In business, finding something that differentiates you from your competitors sometimes requires investing in areas your competitors are unwilling to go. Ultimately that means finding people with the expertise and drive to seize an opportunity and turn it into success. For Golden Valley, Minnesota, based Lube-Tech, that differentiator is an engine testing facility and the people who make up its team.
Originally launched in a small remote building in 1998, the engine testing facility evolved first into an add-on inside Lube-Tech’s manufacturing facility in Golden Valley. In 2018, it moved into its own, state-of-the-art facility adjacent to the manufacturing facility. In the process, the business was expanded and modernized, and the 5600-sq ft facility now houses four test cells with 12 dynamometers plus a marine tank for testing outboard engines.
“The main purpose of the engine testing facility is to develop optimized products for our business partners,” said Eivind Stenersen, Vice President of Technology at Lube-Tech. “From start to finish we work with our business partners from initial prototypes to final validation of a customized solution. When we hand it off, it’s dialed in to their specific needs.”
To protect its customers’ intellectual property, Lube-Tech’s engine testing facility features security systems with controlled access. The facility is capable of running engines around the clock unattended and features state of the art safety systems. In addition to engines, the engine testing facility has developed and built customized test rigs to validate driveline fluids, marine engines, pump oils and hydraulic fluids. While out of the realm of other test facilities capabilities, this level of customized testing is part of the value proposition it offers.
“Our goal is to deliver complete fluid solutions to our customers, and that means thinking outside the box to create test rigs and parameters that meet their needs,” Stenersen said. “As a result, some of our customers rely heavily on us to do all their fluids testing and more.”
In fact, Lube-Tech’s engine testing facility has played an important role in allowing small engine manufacturers to push the limits with their technologies.
“A lot of the power units we are serving make more power using less oil than they did even a decade ago,” Stenersen continued. “With some of our customers, for every horsepower hour, they are using half the amount of oil with better longevity and performance. We are proud to have helped them achieve this with the engine testing facility.”
Staffed by a team of technicians and engineers with experience ranging from engine development, automotive engineering, controls/software, the engine testing facility is a huge part of Lube-Tech’s value proposition. It is a differentiator that makes the company a global leader in small engine lubrication, and one that can make a difference in your business.
