised with this certification is testament to our staff’s skills and experience, and the investments we have made in test and validation facilities.

“We are justifiably proud that our emissions testing is the first in the UK to receive ISO 17025:2017 certification. It is the latest in a long list of firsts for MAHLE Powertrain.”