The 2026 NSC Safety Congress & Expo brought safety professionals, manufacturers and suppliers together in Indianapolis from September 11 to 17. According to the National Safety Council, more than 11,000 people attended the event.
For manufacturers of safety footwear and other personal protective equipment, the event also offers an opportunity to look at a question that extends well beyond the exhibition floor: how can quality teams make physical testing more consistent, useful and manageable as product ranges and customer requirements continue to grow?
At Great Win, we see several areas where testing practices can make a practical difference—from checking the performance of a finished shoe to improving the way results are recorded and reviewed.
1. Safety Footwear Needs More Than One Type of Test
A safety shoe is expected to perform in different ways at once. Its toe area may need to withstand impact, while its outsole must provide suitable traction and resist wear. The materials and construction also need to hold up through repeated movement.
These properties cannot be assessed with a single test. A durable outsole compound, for example, does not by itself demonstrate that a complete shoe offers adequate toe protection. Likewise, a shoe that performs well in an impact test still needs to be evaluated for other properties relevant to its intended use.
For toe protection, the Great Win GW-019C Safety Footwear Impact Testing Machine is designed to test the impact resistance of safety shoe toes. The test gives quality teams a way to assess the protective area under controlled conditions.
The starting point for any test plan should be the applicable standard, the intended market and the customer’s specification. From there, manufacturers can decide which tests are needed for development, routine production checks and independent certification.
2. Outsole Performance Depends on the Working Environment
A sole that performs well on one surface may behave differently on another. Flooring material, contaminants, tread design and the rubber compound can all affect traction. That makes it difficult to judge slip resistance by appearance alone.
Controlled laboratory testing helps manufacturers compare designs under defined conditions. The GW-026B Slip Resistance Testing Machine, for example, is intended for footwear slip resistance testing. It can support product development and quality checks when the test setup is selected for the relevant method and application.
Abrasion is another part of the picture. For manufacturers comparing rubber compounds for heavy-duty footwear, the GW-006 NBS Rubber Abrasion Testing Machine provides a way to evaluate abrasion resistance using the NBS method.
Laboratory results are most useful when the team also understands the conditions behind them. A test result can support a comparison between materials or designs, but it should not be treated as a guarantee of performance on every workplace floor or in every wear environment.
3. Repeated Movement Can Reveal Problems That a New Shoe Does Not Show
A new shoe may look sound when it leaves production. Repeated bending can reveal a different picture, particularly around the forepart, sole and areas where materials meet.
Flex testing allows manufacturers to examine how footwear or sole materials respond to repeated movement. The GW-009C Shoe Flexing Testing Machine is designed to assess flexing resistance and reveal cracks in shoes or soles. For material and outsole testing, the GW-003 Outsoles Flexing Testing Machine is designed to help users observe damage or cracking after repeated bending.
Results can be particularly useful when a supplier changes a material, a factory adjusts a process, or a design team compares a new construction with an existing product. The goal is not simply to record a cycle count, but to understand where damage begins and whether the change affects the finished product.
4. Automation Should Make Results Easier to Trust and Use
For many laboratories, automation does not have to mean replacing an entire testing process. It can begin with a specific, repetitive task: controlling test cycles, displaying a measurement or retaining a result for review.
The benefit depends on the application. Automated controls may help operators run a test more consistently, while electronic records can make it easier to retrieve results and compare batches. Before purchasing equipment, a quality team should consider practical questions such as:
Which steps still require manual setup or inspection?
What information needs to be recorded for each sample?
Can the result be exported or connected to the laboratory’s existing workflow?
How will the equipment be calibrated and maintained?
Which accessories are needed for the selected test method?
Not every machine offers the same level of data capture or connectivity. Confirming these details before purchase is more useful than choosing equipment on the basis of an “automated” label alone.
5. Good Data Starts Before the Test Begins
Even a well-designed machine depends on a consistent procedure. Sample preparation, conditioning, equipment setup and operator training all affect how meaningful a result will be.
A practical quality record should allow the team to connect a result to the sample, production batch, test method, equipment and test date. It should also capture any relevant observations—for example, where a sole first developed a crack during flexing.
When an unexpected result appears, that information helps the team investigate whether the cause lies in the material, the production process or the test setup. It also makes conversations with suppliers, customers and third-party laboratories more productive.
Planning the Next Step for Your Laboratory
For PPE manufacturers, the future of quality assurance is likely to involve both better testing equipment and better use of the information it produces. The right approach will depend on the products being made, the markets they serve and the tests already carried out in-house.
Whether you are comparing outsole materials, assessing safety footwear or planning a new testing laboratory, Great Win can help you explore equipment suited to your application.
A6,Huazhi high-tech park,Yongqing Village,Daojiao Town,Dongguan City,Guangdong Province , China
About Us
Great Win Testing Machine CO. Ltd was set up in 1999, it has been over 20 years' history in the field of professional experience for lab testing instrument such as Footwear Testing Equipment, Leather Testing Equipment, Textile Testing Equipment, Toy Testing ...
