During this year’s Arch Summit, Silicon Luxembourg had the chance to sit down with Vibrationmaster, Luxembourg’s own industrial product testing company that applies anywhere and everywhere where people use fasteners; that is, nuts and bolts. The startup pitched their flagship product, a torso-sized vibration test bench, the J121 Fastener Test Bench, and they have a lot to offer.
(Featured Image: Product testing is essential for safety. Tesla recalled 123,000 vehicles due to a potential fastener failure in March 2018 / Image Credit © Joachim Kohler Bremen)
So what’s up with vibrations?
The premise is simple: every industry that assembles components does so using screws and/or bolts, and these assemblies have to be tested to ensure “nothing comes loose.” If you take a moment to think about what could make threaded fasteners come loose, it’s rather obvious: vibration. A moving car undergoes vibration from road impact and engine activity; a printing press undergoes vibration when its rollers spin into action; even a microwave undergoes, well, micro vibrations while it heats your food. Vibrations are everywhere, and so soon shall be Vibrationmaster.
But what is it?
The Vibrationmaster team has developed a range of products suited to the needs of various industries and clients. The featured J121 Fastener Integrity Test Bench can simulate operation under diverse conditions and determine the quality of both threaded and unthreaded fasteners in their assembly environment. The team even brought it on stage during their pitch at the Arch Summit!
Beyond this portable machine, they have bigger, more industrial test benches, as well as vibration tables.
“In a nutshell, wherever there are nuts and bolts, people need Vibrationmaster.”
Next Steps
The vision is global and specialized. According to Vibrationmaster, “Industry standards are being issued more and more frequently and are increasingly stringent. Concurrently, regulators are becoming keener on ensuring compliance to avoid product liability issues.”
The startup is well-positioned to serve multiple growing markets, including:
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Electric cars, the expansion of which has triggered a demand for a new range of components, including nuts and bolts.
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The aerospace sector, for which the global demand is forecasted to reach 41,000+ new jets worth $6.1 trillion through 2036. Each new plane type will need product testing.
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Manufacturers in all sectors, who continually develop new materials, will need to see how these new materials will work for fasteners and how they interact with existing steel and alloys.
“In a nutshell,” said Franck Pichoff, Marketing Manager at Vibrationmaster, “wherever there are nuts and bolts, people need Vibrationmaster.”