The sign outside ACE Equipment advertises their new service

ACE Equipment, located on Manufacturing Boulevard in the Cleveland’s Westside has been producing high quality American-made industrial ovens and coil winders for over ninety years. In response to the current economy, however, they recognized the need to be more innovative in developing new products or services in order to enter new markets and diversify their customer base. Company President Robert Heran and Vice President Scott Heran took a look at what their company does best and came up with a new way to use what they already have.

ACE Equipment’s industrial ovens are used to clean manufactured parts and manufacturing equipment. Understanding that many companies do not have a sufficient volume of parts needing cleaned to justify the purchase of their own oven and that others may not want to dedicate the space or materials handling requirements to a cleaning function, Bob and Scott decided to use their own industrial ovens to offer contract cleaning and industrial stripping to manufacturers.

The ovens, which operate at temperatures ranging from 700 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit inside the primary cleaning chamber of a Burn-Off Oven, turn organic, combustible material into ash that is washed away with a pressure washer. ACE’s new service is specifically designed to remove organic material from metal, rubber, and plastic parts for customers who require the cleaning of paint, powder coating, grease, varnish, rubber, plastics, etc. from metal parts, paint hooks, rubber rollers, extruder dies, breaker plates, automotive parts, grating, car and bike frames, and any other metal part that has an accumulation of organic material. Clutch and brake linings can also be removed.

Before ACE could offer this service they needed to make sure they had all the necessary EPA permits and requirements in place. They contacted Jacki Adams, Industrial Development Manager for the City of Cleveland’s CIRI (Cleveland Industrial Retention Initiative) program, which is managed by WIRE-Net. Jacki connected Bob to Adrienne LaFavre, Ph.D., an Environmental Specialist with the Ohio EPA Northeast District Office of Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention. Adrienne spent the morning assisting Bob with the permit application and explained everything he needed in order to get the necessary permits. With her assistance, ACE Equipment got all their permits in place in record time.

Sample testing is available to companies considering outsourcing cleaning requirements. Scott says they’re excited about offering this new service as they see it as another opportunity to provide a solution to problems. ACE also offers weld repair, recoating, powder coating, and additional services to meet a company’s specific need. For more information contact Scott Heran at 216.267.6366 or toll free at 800.255.1241.