Subheadline: The move gives R&D its own space to finish new EMA systems and start larger test machines.
LABA7 customers will soon be able to run performance and endurance tests on new-generation EMA systems. To build these and larger test machines, the company has moved into a facility of over 1,000 m².
“Hydraulics has set the standard in damper testing for decades,” says Andrius Liškus, CEO of LABA7. “The new EMA generation reaches velocities and frequencies that hydraulic rigs struggle to match. It keeps the control accuracy EMA has always been known for, without the oil, the noise or the power bill. Now we have the space to build it.”
Development gets its own floor
The new site gives R&D its own bay. Prototypes stay set up between runs, and long tests run to the end. The shipping schedule no longer decides how fast development moves.
LABA7 is also developing new EMA-based systems, including quarter-car rigs and 4- and 7-post rigs. A new range of general-purpose testing machines is in development too. Customers will be able to test complete suspension systems and materials, not only dampers. The new systems are built for shock absorber manufacturers, motorsport teams and aerospace companies.
At the previous site, R&D shared one floor with production and the warehouse. Even small prototypes had to be moved aside, taken down and rebuilt, sometimes more than once. Larger projects were postponed entirely.
LABA7 will also hold a larger stock of spare parts and production components. Machines are built from parts already in the building, so fewer orders wait on a supplier delivery.
Customer visits
Customers are welcome to bring their own test specimens and test them on LABA7 machines. An engineer is assigned for the visit and stays through the session. The site is 15 minutes by taxi from Vilnius International Airport. Customers planning a visit can contact the LABA7 team to arrange a date.
From 50 m² to 1,000 m² in five years
The new facility is LABA7’s fourth home since 2020. It is roughly 20 times the size of the first, and there is room to expand further.
That first room was 50 m², rented inside a furniture workshop. The first Scotch-Yoke shock dyno, the spring rate tester and the vacuum bleed pump were all built there. The second site was around 150 m². It started as a bare warehouse. The team poured its own floor, built a mezzanine and developed the first EMA prototype there. A 500 m² site followed in November 2022, with offices, a real kitchen, showers and a proper workshop. The company outgrew it in under four years.
Liškus adds, “In our first room we ate, built machines and rested in the same 50 m². To ship a shock dyno, we had to take the door off its hinges. We do not miss that. But the people who did it are still here, and they are building what comes next.”
What stays the same
All engineering stays in-house across mechanics, electronics and software. The team and support contacts are unchanged, and the current range stays in production. Orders placed before the move are not affected.
About LABA7:
LABA7 designs, develops, and manufactures high-performance testing and measurement equipment for vehicle components and assemblies. All engineering is done in-house across mechanics, electronics, and software to ensure precision, repeatability, and dependable support for motorsport, manufacturing, and R&D. Current product lineup: Electromagnetic Damper Test Systems, Scotch-Yoke Shock Dynamometers, Spring Rate Testers, Automatic Vacuum Shock Bleeders, Racing Corner Weight Scales, pit and paddock equipment, and suspension setup and service tools.