Ace announces another year of record growth

RAVENNA, Ohio—Ace Products & Consulting L.L.C. has reported another year of record growth in 2021.

In a Jan. 11 release, the company said its growth was driven "by diversification of services, investment in equipment, staff additions, partnerships and collaborations."

These attributes, it added, are "accelerating its transformation into one of the leading rubber and silicone testing and development laboratories in the world."

Ace added two new partnerships in 2021, including United Kingdom-based Wallace Instruments last January—which named Ace its North American sales, collaboration and service partner—and Endurica in September—which partnered with Ace "to offer new Intrinsic Strength Analyzer (ISA) services that will provide fully supported testing systems for engineering analysis of elastomer durability."

The Ravenna-based company also has pursued "aggressive reinvestment," having reinvested 100 percent of its profits back into the company since its inception in 2014.

In 2021, this reinvestment was seen in the company's laboratory.

Ace's 26,000-sq.-ft. laboratory is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited, and the company said it has an additional 55,000 square feet available for future growth.

"That investment included nine additional ovens for E145 and ASTM D7969 certified heat aging, a Cincinnati Sub Zero weathering chamber, doubling of QUV capacity, the addition of several oil bath condensers to meet stringent tolerances on fluid age testing, and an additional anti-friction oven for conducting fuel aging at elevated temperatures," the company stated.

Ace also added an MTS 831 Elastomer Test System and a "state-of-the-art" Bonnot RS 1 Series X extruder.

"We will continue our aggressive reinvestment in 2022 and are evaluating ways to expand the business through organic additions of capabilities and by acquisition" President and CEO Erick Sharp said in a statement.

And in the wake of nationwide work force struggles, Ace said it managed to grow its work force by 70 percent and is looking forward to build out its management team in 2022 to "support that next level of expansion."

"One of the keys to Ace's success has been service," Sharp said. "We are going to ensure we have the right team in place to provide the top level of service our customers deserve."

Looking forward to 2022, plans are underway for live events, including attendance at this year's International Elastomer Conference in Knoxville, Tenn. (Oct. 10-13), the Silicone Expo in Detroit, Mich. (June 21-23), and the DKT-IRC 2021 (German and International Rubber Conference) in Nuremberg (June 27-30), among others.

"We are looking forward to seeing more of our customers in 2022 and engaging with the rubber industry again face-to-face" Sharp said.