MK Test Partners with ECA Group for high speed harness testing

ECA Group and MK Test Systems have established a partnership to bring on the market a low voltage testing solution that will advance aircraft assembly considerably. The two companies have industrialised a harness testing system that will lead to faster aircraft assembly. The new test system, RTS, will enter into service this year.

ECA Group’s Aerospace division, a builder of functional testers for aircraft assembly and maintenance, saw an excellent basis for a collaboration with MK Test Systems.

A low voltage testing solution that can make testing for operators safer and quicker is a real need in the aerospace industry. Currently, operators perform electrical wiring and harness tests in Final Assembly Lines under high voltage – a time consuming and hazardous job. To minimise the safety risk, manufacturers allow no other operations on the aircraft at the same time.

This means that critical production time is lost as each of the many thousands of tests takes up to 5 seconds, and there are 170km of cables on a typical aircraft. A faster testing solution enabling manufacturing to continue at the same time, is therefore a definite requirement for aircraft builders.

A traditional high voltage solution can make 20 measurements per second. In comparison, the new low voltage system makes 500 measurements per second.

About the Partnership between ECA Group and MK Test Systems

ECA Group’s Aerospace site is a stone’s throw away from Airbus Toulouse. Their know-how in aerospace functional testing solutions means they are the perfect partner to bring MK’s product to market. The compatibility of the two businesses has enabled allowed them to work together to industrialise MK Test Systems’ RTS solution.

In just two years and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the two companies have industrialised a concept that could answer the aerospace industry’s specific requirements.

Aircraft Final Assembly Lines can now benefit from faster, real time, electrical wiring testing.   The partners are planning a future collaboration incorporating wire and function testing in one solution.

Want to learn more?

To learn more about this high speed harness test solution, visit the RTS product page.  For more articles about RTS, visit our blog and filter for RTS.