Mexico. The new UL laboratory, located in Queretaro, has been officially inaugurated becoming one of the first multinational testing laboratories to open in this country and will be responsible for conducting product safety and performance studies for the Mexican market, as well as for export to the United States, Canada and Latin American countries.
"Today marks an exciting new day in our three-decade relationship with Mexico as we inaugurate UL's newest state-of-the-art laboratory in Queretaro," said Jennifer Scanlon, president and CEO of UL Inc. "Given our mission to work for a safer world, UL is dedicated to using its testing and certification expertise to help manufacturers in Mexico grow and thrive by helping them bring their innovations to market quickly and safely."
Located in the Kaizen Industrial Park complex and near the Queretaro International Airport, the new laboratory is located within one of Mexico's leading manufacturing centers. The laboratory houses testing facilities for engineering materials, wires and cables, appliances, lighting, refrigeration, and consumer technologies.
The lab offers local tests for the UL mark for the U.S. and Canada. Following the approval of the accreditation, it will also offer the Mark Official Mexican Standards (NOM) in Mexico and testing services in Latin America.
"Adding testing capabilities in Mexico will strengthen our ability to help customers export products to the United States, Canada and other Latin American countries, while also meeting the needs of safety and performance certification and testing in Mexico," said Weifang Zhou, UL Executive Vice President and President of Testing, Inspection and Certification. "UL's presence in Mexico means local manufacturers have a global partner to help them navigate the complexities of the regulatory landscape across the Americas."
The opening of the new laboratory builds on UL's three decades in Mexico. UL has a well-established engineering and customer service office in Mexico City and an engineering team in Queretaro. The laboratory establishes UL's commitment to Mexico and the entire Latin American market.
In addition to Scanlon and Zhou, the grand opening included a ceremony with Héctor Guerrero Herrera, Undersecretary of Industry and Commerce, Office of the Ministry of Economy of Mexico; Steve Conlon, Science and Technology Counselor, U.S. Embassy Mexico; Rodolfo Flores, UL Regional Director for Latin America, and Todd Denison, Senior Vice President of Global Regions at UL. The event also included a special inauguration visit by Mauricio Kuri, governor of the State of Querétaro.
"UL's laboratory in Queretaro demonstrates our commitment to providing high-performance services to manufacturers in Mexico from a single source and in one place for testing and inspection," Flores said. "It also demonstrates our commitment to empowering manufacturers with shorter development cycles, faster time to market and the ability to be more competitive in the global marketplace."
UL operates in more than 140 locations in more than 40 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa with more than 14,000 scientists, engineers, problem solvers and innovators. UL works with 60% of the Global 500 and Fortune 500 companies. In addition to UL's presence in Mexico, the company's Latin American operations include facilities in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.
