Prevention of infections

ACE exposed its film- and laminate product lines Medicace®, Gownace® and Progace® for disposable infection protection at the annual MEDICA-23 exhibition in Düsseldorf. Each product range addresses human protection within the medical device and industrial worlds, focusing on medical/surgical drapes and gowns, and protective work wear. The unique engineered films and laminates provide microbial and viral barriers, in addition to dust and liquid protection, whilst offering highest comfort to the patient or the user.

Innovation

After 50 years in the film extrusion- and lamination sector, ACE showcased several new products leveraging on the extended protective features demanded by the market, expanding the product pallet. Besides medical applications, wound care and PPE, the new breathable range of laminates attend to protect objects, kits and equipment against humidity and deterioration. Implemented in medical packaging, the ingenious laminates facilitate sterilization processes and solve storage issues, preserving goods under good conditions. The technology has the advantage of being multifunctional and versatile, addressing a wide spectrum of preservation purposes.

Meeting customers and suppliers

Besides demonstrating medical product ranges and innovative applications to the market, Medica remains for ACE the optimal location to meet and discuss with customers and suppliers, create new contacts, and setting up business measures for 2024.

Cédric Mommer, Head of Technical Service and Development confirms: “Our continuous development and improvement of films and laminates with antiviral and antimicrobial barriers for disposable functions is of great importance to progress of our product range”.

“We are working on further applications in the areas of packaging, food, and bed equipment. The technology we are developing is designed to achieve results that optimally meet the specific needs of the customer” explains Damien Kulczycki, Product Development Specialist at ACE.

ACE Srl, acknowledged manufacturer of premium protective films and laminates, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Founded in 1973 as one of the first producers in polyethylene film for the then nascent hygiene market, ACE has become the benchmark for Cast Embossed Film Extrusion and Hotmelt Lamination technology. The product range comes with solutions for a wide range of applications, from surgical drapes and gowns, protective apparel, construction insulation and isolation, single use hygiene articles and wound care.

Grounded on reputable know-how, ACE profiles itself in the field of medical and protective films and laminates with its well-known trademarks Medicace®, Gownace®, Progace® and Plastace. ACE is owned by the investment company Standard Investment since 2020.

Throughout the years, ACE has brought numerous innovations into the marketplace, counting high performance polyolefin film- and laminates for guarding against infection in the medical environment, and for protection in the construction and packaging world.

Julien Skorek, Operations & Purchasing Director states; “The origin of ACE goes back 50 years, with many important milestones on the way. With several recent and planned investments ACE will continue to serve its customers with strong quality and product innovations.”

“During the last couple of years, we have seriously focused on our positioning on the market in regard to our product range, which has been beneficial and will continue to show results”. Christoph Lentz, Business Development Director, confirms.

Marie Gilman, HR Manager reveals “We have been celebrating the anniversary throughout 2023 in various ways. At the INDEX Exhibition in Geneva, Happy Hours were organised for sharing a pleasant moment with customers and suppliers, and a special evening with colleagues and family brought many memories alive”.

“On behalf of our board and management team, I would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to our customers and business partners, whose continued confidence and trust have been essential to our long-term success, as well as our employees, whom over 50 years have, with their dedication, driven the company to evolve and improve,” concludes Régis Lamoline, Finance & IT Director.

The ACE Board of directors has announced that after a long career of 34 years in the organisation, Guy Pinchard has retired on January 31’st 2023.
Julien Skorek succeeds Guy Pinchard as Operations & Purchasing Director.

With a Master’s degree in chemistry, Guy joined the R&D and Quality department at ACE in 1989. After only 4 years in the company, Guy evolved to Technical Director from 1994 to 1996. Following, Guy was nominated as Managing Director, a position he successfully held for an impressive 25 years. He then focused his knowledge more specifically as Operations & Purchasing Director over the last couple of years, during the transition with new shareholder Standard Investment.

After years of enthusiastic and dedicated service, Guy will remain as a Senior Advisor following his retirement. “We thank Guy for his leadership and dedication to the company. His influence on the people and performance of our company is inestimable and will remain as an inspiration”, says Christoph Lentz.

“Guy’s leadership and strategic insight has helped ACE achieve sustainable growth throughout his 34 years in the organization,” affirms Régis Lamoline.

“We are truly grateful for Guy’s contributions to the organization, and we are very happy that he will continue to be involved as Senior Advisor” stated Martijn van den Berg, from Shareholder Standard Investment.

Julien Skorek proclaims, “On behalf of ACE, I would like to thank Guy for his guidance, leadership, and many years of dedication. We are particularly grateful to Guy for ensuring a smooth and successful transition, for his guidance and mentorship. We wish him a happy and healthy retirement.”

Regarding the succession by Julien Skorek as Operations & Purchasing Director, Christop Lentz confirms, that Julien is a proven and highly respected leader. Julien has a great & long experience with the production of embossed cast film and laminates for the medical, hygiene & industrial market. He consistently demonstrated his ability to deliver results, maximize value for customers and drive growth. I am confident that he will further strengthen our commitment to excellence.”

Exposing for the first time at Techtextil, the world’s most important trade fair for technical textiles, ACE reports a gratifying and beneficial exhibition. During the event, held in Frankfurt from June 21 to 24, ACE welcomed at its booth in Hall 11.1, numerous new business contacts and current customers.

“We are very satisfied with the result and, above all, with the technical discussions at the fair“, said Christoph Lentz, Business Development Director at ACE.

The visitors coming to the ACE booth, were primarily interested in concrete technical solutions, and were met with constructive discussions leading up to several potential enquiries. Some of the most popular products for the manufacturer during the trade show, were the microporous films in polypropylene and polyethylene, with applications in construction, packaging, and protective clothing.

Techtextil 2022 received an exceptionally international public. With a total of 117 participating nations, around 63.000 visitors and 2.300 exhibitors, Italy, France, Turkey, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Pakistan, and the USA formed the top visitor nations.

On June 7th, EDANA not only closed the celebration of its 50th Anniversary, but also celebrated the loyalty of its most faithful member companies for their 20- to 50-year membership.

During the reward ceremony, Christoph Lentz, Business Development Director at ACE, proudly accepted the honorary 50-year Membership Award from Pierre Wiertz, General Manager EDANA. Herewith, ACE was acknowledged for its close and constructive collaboration with the association during all these years.

“Congratulations to all colleagues at ACE for this noble recognition! There were only 5 companies among the 320+ members who earned this award for EDANA’s 50th anniversary. Well done! ” Christoph Lentz expressed after the ceremony.

ACE will continue its rewarding collaboration with EDANA and contribute to this global association of the nonwovens and related industries.

About EDANA
EDANA is the leading voice of the nonwovens and related industries. Since 1971, the association has provided for its 320+ members, a comprehensive range of services with the information and data necessary to enhance the industry’s goals and performance. The association has a global reach with a focus on Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Succeeding a one-year suspension of Medica in Düsseldorf, the ACE-commercial-team enjoyed finally meeting up with its customers and encounter new opportunities for Networking.

“This year’s lower participation rate (exhibitors and visitors), compared to previous Medica-trade fairs, was outshined by the sincere engagement and enthusiasm of its participants”, says Frédéric Paule, Head of R&D.

Christoph Lentz, the new Commercial Director of ACE, underlines that “MEDICA remains the world’s largest medical industry event, and a great opportunity for professional meetings and exchange”.

Exposing at Medica has allowed ACE to showcase our complete product range of medical films and laminates to a global audience in the sector. Besides inquiries for medical drapes, there was a significant interest for gowns and protective clothing. An excellent occasion for Thierry Pieteraerens and Anna Wellander, Technical Sales, to spread awareness around our innovative brands GOWNACE® and PROGACE®, covering these specific demands.

Very satisfied with this year’s Trade Show, ACE is already looking forward to Medica 2022, 14/11 – 17/11/2022.

The Board of Directors of ACE and its Shareholders Standard Investment are pleased to announce that Mr Christoph Lentz has joined ACE as Business Development Director as of 1st October 2021, taking over from Tricia Featherstone.

Christoph comes to us with many years of experience in our industry and we are confident that he will be an integral part of the future success story of this company.

We can also announce that Tricia will retire on 30th November 2021 and will be handing over her knowledge, responsibilities, and duties to Christoph until then. We thank Tricia for her ever professional work and dedication to the success of ACE over the course of more than 30 years with the company.

Our way of life is changing.
The way we do business is changing.
Social distancing has become the norm, as has wearing masks for most of our working day.

Whilst Covid-19 maintains its grip on daily life, companies have necessarily transformed their business models to serve the growing need for products and protection.
If you have already read our news article from 23rd of June 2020, you will know that see ourselves as smart, flexible, and professional – and simply the best at what we do. And so, we adjust ourselves to the new demands from our markets and customers, at the same time as improving our service to our customers.
Read on to learn how we have adapted our offerings for single-use hospital drapes and gowns, and limited wear protective clothing.

“Whilst nonwovens remain difficult to obtain at short notice, the extended range that we have developed helps in improving agility in the supply chain. The team can offer a wide range of alternatives that match the final application and customer expectations” says Frédéric Paule, Product Development Manager.

Read more

Alain: “Well, the business is more complex than we first thought. The superior quality levels required in our markets here require a profound knowledge of chemistry, materials and processes coupled with high professional standards from our employees. What we have seen is exceptional levels of professionalism and quality delivered in everything people here do. It is obvious that this is appreciated by all our customers.”

Martijn: “We were very happy to discover a lot of strong people in the company. During our first months we have spent time with operators on the production lines and every single one of them made a good impression on us. The management group is robust and complementary – so all in all, a great team.”

Alain: “We want to maintain our leadership position in our core markets. Whilst holding a n° 1 position, our customers expect a gradual transformation of the company along Industry 3.0 standards. Standard Investment will actively support that transformation.”

Martijn: “The carve-out of ACE from RKW brings its own day-to-day challenges, not least of which is implementing our own ERP system. Then the transfer of the roofing membrane business to ACE will require focus and dedication from both operations and sales. In the longer term, we really want to implement a more entrepreneurial culture in the company which will bring its own benefits.”

Alain: “You know, actually ACE fits in well with other portfolio companies. It might be a very different business from others in the portfolio, however, as a carve-out of a production entity that was non-core for their former parent – it suits our core strengths in building successful standalone entities.”

Martijn: “I agree with Alain. ACE is a typical Standard Investment portfolio company. At Standard Investment we focus on companies with €20-200M revenue that require a hands-on approach. As a carve-out and with a new business that needs to be successfully integrated, ACE is fitting very well with these criteria.”

Alain: “There is so much to learn in this market. The most important and immediate lessons that I learned are that a surgical drape or gown is more complex than first meets the eye, and that there can be no compromise on quality.”

Martijn: “During due diligence we understandably investigated the surgical drapes market thoroughly. Nonetheless, nothing beats hands-on learning. During the first months at ACE we learned a lot more about important trends. One thing that impressed me is that the sales process in this market requires technical experience and product knowledge, much more than in some other markets we are involved in. And the norms and certifications are quite different from other businesses.”

Alain: “By acting as a sounding board, by letting people learn from their mistakes and by avoiding stepping in too directly ourselves. This is how we have operated in other companies, and it has proved a very successful strategy. We are looking forward to living the results in this culture step change.”

Martijn: “Investments in innovation are necessary to keep our position as market leader. In the coming years we mainly want to focus on innovations that can bring value to our customers and innovations that will create more sustainable end products.

I can certainly echo Alain’s comments here. We plan to bring in more entrepreneurship by giving greater ownership to ACE’s employees, and by bringing in talented people with an entrepreneurial mindset.”

Alain: “First up, we will be making targeted strategic investments alongside fostering cultural change. This lays solid ground for the future of the company.”

Martijn: “In the near term we will be focusing on the successful carve-out of the company. So not only the new ERP system and implementation of the roofing membrane business, but also own sourcing of raw materials. For us to realize our future growth ambitions we also plan to further reinforce the organization.”

Alain: “Further improving both employee and customer satisfaction is a specific aim for me personally – and the whole Standard Investment team involved with ACE.”

Martijn: “In the medium to long term we plan to further grow the company together with the employees of ACE.”