Endurica Europe strengthens company's potential across the pond

LUXEMBOURG—Since founding Endurica L.L.C., Will Mars has kept an eye out for open windows—those that opportunity unlocks and slides open.

It was, after all, opportunity's open window that drew Thomas Ebbott, Endurica's vice president, to the company in 2022. And it was an open window that led to Endurica's partnership with rubber industry marketing agency Rubber Heart.

This time, opportunity's window has led to the formation of a brand-new Endurica—a European based sister company.

"When you are a small business and you're making your first foray into another market, obviously there is the big picture thinking, but there is also the opportunistic component to that where you make the move when opportunity opens a window," Mars said.

Window open.

Meet Endurica Europe SARL.

The company will operate out of an office in Luxembourg and will help to serve European customers, while assisting Endurica in all aspects of its business. Moreover, the two companies—which will have combined staff of 10 with eight in the U.S. and two in Europe—will work closely together to drive innovation and business growth.

Mars, Endurica's founder and president, will serve as president of the new entity, while Ebbott takes on the additional role of managing director of Endurica Europe.

And in the months ahead, Ebbott will be spending much time in Europe working alongside Jean-Pierre Jeusette and Wes McMinimy, who have been named Endurica Europe's executive director and business development manager, respectively.

Juesette and McMinimy will be based in Luxembourg.

Jeusette is responsible for business governance and the new company's go-to-market strategy. He comes to Endurica from Goodyear, where he held positions as the vice president of global quality and as the general director of Goodyear's Innovation Center in Luxembourg.

He was key to the development of technology for computational tire mechanics and its use in the product development process.

McMinimy, meanwhile, joins Endurica after having worked with Amazon. As business development manager, he will be responsible for business growth and day-to-day operations.

Through the open window that led to Endurica Europe, there's a crystal-clear view of how the company can grow and thrive.

"We think there is opportunity for growth for Endurica in Europe," Ebbott said. "We think that if we have a business presence in Europe, it will facilitate that growth from a boots on the ground (perspective), now that we have Wes in place. We think that will help with the growth as well as servicing customers."

There are a number of reasons Endurica chose to grow its operations in Europe, not the least of which was the size of the rubber industry and the role it plays globally.

"A huge part of the rubber industry supply chain runs right through Europe," Mars said. "… We think that being present physically in that market will allow us to serve those folks better."

For Endurica, though, the European expansion isn't just significant because of the potential business it can draw. It's significant because it can make Endurica—and its product offerings—stronger, in part because of the team's opportunity to deepen its understanding of the industry's latest trends.

Ebbott, for instance, pointed to sustainability trends emerging quickly in Europe. Endurica believes that its software could go a long way in helping the industry embrace greater sustainability without compromising the durability of the products it offers.

"There is a lot of ecosystem around sustainability in Europe and how do you produce more sustainable products, how do you better use the products you have?" Ebbott said. "So we are envisioning a couple areas of research and development that we would like to partner (on)—not only with the institutions that are in Europe, but also the government programs in Europe.

"We see that as an opportunity to look at things like thermoplastic elastomers, materials that are more recyclable—more sustainable—than typical carbon-black filled rubber. A lot of companies are already looking at these materials as replacements for some engineering components and one of the primary questions is around durability: Is this going to last as long as my incumbent material in my product?"

And that, right there. That's Endurica's sweet spot.

"It is difficult for people to get a handle on how long (a product) is going to last because of the tools. We think the tools just aren't there the way they are for typical carbon-black filled rubbers," Ebbott said. "And that is where we come in with our own thoughts on how to do things as well as tapping the eco-system in Europe for R&D programs."

Right now, there is plenty of potential for growth in Europe, but Endurica already has roots in the continent, thanks in part to the partnership with Rubber Heart.

Mars and his team has been taken an aggressive approach to amplifying what Endurica's software could do. They're passionate about it. Because they believe in it.

"I always knew that I had something cool, even before Endurica," Mars said of the software. "It actually drove me crazy that I had this technology that was really good, and it was hard to explain it to people in a way that would be compelling, where they would say 'let's do that.' It drove me crazy that more people weren't doing it because I had proven the idea out."

So Mars and his team talked about it every chance they got. And that including taking the message across the pond, knowing that Europe's rubber industry could benefit from Endurica's capabilities.

To help ensure that message got through, Endurica partnered with rubber industry marketing specialists Rubber Heart. In addition to helping with messaging, the Rubber Heart team—David Cawthra and Gail Reader—represented Endurica at conferences, expos and events in Europe, making it easier for Endurica to reach a broader audience.

If you crossed paths with Endurica at conferences and expos in recent years, you may have seen the tagline "I speak Endurica." It was intended to promote the company's software and underscore its value—that is its ability to clearly articulate what durability means, what it looks like, for any given part or material.

But there's something innately important about speaking Endurica.

Simply, it translates to all languages and cultures.

"Europe is tricky because everyone has different languages," McMinimy said. "I think there is a decent amount of it that is just … finding someone to speak German to the Germans and speak French to the French. We can all speak in English, but there is a way of doing business that is still culturally very important for each individual country. And so, I think, making that translation of Endurica's value into the local language, in some ways, is going to be really effective."

With Endurica Europe, the company will be better positioned to serve the market, in part because it has Endurica representatives right there speaking directly with European customers. And that's especially important, Mars said, as you work with clients to determine what their pain points are and find how best to adapt the services to their needs.

Sometimes, though, the local language isn't defined geographically, but rather where you are in the rubber industry value chain. And when everyone speaks Endurica, that helps tremendously.

"One of the themes we have been pushing this year is delivering durability across the rubber industry supply chain," Mars said. "There is a lot of different activities that go on to deliver products that have durability, and there are things that the raw materials people do and the parts people and the OEMs. Endurica is all about aligning those so that we can deliver that with fewer gaps and fewer conflicts."

Endurica does that, Mars said, with its software.

Endurica has extensive experience working with players across the value chain from raw materials suppliers to the parts makers to the OEMs. And at each point along that supply chain, he said, they have different views of what durability could mean simply because that idea is shaped by their perspective.

What Endurica can help do is level the view by providing data and insights that speak to every player along the supply chain, allowing a more accurate view of durability.

"The tools that we bring to the table provide that kind of capability, but within the conceptual framework," Mars said. "It gets rid of a lot of the gaps and conflicts that have created a lot of inefficiency in the past."