At the groundbreaking for the Good Night’s Sleeplab in Schänis, Switzerland, are (from left) Hilding Anders’ Thomas Kühnis, Alex Myers and Daniel Oelker, as well as Hansjörg Huwiler of the Swiss testing institute AEH.
European mattress major Hilding Anders, which has headquarters in Malmö, Sweden, will implement a testing process to label its products according to their sleeping comfort. The program will measure Hilding Anders mattresses according to four parameters—“bed climate,” “bed hygiene,” durability and ergonomics. Each bed will be issued a sleep-comfort certificate. Testing will be conducted at a new research center currently under construction in Schänis, Switzerland. The $1.7 million testing facility is expected to open in mid-October.
Mattress-testing standards and protocols were developed in collaboration with the Zurich-based Centre for Occupational Medicine, Ergonomics and Hygiene, www.aeh.ch, which also has responsibility for auditing and certifying all test results.
“Our consumer research shows that comfort, hygiene and ventilation are the most critical criteria once the consumer selects a bed or mattress,” said Alex Myers, Hilding Anders president and chief executive officer. “And, as the requirements for the purchase of a mattress or bed not only differ around the world, but also individually, test methods must be tailored much closer to end-consumer needs than the industry does it today. Hence, as there was no suitable test … in response to these consumer needs, we decided to invest in our own facilities.”
