Outlook Technical Services Pte. Ltd. and Outlook International (SG) Pte. Ltd. are pleased to announce our plans for the construction of a new product testing laboratory in Cebu, Philippines. Following unprecedented rapid growth with our Philippines exports, a decision was made to build a new product testing laboratory in Cebu targeted toward the home furnishings industry.
Outlook International built the first product testing laboratory in Asia specially for the furniture industry in 2001 in Dong Guan, China followed by a testing lab in Cebu, Philippines and then additional testing labs in Vietnam and Indonesia. As home furnishing exports diversified within Asia, we sold our China and Philippine testing labs and moved product testing in those countries to third-party testing laboratories. However, with the recent strong growth in our customers’ exports from the Philippines, and a shortage of third-party testing labs, Outlook will now build a new dedicated Philippine lab in Cebu, with a planned investment of USD 750,000 with a targeted completion date between late 2024 and early 2025.
Similar to the testing labs in Vietnam and Indonesia, the new Cebu lab will include a full range of International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) certified packaging testing, critical to managing transportation defects for retailers and eCommerce companies. In addition, the new Cebu lab will include a range of product performance testing for home furnishings, including recognized furniture industry performance testing protocols, BITMA Product Safety and Performance Standards, and EN Standards (European Standards) protocols. The new lab will also have a full-size environmental chamber, equipment for hot/cold cycle testing, moisture content, tensile strength testing, and other tests covering a variety of product testing protocols.
In addition to the new Philippine testing lab, Outlook Technical Services has been upgrading the testing labs in Vietnam and Indonesia during 2022 and 2023. These upgrades include the addition of transport simulation vibration testing machines with both linear and rotational movement.
For those customers interesting in our product sourcing, quality control and product testing for the home furnishings industry please contact us via our Outlook International website at https://outlooksourcing.com/contact-us/ .
Ken Shanks
President
Outlook International (SG) Pte. Ltd.