June 2018

Press Release – 50 Years in the Service of Safety

Crash test expert MESSRING celebrates its anniversary in July / The global market leader for crash test facilities and their components is optimistic about the future.

Munich, June 2018 – MESSRING, leading manufacturer of crash test facilities and their components, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in July. To mark the occasion, the equipment manufacturer invited partners and customers from Europe and overseas to an international user meeting in Munich. Experts from EuroNCAP and ADAC, CARISSMA, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich will discuss the future of automotive safety and crash test technology with representatives from the major automotive OEMs. Dr. Lothar Wech, professor of technical mechanics and vehicle safety at the Technical University Ingolstadt/CARISSMA, Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of EuroNCAP, and Prof. Norbert Schaub, head of passive safety testing, vehicle functions, and overall project management at the Mercedes Benz Test Center for Vehicle Safety (TFS) in Sindelfingen, which MESSRING was instrumental in developing and implementing, are all scheduled to give talks.
There is hardly another company that has shaped the industry as much as MESSRING. Founded in 1968 as a measuring technology company, MESSRING built its first turn-key testing facility just two years later. Since then, the manufacturer of crash test facilities has made a name for itself as a partner to major automotive OEMs and suppliers, but also to insurance companies and government agencies. Thanks to innovative advancements and new solutions such as the MicroTrack rail system or the patented M=BUS data acquisition system, crash test facilities and components from MESSRING guarantee precise and reproducible testing at any time. As a pioneer in the field of road safety, the Bavarian manufacturer of crash test facilities also has its sights set on the future.
“Similar to back in 1968, when the issue of road safety was first given serious consideration, we are once again on the verge of a new era. How can we ensure that autonomous driving systems are suitable for use on public roads? We need new testing scenarios and components to maintain and further enhance our safety standards,” says Dierk Arp, CEO of MESSRING.
In order to prepare his company for the upcoming changes and to be able to answer questions like these, MESSRING founded MESSRING Active Safety GmbH to coincide with its 50th anniversary. The new company’s goal is develop solutions for the future in collaboration with OEMs and research institutes.
Dr. Igor Doric, Executive Director of MESSRING Active Safety GmbH, will offer a first taste at the user meeting. Here he will present the company’s first project: a pedestrian dummy that simulates a real pedestrian, with authentic movements of the limbs and head rotations. In combination with the motion system (Target Mover) also developed by MESSRING, the dummy can be moved realistically without confusing the assistance systems. This represents an initial step toward active safety testing. And MESSRING
has ambitious goals: “In the field of active safety, we want to become what we already are in the field of passive safety – the leading system and full-service supplier,” says Mr.
Arp. Mr. Arp is also certain that passive safety systems will remain equally important in the future, and that MESSRING will also remain focused on this field during the next 50 years.