Element Materials Technology, the largest independent testing laboratory company in the world, operates more than 240 facilities conducting vibration, shock, temperature, dust, and other high-stakes testing.
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Wait, What’s Vibration Testing?
Vibration testing is a way for industries like aerospace, nuclear, medical, and automotive to check if their equipment and parts can survive the shaking, jolts, and continuous movement they’ll face in real life—like on a battlefield, during a rocket launch, or on a bumpy road.
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Going decades back, Element (then known as NTS) would manage testing requirements on paper, run tests, print results, and ship those printed results to their clients—all manually.
CABEM’s VLab
As subject matter experts in the testing, inspection, and certification space, CABEM was familiar with this workflow and saw an opportunity to:
- automate a tedious process, and improve efficiency
- improve communication and accuracy
- make testing more effective, ultimately improving public safety
CABEM began development at our own initiative, starting with a solution to automate Element’s print workflow. Then, CABEM added digitization and a portal for sharing reports, centralizing data and feedback, and enforcing milestones throughout the workflow to prevent costly errors.
The Aha moment for Element came when they nearly missed a deadline for shipping a printed report to a client but found they could get the digital report to that client instantly using VLab’s online portal—crisis averted.
Fast-Foward to Recent Expansion
As Element expanded, it faced the challenge of consolidating hundreds of legacy systems inherited through acquisitions. To streamline operations, Element selected VLab as one of its core enterprise platforms.
Why Choose VLab and CABEM?
VLab distinguished itself by offering enterprise-wide visibility and flexibility to support diverse testing domains such as batteries, EMI, automotive, and ballistics. Core features include standardized workflows, centralized data access, and CABEM’s Report Writer, which reduces report creation time from days to hours.
Value/Outcomes
VLab saves Element an estimated 58,000 labor hours per year—about $1.8 million in operating expenses. With VLab, Element is moving away from printed reports and fragmented spreadsheets toward a unified system that improves forecasting, resource management, and operational transparency across its global footprint.