Mercury Marine has opened a $10 million NVH Technical Center at its headquarters in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, with the goal of developing quieter marine engines for consumers.
The two-story Noise, Vibration, Harshness Technical Center opened in early December and Mercury says its “the largest and most expansive testing facility in the marine industry.” The facility houses two marine-specific hemi-anechoic chambers, structural dynamic testing bays, listening rooms and offices.
The testing center studies noise and vibration, both integral in creating quiet engines for the consumer market. The hemi-anechoic chambers mimics being out on the open water without any outside noise present, while the testing bays allow for the measurement and analysis of engines, components and boats up to 45-feet in length.
“We have long said that we will continue to invest in ensuring that our engines are the most reliable and quiet engines in the world and our new NVH Technical Center gives us the additional test capacity we need to continue to meet and exceed our product development goals and meet and exceed the desires of our customers,” said Tim Reid, Mercury Marine vice president of product development and engineering, in a press release.
The Fond du Lac campus has undergone a large expansion the past 20 months. Prior to opening the NVH Technical Center, Mercury Marine opened a $24 million EDP paint plant and in April 2017 commissioned a 4,500-ton high-pressure die-cast machine. The machine is the largest in North America, Mercury Marine says.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long-time and now that it is here, we couldn’t be more excited to show off this facility to the world,” Reid said. “The NVH building and its capabilities will set a new benchmark in the marine industry. We are proud of this expansion and looking forward to giving our engineers a world-class facility where they can study every noise, movement and performance indicator on every engine we manufacture.”
