The reason why our laboratory is so important

We have come a long way! The changes that have taken place at SPG since I began working in this department have been astounding. I joined after the company reorganisation that sought to maximise all the different departments. What was initially a three-person section is now a department with over 10 employees in charge of quality, R&D and health and safety.

Our in-house laboratory is key because it means we have greater control over the entire process from the raw material through to the end product. I should point out that it is not just the department that has evolved; the systems and tests we perform have been updated to adapt to new and more complex manufacturing processes. We used to do 3 lab tests but not we do over 30 of them. We used to have four pieces of apparatus (an oven, a magnetic stirrer, a thermosealer and a slip test) but now we use over 30 pieces of equipment including an Oxtran for measuring oxygen permeability, a universal testing machine, a gas chromatograph and a microscope.

There have also been big changes in the way we analyse materials. We used to take the layers off the product and separate the materials using touch and smell. We do still do this, by the way, but the complexity of the materials means we now have more specific equipment for this purpose. The tests are always performed under the supervision of an experienced worker who can interpret the data correctly.

Some of the most significant processes performed in our laboratory are indicated below.

• Revision of each batch. We review and analyse different samples to ensure clients get top-quality products.
• Material analysis. We look at all the different types of materials and analyse the data so that we can make improvements.
• Analysis of raw materials. We use our experience and equipment to do tests that indicate the quality of the products we receive from our suppliers.
• Equipment calibration. This is very important because it means we can control how our machinery is operating and obtain top-quality parameters. I would like to point out that, at the beginning, most of the equipment was calibrated or verified by external laboratories. Now we have several standards for performing this in-house which makes us more agile from a technical perspective and can help to make financial savings. We can calibrate all our equipment whenever we need to.

All of this is an added advantage for our clients because we can guarantee that our products leave our facilities in the best possible conditions. In fact, one of the motivational quotes we use in our office is ‘Direct from my hands to the client’, which I think this is a clear indication of our good intentions.

Expert:  Francisco López (Laboratory Manager)