Keeping quiet

Targeting off-highway and heavy-truck OEMs, Blachford claims its new acoustics laboratory will offer some testing capabilities previously only available to the passenger-car market.

Scheduled to open in May, the new 6500-ft² (600-m²) Blachford Acoustics Laboratory was designed to help customers create an improved acoustical environment for their end users, said Steve Erickson, National Sales Manager for Blachford Inc., a noise-control/sound-quality solutions provider that designs and manufactures acoustical barriers, dampers, absorbers, and composites. The customers targeted to reap the benefits of this lab include heavy-truck, off-highway, agriculture, and RV OEMs, he noted.

“Some of our customers have lab facilities, but they are so tightly booked, there is no time to do the extensive, detailed work many acoustical projects require,” Erickson said. “The Blachford Acoustics Laboratory will be an extension of their facilities. (It) provides the tools to really understand the noise sources and paths in a very detailed way. We can much more efficiently streamline an acoustical package to make certain materials are used only where absolutely needed, and we can dial in just the right combination without any waste or redundant treatments.”