China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) has recently designated an expert review panel to conduct a two-day national laboratory accreditation supervision review on Chery Vehicle Engineering Center (CVEC). The panel was made up of six experts, including Peng Yanhong from the Vehicle Product Test Laboratory of Jilin University. In ways such as field test, spot check, Q&A and report consulting, the experts meticulously reviewed the Center’s test/calibration capacity and laboratory system management capacity, and approved the Center to pass the supervision review by consensus. The review involved 330 test items and 38 calibration items.
CVEC won the national laboratory accreditation in August 2011. Following the review, the panel spoke highly of the Center’s laboratory management system, thinking that the system is effective and meets the requirements of the accreditation rules and their application specifications, the Center’s laboratory management documents and processes are sound, its laboratory facilities and equipment are advanced, and its technical strength is tremendous, expecting the Center to maintain and further perfect its laboratory quality management system.
Profile of Chery Vehicle Engineering Center
Chery Vehicle Engineering Center (CVEC) was founded in February 2006. During the “eleventh five-year” period, to narrow the gap with foreign countries in product development capacity, improve the capacity for independent innovation, and develop an internationally recognized capacity for vehicle and parts test and certification, Chery made an additional investment of 1.45 billion yuan to build an vehicle engineering center with an area of nearly 300,000 square meters. With eight laboratories (automotive parts, energy conservation and environmental protection, vehicle road, powertrain, NVH, passive safety, materials and measurement), as well as a test track for vehicle stability & controllability/NVH tuning, the Center is capable of conducting over 2,600 tests in 23 specialized modules, including test development and verification for vehicle and parts reliability, stability and controllability, NVH, safety, environmental adaptability, power, economy, electronics & electrical appliances/EMC, air-conditioning system, weather resistance, emission and materials.
In August 2006, based on the Center’s existing research results of vehicle NVH and reliability, a key laboratory for automotive NVH and reliability was built up to develop a systematic capacity for vehicle NVH and reliability development.
In November 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission approved Chery to establish the National Engineering Laboratory for Vehicle Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection. The Laboratory was inaugurated and went into operation in July 2010 as the only of its kind accredited by the state among domestic automakers. This is a major technical development platform and innovation base for automotive energy conservation and environmental protection in China.
Besides, CVEC passed the measurement management system certification on July 20, 2010, won the national laboratory accreditation on August 3, 2011, and obtained the laboratory test certificate from the Vehicle Certification Agency, UK on November 9, 2011.
There are currently over 600 employees in CVEC, of whom more than 80 percent are technologists. These technologists include domestic vehicle test experts, as well as over 10 accomplished and influential vehicle experts from countries such as the USA, Japan and South Korea. The Center owns over 800 units (sets) of apparatus and equipment, including the most advanced key test equipment in China and the world, as well as a large amount of self-made test equipment that have won national patents. Currently, the Center can realize the test verification of 30 new models and 2,000,000 vehicles annually.
