ARDL family grows as it manages move, COVID-19

AKRON—It was just last year that Akron Rubber Development Laboratory Inc. began packing its things and moving into a more spacious home in Barberton, Ohio. It's a good thing, too, because the ARDL family continues to grow.

ARDL, in October, acquired Experimental Services Inc., an Akron-based testing services laboratory that provides static, dynamic, fatigue and vibration testing for rubber industry manufacturers around the world.

The acquisition was a natural one for ARDL and ESI, companies that have worked together for years. Moreover, ARDL CEO Tim Samples said, the experience the ESI team brings to the ARDL family further strengthens testing capabilities.

"Their specialty in engineering testing has made them unique and a natural to fit into ARDL's engineering testing group," Samples said in a statement. "The best part is that ARDL will continue to gain from the input of both Greg Schilling and Karl Winkler, who developed and grew this business and have cultivated trusted relationships with manufacturers over the past three decades."

Eventually, all of ESI's services will move to ARDL's 136,000-sq.-ft. building in Barberton. For now, however, the operations will continue without delay from ESI's current facility.

Meanwhile, ARDL continues to consolidate operations in Barberton, bringing together all aspects of the business, which is spread across three facilities in Akron.

The process is slow and methodical, but it remains on track for completion by 2026. According to Bonnie Stuck, ARDL president and senior technical adviser, the company is renovating its new home to accommodate all the testing and custom mixing services.

ARDL also wants to take time transporting and hooking up the large, heavy pieces of equipment. Once that's complete, many of the operations need to be recertified.

All of that, Stuck said, takes time.

"We don't want to be overextended," Stuck said. "We are doing it in stages for two reasons. First, we can't shut down all of the business at the same time. This is a massive move; you have to do it in stages from a financial and physical standpoint."

For now, the focus is on moving the mixing, compounding and molding laboratory. Renovations are underway at the Barberton site, and the space should be ready for full implementation of the lab within the next six to seven months.

When that move is complete, roughly half of the ARDL team will be working out of the new Barberton facility. At that time, it will house the engineering, microbiology, quality, accounting, human resources and payroll departments. Development technical advisers also will be located at the Barberton facility.

The executive administration, as well as the physical testing, microscopy, chemical services, pharmaceutical and plastics operations will continue to operate in Akron as the company gears up for the next phase of the move.

Stronger together
Don't let the fact that ARDL operates out of multiple facilities fool you. The company is one team. And it's a team that's stronger today than ever before, Stuck said, despite the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It could be argued that the company is stronger because of the challenges brought by COVID-19.

For ARDL, the first major pandemic hurdle was learning to operate safely during the outbreak.

"We were pretty sure that we were an essential business," Stuck said, noting that in March, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had set some specific guidelines for businesses deemed essential. "We had to make sure that we weren't violating the law."

Ensuring the safety of employees throughout the pandemic requires daily, thorough cleaning of the facilities, temperature checks and mask mandates for employees working in the buildings. Social distancing is implemented where possible, Stuck said, but sometimes the lab spaces don't allow for 6-foot distancing.

Employees exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms are not permitted to work in the buildings, and ARDL has done its best to accommodate all employees with work-from-home opportunities. Stuck said she helped to move and set up desktop computers for several employees, especially for those who were in high-risk categories for the virus.

What made the early months of the pandemic so difficult was the uncertainty around how to manage the coronavirus. Many of the employees, Stuck said, were nervous about coming into the labs, fearing exposure to COVID-19. In these instances, she said, the company did all it could to accommodate employees who, because of the nature of their jobs, could not work from home.

Employees were permitted to use vacation and sick time, and in some cases take time off without pay. It was important to the company, Stuck said, that employees could keep their benefits going.

Many did take advantage of opportunities to stay safe at home. That, coupled with the few employees who took time off because they exhibited COVID-19 symptoms, left ARDL short-staffed.

What they weren't short on, Stuck said, was grit. Employees stepped up, took on additional responsibilities and helped out in areas where they otherwise wouldn't have worked.

"People ended up doing a lot of things they normally wouldn't do," Stuck said. "Everybody stepped up and we came out of it more a team, which is what you want to do."

A good portion of ARDL's work this spring focused on the rapidly growing needs of the medical industry, so its services were sorely needed. The automotive industry had slowed and ARDL's business in this arena slowed with it. But the medical demand kept the company busy during the pandemic's spring peak.

Now that countries and companies around the globe are learning how to manage the pandemic, business is picking up across all sectors. That's good news for companies like ARDL, which serves diverse markets.

"From a business standpoint, we have recovered quite a bit," Stuck said. "We are close to being where we were before the pandemic."