At Protan, we produce a wide variety of products based on polymer technology. Production primarily involves coating textiles with PVC or other polymers. The laboratory's most important function is to ensure the high QUALITY of the goods delivered to our customers. This is done in close collaboration with production and product owners. The lab qualifies raw materials and recipes for the various products we produce, as well as controlling the quality of the finished product. Therefore, expertise in chemistry and material technology is crucial in the lab.
Ensuring that approved raw materials and textiles are used, always. This includes a significant responsibility to ensure that all chemicals used in our production are handled correctly in terms of Health, Environment, and Safety. At the same time, the finished products should not contain any form of priority environmental pollutants or other relevant substances in quantities considered hazardous to health and the environment according to REACH/ECHA's (European Chemical Agency) chemical list. The lab performs control of raw materials, important properties, and their delivery certificates in connection with raw material receipt.
Protan's products must always meet the requirements set for the respective product. The requirements are either set according to standardized product standards (for example, European Norm, EN standards) or in relation to other product-relevant properties. To meet these requirements, both recipes and production parameters must be favorable.
The lab plays a key role in developing new products that meet new and future requirements regarding raw materials and environmental/sustainability factors. Testing, analysis, and development of new recipes/products with new, alternative raw materials are therefore a continuous task for the lab in collaboration with both procurement, R&D, and production.
The lab has several daily inspections of production and checks that process and self-control are carried out satisfactorily. The lab continuously tests important properties of the finished product as part of our control routines. Materials that do not meet the requirements are stopped and deviations are handled. Corrective actions are determined and implemented because of this.
The lab is heavily involved in the preparation, maintenance, and internal control of our product Approvals and Certificates – Technical Data Sheets – Product Declarations – Environmental Declarations. We also facilitate external inspections from, for example, various EU-Notified Bodies that audit both production and product quality. Visit our documentation hub
Upon request from customers, the lab performs analyses and investigations. This could include a condition analysis of an old roof in connection with re-roofing. This is either to reassure the customer that the roof will still be functional for several years to come or simply that it is ready for replacement. Other tasks may include testing of components to be used with our products to ensure that they do not damage our type of product. It could also involve deeper chemical analyses down to the constituents of products or purely mechanical properties.
