As accredited ALPHA test laboratory, the K.A. Schmersal GmbH Laboratory can test under its own responsibility low voltage switchgear according to the requirements of internationally applicable standards. Since ALPHA (association for the testing and certification of low voltage switchgear) is a member of LOVAG (Low Voltage Agreement Group), which is active at the European level, the test reports issued from the Schmersal Laboratory are recognised throughout Europe.

The accreditation as ALPHA test laboratory witnesses of Schmersal’s extensive know-how in the field of testing – which will also produce advantages for the customers, because new equipment can be tested and certificated more quickly and more economically. The ALPHA membership however also implies many responsibilities. All the companies affiliated to ALPHA’s “Industrial Low Voltage Switchgear Committee” are highly aware of this: therefore, they organise an annual meeting, which gives them the opportunities to exchange their experiences.

The first meeting was organised in 2004 at K.A. Schmersal’s. Thirty-one participants – most of them developers and test experts from companies with own accredited low voltage test laboratories – discussed, amongst others, the new electronic methods of "Test Reporting". Standardisation experts lectured on the new structure of the German accreditation system and the relevant changes to individual standards. Several discourses highlighted the new methods and procedures contributing to the detection and quantification of measurement inaccuracies.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Wolfgang Scheuerpflug, Head of the Schmersal Test Laboratory, invited the participants to visit the laboratory, which currently employs twelve staff, including nine officially registered inspectors. The test facilities include test bays for electrical and mechanical strength and life testing, equipment for the simulation of ambient conditions, EMC test systems as well as safety test equipment. The next exchange of experiences will take place in June 2005 at Siemens AG’s “Reinhold-Rüdenberg Laboratory for Low Voltage Switchgear” in Amberg.