US rubber lab expands with acquisition of engineering testing company

Akron, Ohio – Akron Rubber Development Laboratory (ARDL) has acquired "an engineering laboratory for engineers and researchers" with its purchase of Experimental Services Inc., also of Akron.

The deal was completed 16 Oct, and announced in a 5 Nov news release from ARDL. Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to ARDL, the 30-year-old ESI offers static, dynamic, fatigue and vibration testing, analysing the engineering properties of rubber components to industry standards or specific customer requests.

"ARDL has worked with ESI for many years," said ARDL CEO Tim Samples. "Their speciality in engineering testing has made them unique and a natural to fit into ARDL's engineering testing group."

Samples said ARDL will continue to gain valuable expertise from Greg Schilling and Karl Winkler, who began ESI and have built relationships with manufacturers over the past three decades.

"ESI has been a fabulous business for us and, as we look toward the next phases of our lives, we don't think we could have found a better home for it than with ARDL," said ESI President Karl Winkler.

"ARDL has the resources to maintain and grow the business and we get to stay involved and help it prosper even more. We are all excited for our future together."

In the near future, branding and business will be the same as it's always been at ESI's current facility. The companies said that eventually testing services will be done entirely out of ARDL's 136,000-sq.-ft. facility in nearby Barberton, Ohio.

Like ESI, ARDL is an independent contractor of testing services for the rubber, plastics and textile industries.