Component testing is the only way for suppliers to comply with OEM specifications. However, local and foreign companies tend to look abroad for validation and testing systems when they could look toward Aguascalientes, says Charles Trimmer, President of Grupo CTT.
Grupo CTT is a Mexican company with over 38 years in the component testing business. According to Trimmer, 80 percent of the company’s operations are oriented toward testing automotive components, 15 percent to R&D in this segment and 5 percent to the aerospace industry. “We support our clients by offering tests and testing equipment that gauge fatigue, resistance and durability of parts used in critical components, such as engines, drivelines, axles, gearboxes and dampers,” he says.
According to Hernán Barrios, Sales Manager of Grupo CTT, testing systems enable automotive suppliers to validate their products following OEM quality standards while reducing ppm rates. “Knowing the needs of an OEM, Tier 1 or Tier 2 in terms of the component to be tested, the method to be used and its testing requirements enables us to design and deliver turnkey projects that suit those needs,” he says.
Grupo CTT has grown to hold 30 percent of Mexico’s automotive testing systems market but Barrios thinks there are still opportunities for growth since some companies in the country often send their components for testing abroad while others do not validate their production at all. “There is no laboratory in Mexico that performs all the tests that automotive companies need, which forces companies to work with international providers,” he says. Grupo CTT pondered opening such a lab in Mexico but several challenges stood in the way. “Such a project would require investment in expensive testing equipment and we have not received enough support from the government to build it,” Trimmer says.
Instead, Grupo CTT decided to start small and build a lab at its Aguascalientes offices focused solely on accelerometer calibration. “There are only two companies in Mexico that do these tests and one only works with PEMEX,” says Trimmer. “We will test Mexican and US accelerometers at a more competitive price thanks to this lab.” Grupo CTT is also the local representative of several measuring and testing equipment brands, including MTS, PROMESS, Dakota and PCB. “By working with brands oriented to various types of testing we can cover a wider specter of processes and complement our own testing offering,” Trimmer says. One Grupo CTT brand focuses on electro-mechanic and servo-hydraulic testing while others focus on accelerometer calibration and audiometry or ultrasound testing for monoblock integrity, explains Trimmer. Grupo CTT’s top-selling systems in Mexico are vibration tables that help aerospace and automotive companies detect loose parts and squeaks in their systems and adjust them. However, Barrios says these industries are developing a taste for more complex testing systems. “Companies now demand hybrid-simulation solutions where a component is connected to a servo-hydraulic testing equipment while a software runs simulations on how this component can affect the rest of the vehicle or aircraft,” he says.
To showcase the advantages that local companies can get in this and other areas by trusting its equipment and services, Grupo CTT participates in every major automotive trade fair in Mexico and organizes seminars with aerospace and automotive companies. Grupo CTT presents the new applications that testing equipment can offer to OEMs, Tier 1s and Tier 2s in both sectors. The opening of the accelerometer calibration lab was a novelty but now that it is operating, the next step in Grupo CTT’s expansion plan is opening an audiometry lab that Trimmer expects will start operations in 4Q18. After that, the company will move in year 2020 into opening a weathering lab. “This facility will include saline, corrosion, temperature and oxidation chambers to test components in different environments,” he says.
Although 2017 was record-breaking in terms of sales for Grupo CTT, Trimmer says the company expects 2018 to be a weaker year as several projects were put on stand-by because of the elections. “We go through this project stoppage every election year. It is normal,” he says.