“The pandemic didn’t interrupt us from innovating and proposing other services to our customers,” says Eloise Champlong, marketing and communications manager at Transpolis, an urban mobility and innovative transport solutions specialist based in St Maurice de Rémens, eastern France.

“In 2020 alone, Transpolis developed new tools in the field of Road Restraint System testing, such as complex machine to carry out push/pull tests; a friction machine in order to characterize friction coefficient, among many others.
The simulation department of Transpolis was also far from idle, as it developed a new range of vehicles.

“Of particular interest is one heavy truck, often in demand by the manufacturers, a 32,000kg 4-axle rigid with a tipper. This new detailed truck can be used to fulfil the requirements of many standards, such as IWA 14-1 (N3F vehicle) and EN1317 (TB71). However, it seems that this new development of vehicle was not challenging the simulation department enough during the pandemic, so they decided to use their dynamic expertise further by becoming specialists in static calculations. This has been a logical continuity to the development of new static tools,” she says proudly. It also seems as though the effects of Covid-19 have brought about other forms of innovation for Transpolis – maintaining close contact with their valued customers, as Champlong explains.

“In any situation, we always support our customers to ensure the best results. The pandemic is another challenge for us: we adapt our services, and we are focused on continuous improvements. We stay close to our customers and we anticipate their requirements. For our customers who cannot come in our test centre, we offer the possibility to attend the testing session by live-broadcasting the crash-test so the customer feels like they are present and can have the confidence because they can follow the entire cycle from home.”