American Center for Mobility announces Intertek will serve as its operations and maintenance partner
28 Nov 2017
YPSILANTI TWP., Mich. – The American Center for Mobility (ACM) has signed an agreement with Intertek to partner on operations and maintenance of its 500-acre connected and automated vehicle proving grounds in Ypsilanti Township, set to open in December 2017.
Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, offers Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions through a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries.
Intertek’s Transportation Technologies group specializes in performance, quality and reliability standards for the automotive industry with efficient, cost-effective insights, validation and testing capabilities. The company is accredited to conduct thousands of electrical, chemical, and mechanical tests for full vehicles, automotive components, products and related systems.
“We’re proud to partner with Intertek and to leverage their leading global expertise in delivering innovative and customized solutions within the automotive and communication sectors,” said John Maddox, president and CEO of ACM. “In our search for an operations and maintenance partner, we wanted to work with a company that would deliver the highest quality and customer-focused solutions for our unique facility. We’ve definitely found that with Intertek and we’re confident they will help us implement the very best safety and operational standards for ACM.”
Tim Hubbard, Senior Vice President of Transportation Technologies at Intertek commented: “At Intertek, our commitment to providing innovative, comprehensive, quality services in Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification is at the forefront of everything we do. We’re delighted to partner with ACM and to support its development, bringing our superior solutions to the proving grounds and the very future of the automotive industry.”
Through the multi-year agreement, Intertek will provide an extensive set of services to ACM, including: facility operations, testing security and confidentiality systems, maintenance, local hiring, human resources management, ancillary services, customer service programs, training plans for clients, implementing an I.T. policy, and safety planning. These services indicate a significant investment by Intertek in ACM in terms of systems, equipment, resources and technical personnel.
"Intertek's experienced professionals and technical know-how complement ACM's vision to create a world class facility to test technologies across the connected and automated vehicle ecosystem,” said Ed Straub, ACM’s Technical Program Director and Chief Safety Officer. “We're very excited about the future and are looking forward to building the future here in SE Michigan.”
Ralph Buckingham will be leading the project on behalf of Intertek, with site development support provided by Richard Jacobson, Intertek western operations manager; Greg Marshall, Chief Engineer; and an Intertek team with decades of proving ground, testing and Total Quality Assurance expertise.
“The American Center for Mobility is generating world-wide excitement as the automotive industry demands automated vehicle testing, and we’re proud to support this important work,” Buckingham said. “Our team is already onsite and committed to ensuring the first phase of the facility is complete and opened for testing.”
About Intertek
Total Quality. Assured.
Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 42,000 people in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers’ operations and supply chains. Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.
About ACM
The American Center for Mobility is a non-profit testing, education and product development facility for future mobility, designed to enable safe validation and self-certification of connected and automated vehicle technology, and to accelerate the development of voluntary standards. ACM is one of 10 U.S. DOT designated Automated Vehicle Proving Grounds in the U.S. To learn more about ACM, visit www.acmwillowrun.org.
ACM is part of PlanetM, a collaborative that represents Michigan’s unique and vast ecosystem, connecting resources and opportunities for its consortium of members. Made up of private industry, government and institutions of higher learning, partners in PlanetM share the common goal of leading the development of smart solutions that will change the way people and goods are transported across all modes of transportation. To learn more about how Michigan is leading the transportation revolution or to become a member, visit PlanetM.
Intertek Media Contact:
Cheryl Prejsnar
Public Relations Manager
(630) 481-3185
Cheryl.prejsnar@intertek.com
American Center for Mobility Media Contact:
Tracey L. Shavers Jr.
(248) 203-8662
tshavers@webershandwick.com