The Business of Breakage

By John Wilen, The Intelligencer & phillyBurbs.com

If you need something broken, Hatfield’s Laboratory Testing is a good place to take it. The 97-employee firm tests metal components made for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, GE, the Navy and nuclear power plants operated by Peco parent Exelon, among others. And while much of that testing involves using chemicals to break metals down to their molecular components or scanning parts with an ultrasound device for microscopic imperfections, some of that testing is “destructive,” which means the company just plain breaks the stuff.

“We measure the strength and the elongation of the metal,” said Mike McVaugh, president. “Our customers are paying us to test their product or material.” Laboratory Testing does this in a variety of ways, the most common of which is to stretch or compact the part in a tensile machine that can measure exactly how much pressure it can handle before breaking. The company’s tensile machines, most of which are made by Tinius Olsen of Horsham, can put anywhere from 100 to 400,000 pounds of pressure on a component. Some machines heat the metal first, which lets Laboratory Testing provide its customers with data on how their metal will hold up under extreme conditions — think engine parts for a jet airplane.

The company also has a side business in “machining” metallic components out of raw metal for companies that would rather conduct their own testing in-house, but don’t have the expertise to cut their own test parts. On Laboratory Testing’s shop floor, employees maneuver large metal casings for Philips Medical CAT Scan machines into X-ray rooms, dissolve a piece of metal into a chemical solution and examine metal tubing for defects using an ultrasound machine.

Companies test components for a variety of reasons. They want to make sure their metal parts are strong enough to handle the job for which they were designed. They want to make sure there are no chemical issues in the makeup of the metal that could cause problems down the road. And, in the case of ultrasonic testing of finished parts, they want to make sure there are no microscopic flaws in the part that could cause it to break.

All this need for testing has translated into a tidy little business for Laboratory Testing. The company was founded in 1984 by Robert W. McVaugh Sr., Mike’s father. The elder McVaugh had a background as a metallurgist at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown and later ran a testing lab with his brother for 11 years. “He was an entrepreneur,” McVaugh said. “He saw the need for a testing lab and wanted to do it on his own.”

McVaugh’s brother Tom is the company’s vice president and facilities manager, and his sister, Joan Bentley, is director of human resources and administration manager. Robert McVaugh died in 1994.

The company has a good reputation with its customers. “We’ve had very good work from them,” said Exelon spokesman Ben Armstrong. Laboratory Testing tests metallic components used in Exelon nuclear plants for strength and to make sure their chemical makeup is correct. The company is one of the few outside testing firms Exelon uses. “We don’t use a lot of outside labs because we have our own lab inside the company,” Armstrong said. “They’ll do it, and they’ll do it at a good price.”

Honda uses Laboratory Testing to make testable components out of raw materials. Honda then tests those components in its own labs. “There’s a reasonable price, good turnaround and good quality,” said Jim Dykeman, a senior engineer at Honda.

Both Dykeman and Armstrong said there are plenty of other testing labs out there. Companies typically try to use a lab that’s nearby, Dykeman said. “There’s a ton of competition,” said McVaugh. But it appears Laboratory Testing has found a way to survive in a crowded materials testing market.

From seven or eight people at its start, Laboratory Testing has grown to almost 100 today, and is growing fast. McVaugh hired 11 people last year, and is looking for six more. He plans to soon add a second shift. Laboratory Testing recently received approval to add 12,000 square feet to its 54,000-square-foot building.

The company generated $9 million in revenue last year, which represents growth of about 9 percent over 2005. McVaugh said his future plans don’t call for much change to the status quo. “Our business model is to try to become a one-stop shop lab for manufacturers,” said McVaugh.

John Wilen can be reached at (215) 345-3169 or jwilen@phillyBurbs.com.