Momentum Technologies Laboratories Expansion
Following a $1 million investment, Momentum Technologies Laboratories has recently expanded its client capabilities with new equipment and a 1,200 sqft testing lab.
Following the increase in practice space, the Uniontown, Ohio natural rubber and natural latex facility now spans approximately 7,000 sqft. This expansion will be used for construction product testing, including polymer modified asphalt, roofing materials and coatings and below-grade coatings. The new equipment in the laboratory will broaden the team’s client capabilities and includes a new rubber process analyzer, a Wallace plastometer, Mooney viscometer, a tensile machine, a compounding mixer and a mill. Specialist latex equipment includes a mechanical stability tester, centrifuge, a viscometer, and an atomic absorption metals tester. The third-party testing laboratory is A2LA/ISO 17025 accredited, and tests more than 90 different ASTM methods.
Expansion
Following the increase in practice space, the Uniontown, Ohio natural rubber and natural latex facility now spans approximately 7,000 sqft. This expansion will be used for construction product testing, including polymer modified asphalt, roofing materials and coatings and below-grade coatings. The new equipment in the laboratory will broaden the team’s client capabilities and includes a new rubber process analyzer, a Wallace plastometer, Mooney viscometer, a tensile machine, a compounding mixer and a mill. Specialist latex equipment includes a mechanical stability tester, centrifuge, a viscometer, and an atomic absorption metals tester. The third-party testing laboratory is A2LA/ISO 17025 accredited, and tests more than 90 different ASTM methods.
Opportunities
The expansion allows Momentum Technologies Laboratories to find new methods of integrating natural rubber and latex into the paving and roofing materials industry, advancing on their accreditation to perform MiamiDade County and Energy Star testing for roofing materials. Rodney Armstrong, Director of Laboratory Services said “Natural rubber compared to synthetic is significantly cheaper, and it might be more appealing. If we get good or better results in asphalt, that’s a great sale for our customers. The new laboratory also provides an opportunity for Corrie MacColl to demonstrate the high-quality of our natural rubber products to our customers.” This investment will also see greater supply chain efficiency for the global teams. Previously outsourcing natural latex testing to a Malaysian laboratory, Centrotrade, for example, is now able to centralise its client services through MTL.
Ambitions
In addition to developing the laboratory’s inventory of equipment, there are plans to establish further MTL globally, with plans underway for sites in The Netherlands and Cameroon. “We want to be able to technically support what we sell, as well as support our customers,” Armstrong said. “Whether they’re customers that purchased the raw material from Corrie MacColl or customers that have other materials with products that need tested and certified through a third party, that’s the goal.”