The designing of a new product is an act of creation and commitment and is a wager for the future by the whole company. For the Elmar WOLF group, R&D is a continuous obsession. That is why ETESIA can be summed up in two words - small in size but leader in terms of innovation.

The Research, Development and Test Centre is shared by Outils WOLF and ETESIA, which devote 5% of their turnover and 10% of their workforce to it. ETESIA has allocated 10 engineers and technicians who are totally dedicated to innovation and high performance in professional ride-on mowers. The Design department has 17 CAD workstations using CATIA V5. Technical data are managed with PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software. The finite-element design software allows virtual simulations to compare and validate some parts or components, even complete systems, before prototypes are made. The prototyping workshop of the centre is fully integrated. It has all the machine tools for making the functional models defined by the Designing department. All testing is standardised and specific, to guarantee the safety and functionality of products, and is carried out internally. 3000 hours of practical testing and 30,000 hours of testing are carried out every year by the  staff of the centre.