Partner Laboratory Coordination

The model

MTIS maintains limited in-house practical capability for inspection, sample preparation, secure storage and selected materials-processing/support tasks, and works with a network of specialist laboratory partners to access the most appropriate test methods for each investigation.

We treat this as a strength, deliberately chosen. A consultancy that owns a laboratory tends to answer every problem with the tests that laboratory can run — the machine in the corner needs feeding. Coordinating across specialist partners means each investigation gets the method that best answers its question, while MTIS keeps the parts that matter most in expert hands: defining what to test, why, in what order, and what the results mean.

What stays in-house

• Visual and macro examination, and systematic photographic documentation.
• Sample preparation and selected materials-processing/support tasks.
• Microscopy within our confirmed capability.
• Secure, documented storage of client components — chain of custody from receipt.
• Every element of judgement: test-programme design, hypothesis management, interpretation, reporting.

What goes to partners — and how

1. The question defines the method. Composition verification, higher-magnification fractography, mechanical properties, corrosion-product analysis — each hypothesis gets the technique that can actually test it.
2. The method selects the partner. We choose the specialist laboratory best suited to that method for that material, and confirm applicable accreditation for the specific test where it matters. We do not name or count partner laboratories publicly; the accountability for the answer stays with MTIS.
3. Samples travel with documentation. Preparation, labelling and transfer are recorded so the evidence chain survives the journey.
4. Results come back to the same engineer. Raw data is interpreted by the MTIS engineer who designed the programme — you receive an engineering answer, not a lab certificate to decode.

What this means for you

• No captive-lab bias. The programme serves the question, not the equipment list.
• Access to more methods than any single lab owns — chosen case by case.
• One accountable interpreter. MTIS stands behind the whole answer, including the parts delivered through partners.
• Costs that fit the question. You pay for the tests the investigation needs, not a standard package.

Related reading

How partner-laboratory testing supports an investigation →
Characterisation & Testing Coordination →