Kiwa is an independent, highly qualified organization with certification as their core activity. They are present in 40 countries around the world and their work is supported by inspection, testing, technology, training and consultancy services. The Kiwa testing services are accredited and fully independent and their mission is to provide expert services to assure and improve quality and safety of pipe materials and piping systems. The Kiwa/Pipeson collaboration dates back to 2008.
Kiwa is a global actor in the area of testing, with offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Scandinavia, UK, Turkey and in China. They use the full Pipeson software suite for project management and data analysis and the online system for global and instant 24/7 data access.
“The Pipeson solution has optimized the internal and external workflow and it helps us minimize customer inquiry response time. It makes it fast and easy for us to update projects, to create data files and to communicate data”, says Marco Mekes, Manager Testing & Certification.
New certification management functionality
As of the fall 2015 Pipeson offers a certification management functionality as a part in the Pipeson Data Manager 2.0. Kiwa, being experts in the area of certification, played an integral role in the development of the new functionality.
“From time to time we see that materials- and plastic pipe producers fail to meet approval requirements and make renewals. We are proud to have contributed
in the development of a tool that helps our customers to stay in control throughout the entire certification lifecycle”, says Marco.
Comment by Pipeson, November 9, 2023: In the fall of 2023 Pipeson launched the Pipeson Certification Manager, which is 100’% focused on the management of product certifications. Kiwa continues to contribute with their expertise in our ongoing developments.
NSF International was founded in 1944 with the mission of protecting and improving global human health. NSF International is a global independent and accredited organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products, providing education and risk management for the food, water and consumer goods industries. As a market leader in the area of plastic pipe testing and product certification, NSF establishes whether customers’ materials meet the various industry requirements.
NSF International’s pipe test lab uses IPT Airless Pressure Testers and IptDataLogging test data management software. Data communication is performed automatically via Pipeson software. Software from IPT and Pipeson are used to facilitate test data management, data communication and data evaluation.
“The integration of IptDataLogging and the Pipeson software suite has increased the efficiency of our lab. Previously the task of updating all projects was a manual process that took several hours. Now that the procedure is automated we update all running projects each morning, which means that our customers always have access to the most recent data. Automation also ensures 100% data integrity,” says Laura Schell, Principal Engineer.
“Having access to data that is updated on a daily basis also makes it easier for our lab staff to be proactive. They can identify trends that may become issues in the future at an early stage. Another significant benefit is that those of our customers who use the Pipeson software have 24/7 online access to the most recently updated test data.
Customized software solution
NSF International implemented the complete Pipe Data Flow System in 2013 and since then a number of new features have been developed in order to meet their specific data evaluation and data communication needs.
“Since the implementation we have worked closely with Pipeson in order to customize the solutions to our particular needs. It has been an enjoyable and efficient process and I have often had a draft of the feature I have requested within a week.”
Future proof test data communication
Pipeson’s online service, in combination with IPT software, is an integral part of a ‘future proof’
testing service.
“We move in the direction of considering it the most natural thing in the world to have instant access
to what we need when we need it. Test data is not an exception to this rule.”
Wavin Technology & Innovation has over 40 years of experience in plastic products and manufacturing processes. Wavin T&I manages and executes product and process development from first idea to production start. The laboratory of Wavin T&I offers specialized services and facilities for testing of plastic materials, products and systems in accordance with national and international standards. In 1991 the laboratory was accredited by the Dutch Council for Accreditation (RvA), this accreditation is based on the standard ISO/IEC 17025. This means that the laboratory is independent and that the test results are traceable, reliable and confidential. Wavin T&I has been a Pipeson partner since 2009.
Wavin T&I manages and executes product and process development in the area of plastics; all the way from the idea stage to production.
”Pipeson Analyzer makes us more efficient and innovative. We also appreciate that Pipeson continuously works to develop the software to meet our specific needs”, says Marc Bunskoek, Laboratory Wavin T&I.
Materials to meet standards
Wavin uses Pipeson Analyzer for full ISO 9080 evaluations of new materials and also to make preliminary lifetime predictions based on limited data sets.
”Pipeson Analyzer provides us with a good overview of all the requirements for the different standards. One of the most significant benefits of the software is that the regression lines can be saved in the Line manager and applied in the Line lifetime view and Compare view”, says Marc. ”After the data evaluations have been completed it’s very convenient to use the automatically generated tables and graphs for our reports. All data and settings are saved in the file, so we can also use the file to distribute project information between different Wavin sites and departments”, he continues.
Optimized workflow
In 2014 Wavin implemented the Pipe Data Flow System.
“Following the implementation we have achieved a new level of efficiency. We manage both current and historical data in the Pipeson Data Manager making it readily available to the people who need access to it. We set up new projects in IptDataLogging and use Pipeson Data Manager to make automatic data updates. This saves us a lot of time and we know that all the data is correct.”
