ACE Products & Consulting continuous record setting growth in 2021

Ravenna, OH – ACE Products & Consulting announces another year of record growth in 2021 fueled by diversification of services, investment in equipment, staff additions, partnerships and collaborations accelerating its transformation into one of the leading rubber and silicone testing and development laboratories in the world.

It has only been three years since the ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory moved to its current facility which has provided the space to expand its capabilities and its team. ACE’s current operation consumes 26,000 square-feet currently with an additional 55,000 square-feet available for future growth.

ACE added two new partnerships in 2021. In January Wallace Instruments (UK) announced it was naming ACE as its North American Sales, Calibration & Service partner. Wallace designs and manufactures a wide range of materials testing equipment, measuring physical properties such as hardness, plasticity, compression, and other characteristics. In addition to the sales and service support, ACE added several Wallace instruments to its laboratory. These additions include the new Compression Stress Relaxometer that was unveiled at the Rubber Division, ACS International Elastomer Conference 2021 in Pittsburgh, as well as two of Wallace’s latest model hardness testers (IRHD and Shore A), a rapid plastimeter and a densimeter.

In September Endurica revealed its partnership with ACE to offer new Intrinsic Strength Analyzer (ISA) services that will provide fully supported testing systems for engineering analysis of elastomer durability. ACE utilizes an instrument manufactured by Coesfeld GmbH, who is represented by Endurica in North America, to perform the testing analysis and Endurica uses the test data to build fatigue simulations with its proprietary software.

Strong partnerships have been a key to ACE’s success. In 2020 ACE named UK-based Rubber Heart its international sales and marketing representative. That partnership has accelerated ACE’s global reach. In 2021 ACE’s international customer base spanned across five continents and twelve different countries. “Rubber Heart has been vital in fueling our global growth” said Erick Sharp – CEO of ACE Products & Consulting.

Since its inception, ACE has reinvested 100% of its profits back into the company. This has allowed ACE to continue to keep up with its rapid growth. One area ACE has invested in during 2021 is its weathering and aging laboratory. 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.

In May ACE added an MTS 831 Elastomer Test System. This unit is equipped with an environmental chamber, multiple load cells and customizable attachments. This expands the dynamic testing capabilities ACE can provide to its customers.

ACE rounded out 2021 with the addition of a Bonnot RS 1 Series X extruder. This state-of-the-art extruder provides analytical data reporting of key processing measurements during laboratory evaluations for extrudability.

“We will continue our aggressive reinvestment in 2022 and are evaluating ways to expand the business through organic additions of capabilities and by acquisition” said Sharp.

In a year plagued with workforce struggles, ACE managed to grow its workforce by 70%. ACE offers competitive compensation and covers 100% of its employee’s monthly healthcare premiums. This provides a competitive advantage in securing premium talent. With ACE’s aggressive growth plans in 2022, it is now focusing on building out a key management team to support that next level of expansion.

“One of the keys to ACE’s success has been service. We are going to ensure we have the right team in place to provide the top level of service our customers deserve.” Sharp stated.

After a year of virtual events, live events finally started to make their way back in 2021. ACE participated in the Rubber Division, ACS Spring Meeting in April and the International Elastomer Conference in October. ACE already has a strong lineup of events set for 2022 including the International Elastomer Conference in Knoxville, TN. October 10 – 13, the Silicone Expo in Detroit, MI. June 21 – 23, the postponed DKT-IRC 2021 (German and International Rubber Conference), Nuremberg, June 27-30 along with various other domestic and international conferences.

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