Finnish materials handling equipment manufacturer Kalmar has officially opened a fully automated test centre in Ljungby, Sweden.

Those in attendance at the grand opening ceremony, which took place on September 3, included customers, dealers, key suppliers, industrial partners, employees and media representatives.

“This milestone represents the next chapter in our commitment to invest in sustainable innovations and sets a new benchmark for the industry. It shows that we are not simply following the future – we are actively shaping it,” says Sami Niiranen, president and CEO of Kalmar.

Described by the company as the first of its kind in the world, the purpose of the facility is to test the entire lifecycle of Kalmar’s electric vehicle (EV) and diesel product lines under extreme temperature conditions.

In this way, it is hoped the centre will accelerate electric and autonomous product development, strengthen product reliability and shorten time-to-market.

“Located right next to our Innovation Centre in Ljungby, our new Test Centre is designed to push our machines to their absolute limits,” says Alf-Gunnar Karlgren, president, counterbalanced at Kalmar.

“By enabling 24/7 accelerated lifetime testing under extreme conditions, we are ensuring that our products deliver the highest reliability and longest possible lifetime, while simultaneously shortening our time-to-market for new developments.”