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Heat Treat News Codere/AMP. According to the press release below furnace builder Codere of Switzerland and furnace builder AMP in Poland have entered into a partnership. May 24/2013 "Furnace builder AMP in Poland would like to update readers of "The Monty" on their recent successful international symposium, which took place in Keszyca Lesna, Poland last week as leading companies from a number of industries such as aviation, automobile and commercial heat treaters gathered to listen to new developments and recent partnership agreements . One such partnership is with Codere & Econox company in Switzerland. One person from Switzerland presented their System 250 modular batch furnace and our control systems, which can be offered to modernize existing controls, which generated interest among the audience http://www.youtube.com/codere123 Codere & AMP's mutual partnerships hope to assist market entry into various new markets. Already these two companies have seen potential so watch this space . AMP was established in 2004 and is an innovative company which offers customers customized furnace solutions to meet present and future requirements within the European market. At present their main focus is in vacuum solutions and industrial cleaners. AMP has supplied equipment to a number of global companies in the aviation & automobile industries . For further information on their product, please visit www.amphtt.com"  Business Opportunities. We are always adding new job openings and individuals looking for jobs within the industry. Our newest job listings include two positions with alloy company Steeltech in Michigan a Technical Inside Sales Representative and a Technical Outside Sales Rep, a Heat Treat Supervisor needed, an Induction Position at Bodycote, two QC Inspectors wanted and a Maintenance Technician position.. If you are looking for good qualified people we can guarantee that over 20,000 heat treaters per month will see your ad. May 24/2013 Do you want results when it comes to filling a position within the heat treating industry? "The Monty" is the most economical, fastest way to fill that position. Looking for a job? Send us your ad and we will put it on the site free of charge for as long as you would like. When it comes to filling positions within the heat treating industry "The Monty" can't be beat! With a readership of over 20,000 heat treaters/month we will help you fill your position or help you find a job. Just contact jordan@themonty.com.  Nitrex Metal Press Release. "GEAR MANUFACTURER EXPANDS, NEW NITRIDING SYSTEM ORDERED; Nitrex Metal received a follow-on order for a nitriding system from Shaoguan Hongda Gear Co. Ltd, a Chinese contract manufacturer of transmissions gears. The addition of a second NX-1015 system will accommodate the company’s rapid growth and boost production capacity to 600 tons of gears annually. The system includes Nitreg® technology required to achieve zero-distortion and ensures a finished gear of precise dimensions and tolerance. ABOUT NITREX METAL INC; For over 25 years, Nitrex Metal is a leading developer and supplier of automated turnkey nitriding systems for the aerospace, automotive, machinery, gear manufacturing, tool and die, and commercial heat treating industries. To date the company has over 250 installations in plants worldwide and has licensed its technology to heat treating companies in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, South Korea, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, and USA." May 24/2013  ASM International President Tours Solar Atmospheres. "Souderton, PA. May 21, 2013 – The president of ASM International, Dr. Gernant E. Maurer, FASM, recently toured the Solar Atmospheres heat treating facility in Souderton, PA. Dr. Maurer spent time exploring all aspects of vacuum heat treating, nitriding and vacuum carburizing and marveled at the variety of materials and configurations in various stages of processing. Of particular interest was the state-of-the-art metallurgical lab with new Struers precision cutting, mounting and polishing equipment and cabinetry. Upon entering, Dr. Mauer reminisced about metallurgical sample preparation and examination from an earlier stage in his career. In addition to seeing a variety of vacuum furnaces in operation, Dr. Mauer was also able to get a first-hand look at vacuum furnace assembly and systems integration at sister company Solar Manufacturing. Roger Jones, president of Solar Atmospheres, notes, “We were honored to host Dr. Maurer and give him an in-depth look at our thermal processing operations.” ABOUT SOLAR ATMOSPHERES; Solar Atmospheres is one of the world’s largest providers of commercial vacuum heat treating services. Through unmatched technical expertise, equipment, and quality assurance, Solar's thermal processing produces bright, scale-free parts with minimal distortion. For clients requiring an "out-of-the ordinary" application, an in-house R&D team of metallurgists and scientists develop innovative, custom process solutions. Serving over 18 markets, Solar's state-of-the art services include vacuum brazing, carburizing, nitriding and advanced processing of raw materials such as Titanium, Tantalum, and nano powders. With over 50 furnaces ranging from lab sized to the world’s largest commercial vacuum furnaces, Solar can efficiently handle any size job. Headquartered in Souderton, near Philadelphia, Solar also operates plants in Hermitage, near Pittsburgh and in Fontana, California, near Los Angeles. Please visit www.solaratm.com for more information." May 24/2013   Larry Drodda/Bodycote. In Rochester, NY we met just yesterday probably the newest member of the Bodycote team Mr. Larry Drodda who is the Regional Engineer for the Bodycote AGI Division (Automotive & General Industrial) which encompasses roughly 30 Bodycote locations. Larry will be reporting to Mr. Don Longenette, whose correct title we believe is Engineering Manager, Automotive & Commercial HT, North America & Asia. Larry appears to be a very competent, hard working engineer who will have a lot of responsibility. The photo below was taken outside of the Bodycote location in Rochester, NY and shows from left to right Tony Shaut, General Manager, Larry Drodda, Dan Dewberry, Blaine Timmerman and Gord Montgomery. A very professional, experienced bunch in our opinion. May 23/2013   Used Equipment Available. Our latest additions include 2 Rotary Drum Washers a SBS Air Cooled Heat Exchanger a Surface Super 30 Line a Surface Super 30 Temper and a Shot Peener. Our used equipment section is complete and up to date and includes some terrific bargains-have a look at what is new. If you don't see what you are looking for please let us know and we should be able to find it for you. jordan@themonty.com May 23/2013 A few examples include: Sinterite Press Release. "Sinterite, a Gasbarre Furnace Group Company, announces the recent commissioning of a 36 inch 9 zone Mesh Belt Sintering Furnace to a prominent P/M parts manufacturer located in Southeast Asia. The furnace is designed to the user’s specialized requirements for a proprietary sinter/heat treatment process and is equipped with three heating chambers to manage three different processes that include, delubrication, sintering, and post-sintering heat treatment. The delubrication system utilizes Sinterite’s advanced design Accelerated Delubrication System (ADS). The sintering zones utilize silicon carbide muffle sections in a gas tight heating chamber. The specially configured cooling system is equipped with the Sinterite HyperCooler rapid cooling system. The furnace operates at a maximum temperature of 2200oF (1200°C) and is capable of net production output of 1700 Lbs. (770 kg) per hour. Located in St. Marys, PA, Sinterite specializes in designing and manufacturing custom continuous belt and batch furnaces for sintering, steam-treating, annealing, brazing, and heat-treating applications. Sinterite’s quality design includes alloy and ceramic muffles, powder-handling equipment, custom fabrication products, and the exclusively manufactured HyperCooler, an in-line cooling system, used for sinter-hardening. Sinterite is also ISO 17025 accredited for calibration services of equipment in the field. For more information regarding Sinterite or the Gasbarre Furnace Group contact Mark Thomason for International opportunities or Jeff Danaher for domestic opportunities at 814.834.2200 or visit our websites at www.sinterite.com or www.gasbarrefurnacegroup.com. May 23/2013  Commercial Heat Treating in China. A reader recently asked us if any “western” commercial heat treaters other than Bodycote show any interest in expanding into China and if not why not based on the huge local need in the Automotive and Machine Tool industries for high quality heat treatment. Our answer was a very definite no. Of course there are tremendous opportunities for commercial heat treaters in the country and profits can be very strong however the issue is that foreign companies are held to a much higher standard than local companies and based upon these higher standards it is very difficult for a foreign company to compete with the locals. Granted Bodycote has been successful and is now making money however it has been a long, tough road for the company and they have been successful by concentrating on Western manufacturers located in China and by leaving the down and dirty portion of the business to local heat treaters. So to reiterate our previous statement we see no sign of western commercial heat treaters entering the Chinese market except for those who are setting up shop for one particular manufacturer-an in house commercial operation if you will. May 22/2013 Edwards Press Release. Vacuum pump supplier Edwards (whose ad can be found on this page) issued this press release about an order the company just received. May 22/2013 "CRAWLEY, WEST SUSSEX, UK. (21 May 2013) — Edwards Group Limited (NASDAQ: EVAC), a leading manufacturer of sophisticated vacuum products and abatement systems and a leading provider of related value-added services, will be supplying 35 new XDS dry scroll pumps to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, based on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. CERN has placed an order for 30 XDS35i dry scroll pumps and 5 XDS10 dry scroll pumps. Some of these pumps are to replace an existing installation of previous generation Edwards’ scroll pumps; this upgrade to the newer generation of scroll pumps will take place during CERN’s scheduled extended shutdown, (2013-2014). CERN’s Linear Accelerator 4 (Linac 4) test bench already has the new XDS pumps installed. Linac 4 is 80 metres long and located 12 metres below ground; construction is almost complete, and beams will begin to be produced in 2014. The full connection to the LHC injector chain is expected in 2017. This will double the LHC beam brightness, and is the first step in the project to increase the luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider during the next decade. Edwards’ XDS range incorporates a unique dry pumping scroll mechanism that provides a robust and clean pumping solution. The XDS offer a completely oil free vacuum and are hermetically sealed; bearing life is significantly extended, therefore reducing maintenance and environmental impact. Annual interventions (repairs, labour and maintenance) for Edwards’ XDS10 and XDS35i dry pumps are on average three times less than that for oil-sealed pumps. Minor service requirements can be carried out in-situ, an important benefit for CERN as their pumps have to be serviced on site. The high reliability of the XDS pumps was another advantage for CERN. “We have a long experience with scroll pumps produced by Edwards; their reliability is in line with our expectation” said Paolo Chiggiato, deputy leader of the Vacuum, Surfaces and Coatings group at CERN. “Edwards strives to supply leading edge products for leading edge research and we are delighted that CERN has chosen to use Edwards’ scroll technology for their highest profile experiments,” commented Russell Coleman, Edwards’ Market Sector Manager, R&D. Edwards are at the forefront of vacuum technology for R&D and lab applications; the comprehensive range of pumping technologies provides exceptional performance and high reliability. For more information visit www.edwardsvacuum.com " .  ASM/Bangalore, India. We move to India today for our top news item about the April 2013 meeting of ASM in Bangalore, India. May 21/2013 "ASM International Bangaluru Chapter Banglaore, India . In April 2013, the ASM International Bangaluru Chapter invited Damian Bratcher, Director International Operations, Super Systems Inc, to present at their chapter meeting. More than 50 attendees representing more than 40 customers were present including two (2) gentleman who have been honored as India's Metallurgist of the Year including the 2011 Award Winner and Chapter Secretary, Dr. R. Raghavendra Bhat, Foundry and Forge Division, Hindustan Aerospace Limited. The distinguished guests gathered for a discussion titled "Modern Approach to the Quality Control of Heat Treat Processes Based Upon CQI-9 Requirements". As per tradition, the speaker was presented a garland by JV Alukka, Chairman of the Bangaluru Chapter and Managing Director of Therelek Engineers PVT. LTD. About Super Systems Inc. Super Systems, Inc., based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, develops and manufactures products for the thermal processing industry. The products include probes, analyzers, controllers, software solutions, and engineered systems. Super Systems has many years of experience in addressing industry demands with technology to help their customers be more efficient and to enable them to produce consistent, high quality products. At Super Systems, customer care is the number one priority and they strive to set the highest standard in the industry. Who is ASM International? ASM International serves materials professionals, nontechnical personnel, and managers worldwide by providing high-quality materials information, education and training, networking opportunities, and professional development resources in cost-effective and user-friendly formats. ASM is where materials users, producers, and manufacturers converge to do business".     Pyradia/Quebec, Canada. Pyradia is a furnace manufacturer located in Quebec, Canada that got started many years ago building fairly basic ovens. From these humble beginnings the company has grown into a good sized company and partly this is due to their partnerships and relationships with companies such as HighTemp Furnaces in India, BMI Vacuum Furnaces of France and CODERE in Switzerland. May 21/2013 "Pyradia Industrial Ovens completes installation in Saudi Arabia. Pyradia´s engineers were heading to Saudi Arabia this week to complete installation of 2 preheating furnaces representing Pyradia´s industrial ovens division as one of the equipment contractors for the Ma’aden’s Ras Al Khair (formerly Ras Az Zawr) Aluminium Smelter Project. Over the past 2 years Pyradia has been specifying, designing and manufacturing the furnaces with Ma´aden Saudi Arabian Mining Company and Saudi Arabian Bechtel Corporation, the EPCM consultant for the aluminium smelter, delivering over 30 tons worth of equipment. Pyradia Industrial Ovens: For over 40 years, Pyradia has been a major supplier of industrial high temperature heat treating equipment to a great number of the top companies throughout the world. We design and manufacture a broad range of standard and custom-built Industrial Ovens and Furnaces for heat treatment at temperatures ranging from 800°F to 3200°F (425°C to 1760°C)."  Cleanest Heat Treat Shops/MT Heat Treat Inc. Many years ago we did a series on the cleanest heat treat shops both captive and commercial. Our series included photos of a number of pristine operations around the world but just recently we ran across another one that is absolutely immaculate-MT Heat Treat in Mentor, Ohio, USA. MT is a family owned business located 30 miles east of downtown Cleveland in Mentor Ohio and O. V. Mathews is the president of this 47 year old, 65,000 square foot facility. Nothing brings greater joy to our hearts that seeing a very well run, clean operation and MT fits the bill as you can see in the pictures below. If you would like to brag about your heat treat facility feel free to send us your photos. May 20/2013      Bodycote/Empalme, Mexico. So the Bodycote plant in Empalme Mexico is now Nadcap approved as we can see below. May 17/2013 "MACCLESFIELD (U.K.) – Worldwide thermal processing specialists Bodycote today announced the company’s facility located in Empalme, Northwest Mexico, has achieved Nadcap accreditation as well as prime approvals for Rolls-Royce Aero Engines, MTU Aero Engines and Pratt & Whitney Canada. The Empalme plant was established to support aerospace OEMs and the local supply chains in Mexico’s rapidly expanding aerospace industry. The facility will receive its official inauguration on 16 May 2013, with a ceremony which is to be attended by key dignitaries including Justin McKenzie Smith, Chargé d'affaires of the British Embassy in Mexico; Sarah Hildersley, Director of UK Trade and Investment in Monterrey; Matthew Alty, Vice-President of Bodycote’s Surface Technology business and Mike Sobieski, Vice-President North America Operations of Bodycote’s Aerospace, Defence & Energy division, as well as distinguished guests from a range of regional aerospace companies and organizations. Tracy Glende, President of Bodycote’s global Aerospace, Defence & Energy division says: “Obtaining Nadcap accreditation is the key to unlocking new potential in the Guaymas region and beyond. It opens the way for Bodycote Empalme to widen its customer base and provides greater visibility of the capabilities of the plant. We look forward to driving on and adding to our thermal processing and coatings portfolio in the very near future.” Bodycote’s core business is to provide services that protect and improve the properties of metals and alloys, thereby improving the material properties of components, extending their operational life and making them safer. The company plays a vital role in the aerospace supply chain. Paul Dymond, Senior General Manager for the Empalme plant, adds: “The presence of a Nadcap accredited facility enables companies in the State of Sonora to access the highest quality heat treatment and brazing services, and provides a cost-effective option for aviation and power generation manufacturers within the region, enabling them to achieve complete processing without transporting parts back to the USA.”  SECO/WARWICK Allied/Hindalco Industries. In India furnace builder SECO/WARWICK Allied just finished installation of 7 large pit furnaces which must by any standards is a very impressive order. May 17/2013 "MUMBAI, India -- SECO/WARWICK Allied recently installed seven soaking pit furnaces for Hindalco Industries Ltd., in Hirakud in eastern India. The furnace design was prepared in conjunction with SECO/WARWICK Corp. (USA) and includes proprietary features such as side mounted fans -- which improves accessibility for maintenance -- a unique combination of fan and heater arrangements to produce separate control zones along the vertical length of the slabs, and the SECO/WARWICK patented adjustable baffle design. Hindalco Industries Ltd, the flagship company of the Aditya Vikram Birla Group, is looking to be the growth engine of the group in the non-ferrous metals business. The furnaces are designed for vertical loaded slabs of aluminum to process can body stock. Each furnace is designed for a maximum load of 128 metric tons and the designed overall charge height is 5 meter maximum and 3.5 meter minimum for eight to 16 slabs per batch, which are stacked vertically. An adjustable baffle has been provided in the furnace for proper air circulation in the event shorter slab heights are loaded. The furnace is designed for electrical heating with individual self propelled lid (cover) trolley mechanism. The furnace has complete PLC-based control and monitoring system. About SECO/WARWICK CO. The Aluminum Group at SECO/WARWICK custom engineers aluminum heat treatment systems for solution heat treatment, age hardening, precipitation hardening, annealing, homogenizing, preheat and reheat to roll. The team provides reverb furnaces, a direct-fired, open hearth furnace used for melting or holding nonferrous metal. Applications for the reverb furnace include melting sows, solids and scrap, along with alloying the molten metal before casting into usable forms. Visit http://www.secowarwick.com/ SECO/WARWICK provides heat treating equipment and services worldwide for customers involved with steel manufacturing, primary aluminum, aluminum recycling, steel manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, commercial heat treating, HVAC, electronics, lighting, medical equipment and nuclear applications. The globally integrated organization includes SECO/WARWICK Corp. (USA), Retech Systems LLC (USA), SECO/WARWICK S.A. (Poland), SECO WARWICK Allied Pvt. Ltd. (India) and SECO/WARWICK RETECH Thermal Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (China), SECO/WARWICK Service GmbH (Germany), SECO/WARWICK do Brasil ltda. (Brazil) and sales offices in Russia, Belarus and Brazil".  Wagner Ribas/Maxitrate, Brazil. At a Tango Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina last night we ran across Wagner Ribas, President of commercial heat treater Maxitrate which has four locations in Brazil and ranks amongst the three largest in Brazil (we assume Bodycote is the largest in the country and we had a press release from them just yesterday about their plants in Brazil). Wagner is a lifer in the heat treating industry and spent quite a bit of time with Lindberg many years back. Wagner reports that while the commercial heat treating industry in Brazil is not booming these days (especially automotive) the company is doing well and recent decisions such as installing a large pit carburizing furnace have proven to be quite successful. May 16/2013   Standard Machine/Timken. Now this is rather an interesting news item. Timken Company (which we are sure needs no introduction) just acquired Standard Machine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada). Standard Machine is a manufacturer of gearboxes and also a captive heat treater with 2 or 3 large pit carburizing furnaces. It is not an enormous company but well respected and it has always surprised us that it is located in Saskatoon. Saskatoon is not the edge of the world but you can certainly see it from there. May 16/2013  Bodycote/Brazil. The Brazilian heat treating market has been a tough one for captive and commercial heat treaters alike for the past couple of years but it would appear that commercial heat treater Bodycote is pressing ahead with expanding their market share. May 15/2013 “BODYCOTE POSITIONS BRAZILIAN BUSINESS FOR GROWTH. Macclesfield (U.K.) – Bodycote (LSE:BOY), the world’s largest thermal processing services provider, reiterates its commitment and emphasis on the Brazilian market as part of the Group’s future growth strategy. With four ISO 9001 accredited facilities in Jundiaí, Campinas, Joinville and São Leopoldo, Bodycote’s Brazilian plants serve diverse markets that include automotive, aerospace, oil & gas, construction, agriculture, rail, marine and more. In recent months, the installation of additional capacity to meet customers’ requirements and an increased focus on sales growth has resulted in new high value business wins and repeated customer orders, especially in the rapidly developing oil & gas sector where Bodycote already enjoys a significant market position for both Heat Treatment and Surface Coatings. Further, recent internal reorganization has focused resources and improved efficiencies within the business to drive operational improvements and customer service. The Group plans to continue with its growth strategy of adding to its existing global footprint, with a strong emphasis on emerging markets. Based on its range of services and ongoing expansions, Bodycote is well-positioned to meet manufacturers’ specific needs and requirements, delivering the highest levels of customer service in terms of quality, delivery, reliability and technical expertise. About Bodycote; With more than 190 locations in 26 countries, Bodycote is the world’s largest provider of thermal processing services. Through heat treatment, metal joining, surface technology and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), Bodycote improves the properties of metals and alloys, extending the life of vital components for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, defence, automotive, power generation, oil & gas, construction, medical and transportation. Customers in all of these industries have entrusted their products to Bodycote’s care for more than 30 years. For more information, visit www.bodycote.com. For further information, please contact: Byron Williamson, VP Marketing Bodycote | Aerospace, Defense & Energy byron.williamson@bodycote.com+1.972.668.8520”  SKR AG/ Dunningen, Germany. Moving to heat treating in Europe we have been told that commercial heat treater SKR in Dunningen, Germany http://www.skrag.de filed for bankruptcy the end of last week. SKR AG is a large commercial shop which has vacuums, batch furnaces, nitriders, one plasma furnace, cryo and a straightening department. It has been rumored for some time that the company was struggling largely due to the enormous investments the company had made in a new building and new equipment. It is quite rare for a commercial heat treater to enter bankruptcy so this would be quite a feat in a relatively healthy economy. May 15/2013  Nickel Pricing. One of the most significant costs for captive and commercial heat treaters around the world is alloy pricing, radiant tubes, base trays, muffles and fixturing. Alloy pricing in turn is largely dependant upon nickel pricing the most expensive ingredient of high temperature alloy. As you can see in the graph below nickel for the past several years has remained reasonably stable which means stable alloy pricing. May 14/2013  Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc./Bridgeville, PA. Captive heat treater Universal Stainless in PA a provider of SS products just achieved Nadcap accreditation which is always an impressive feat. Nadcap as every heat treater knows is crucial to obtaining potentially lucrative aerospace work but in our experience quite a few companies subscribe to the theory “if you build it they will come” which is not necessarily true. You have to have it but just because you have Nadcap does not mean that customers will flock to your door. In addition it costs roughly $100,000 to obtain with a continuing healthy yearly cost to maintain. May 14/2013 “Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:USAP) announced today that it has achieved Nadcap Heat Treat accreditation at its Bridgeville, Pennsylvania facility. Nadcap (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is the leading worldwide cooperative accreditation program of major companies and their suppliers designed to manage a cost-effective consensus approach to special processes and products and provide continual improvement within the aerospace and defense industries. Nadcap's mission includes providing international, unbiased, independent manufacturing process and product assessments and certification services. "We have worked diligently to achieve the demanding industry certifications that are critical for our move toward premium alloys and more technologically advanced products," commented Chris Zimmer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "This is the fourth Nadcap accreditation that we have been successful in attaining in the past six months, which reflects our determined focus on realizing our objectives and on more fully serving our targeted markets, led by aerospace." Monday Morning Briefing. The heat treating industry is a very close knit community which is why it always pays to be real friendly to everybody in it. For instance Chris Chew was with commercial heat treater Bodycote in North America for many years, spent a spell at commercial heat treater Bluewater Thermal recently as Strategic Market Manager – Aerospace & Defense and is now back at Bodycote. He’s an experienced guy so it is no surprise to us that he is in high demand. Moving out to Beatrice, Nebraska in the US we see that captive heat treater Neapco suffered a small fire recently, the second the company has had recently in their heat treat department although both appear to have been very small. Neapco designs, manufactures and distributes OEM driveline products for several industries including automotive, truck and agriculture. Lucifer Furnaces in the US has a rather unique product, a furnace which consists of an upper hardening chamber and a lower tempering oven. Their customer base appears to be primarily captives who are in the tool and die industry. Recently the company shipped 5 of these units to customers in Canada, Mexico and the US. I have yet to see one in a commercial which shows the company has a very targeted customer base for these units. Custom Electric in Wixom, MI a supplier of industrial heating elements recently appointed Robert Fouquette as Chief Engineer. At the time of the original press release no photo was available, now you will be able to recognize Robert when you see him at heat treat shows. May 13/2013  CI Hayes Vacuum Oil Quench Furnaces. A reader recently asked us our opinion of CI Hayes vacuum oil quench furnaces. This is a design which has been around for quite some time and while you don’t seem them every day they are not an uncommon sight. To the best of our knowledge they work and work well with any bugs ironed our years ago. On the used market they will generally fetch anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000 USD depending upon age and condition. AFC-Holcroft/China. The press release below comes from Janusz Kowalewski of furnace builder AFC-Holcroft in China. This is a batch austempering furnace and having had the privilege of seeing a couple of these monsters I have to say that they are amazing to see in operation due to their sheer size. “AFC-Holcroft’s manufacturing partner, Powermax Furnace Company has shipped the Universal UBQA Batch Quench Systems to a company located in China. The system includes 2 UBQA Furnaces, 2 UBT Pre-Heat Furnaces, EZ 45 Endothermic Generator, UHT Holding Tank with Transfer Pump Station, Salt Recovery System and Computerized Control and Logging system. The system was built according to AFC-Holcroft proprietary technology. Powermax Furnace Company time and time again proves that it is a prominent furnace company with outstanding technical and manufacturing capabilities”. 
And to close things out we see that Dowa in Japan a very large furnace builder and a commercial heat treater that we have ranked as the fourth largest in the world http://www.themonty.com/tenlargestcommercials.htm just released their financial results for the year ending March 31/2013 http://www.dowa.co.jp/index_e.html . While the results will not set the world on fire the company has some very ambitious plans which includes transferring some furnace production overseas to India and China with their commercial plants adding more processes such as vacuum sintering and plasma nitriding and their newest plant in Thailand expected to be in production by September of this year. And that’s a rap for this Monday, stay tuned for some profiles of heat treaters in Argentina this week. IntensiQuench. We have mentioned this interesting water quenching technology in the past, here is a press release about a past and upcoming seminar on the topic. May 13/2013 “Fifty-seven people attended a one-day “Intensive Water Quenching Workshop” on April 24th, 2013, in Cleveland, Ohio, sponsored by IQ Technologies Inc, and two of its Licensees, Akron Steel Treating Company and Euclid Heat Treating Company. Among the attendees were 6 engineers from Korea and 13 engineers from Japan, hosted by Dr. Takeshi Naito, the IQT Representative for Asia. The attendees learned more about the application of the IntensiQuench® process -- a “green” alternative to oil and polymer quenching. Joseph Powell, President of IQT and AST, presented Dr. Nikolai Kobasko’s underlying theory of “intensive quenching” and the benefits from the application of ultra-fast water quench cooling versus traditional oil, water, polymer and gas quenching. Mr. Powell quoted quenching and distortion expert, Dr. George Totten, who stated, “Water (or water-salt) works fine, is cheaper, and better; if the system is properly engineered.” Dr. Michael Aronov, CEO of IQT, presented numerous case studies outlining the application of the IntensiQuench® process to optimize the properties of a wide variety of steel parts; parts made from traditional “water quench,” plain, low carbon steels; to traditional “oil” or “polymer quench,” medium and high carbon or carburized steels; as well as, traditional “air hardening” steels of high alloy. An actual “high performance” steel mill roll made of “IQDI” (Intensively Quenched Ductile Iron) and SHO (Super High Output) punches were also on display. Information regarding the use of intensive water quenching for more uniform solution annealing of titanium, stainless and aluminum alloys was also presented. Noted gear metallurgist, William Andreski, presented data from the intensive water quenching of four 32” diameter carburized railroad gears; the batch IntensiQuench® process was able to shorten the carburizing cycle by 33% versus oil for the same ECD. Paul Sampson from NextTec presented data from Department of Defense live fire testing of “more consistently accurate” machine gun barrels that were induction through heated and then high-velocity, single-part, IntensiQuenched®. There was a presentation by Dr. Lynn Ferguson from Deformation Control Technologies outlining the use of the DANTE® computer modeling software for implementing intensive water quenching on various parts for optimizing alloy selections, and increasing beneficial compressive stresses for better part performance on carburized PyroWear 53 helicopter gear alloys. Dr. Andrew Banka, from Airflow Sciences Corporation, gave a presentation on the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling for optimization of intensive water quenching systems. The next Intensive Quenching Technology Workshop will be held in Durham, United Kingdom, on June 5, 2013, by the IQT representative in Great Britain, Mr. Geoff Bolton, of Geoff B Associates. For more information click on www.geoffbassociates.com. For more information on IntensiQuench® methods or equipment, contact Dr. Michael Aronov, CEO, at m.a.aronov@sbcglobal.net, or click on www.intensivequench.com.” Megatherm/Press Release. "Megatherm Induction Opens Facility in Columbus, OH. Megatherm Electronics Pvt. Ltd., a global induction heating equipment manufacturer, announces the opening of their new United States facility in Columbus, OH. The facility will house Megatherm USA, Inc. and will provide for sales, warehousing, testing, technical service and spare parts inventory. Megatherm will offer Induction Heating Power Supplies, Billet Heaters, Bar End Heaters and other heating systems for mass heating applications. We will offer the latest applicable technology at economical prices with short delivery times. Stocking of power supplies from 300 kW to 1000 kW with frequencies of 1 to 10 kHz will eventually be completed. See our website at www.megatherm.com Megatherm USA, Inc. is an affiliate of Megatherm Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Megatherm is recognized and preferred by an ever increasing list of domestic and international clients. Megatherm has become known for its contemporary technology that insures optimum utility and productivity. We have invested in progressive in-house R & D to remain at the forefront of induction technology and advances in the metal heating process. Since 1989 we have satisfied over 1500 customers worldwide. Our systems span the globe with installations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Being certified as an ISO 9001-2000 Company, the name Megatherm is synonymous with quality. Contact: Frank Wilson, 1840 Roslyn Rd., Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236 313-432-1602". May 10/2013 March and April were exceptional months in China. In March, the entire Chinese government's leadership was changed in one week's time. The executive, legislative and judicial branches all had new leaders. Some of the highest ranking officials were educated abroad at Georgetown University and Paris University, and finally China has a First Lady worthy of a name and attention. GM sold a record number of cars, Ford sold a record number of its new Focus model, the deadly Bird Flu is back, 15,000 dead pigs surfaced in Shanghai's Huangpu River, the Shanghai stock market continued dropping to the record lows and Chinese housewives have purchased 300 tons of gold (value $16 Billion) in just the past three weeks. Paraphrasing Allan Greenspan famous words, an “Irrational Exuberant” has happened in China throughout the last several weeks. AFC-Holcroft’s manufacturing partner, Powermax Furnace Company has shipped the Universal UBQA Batch Quench Systems to company located in China. The system includes 2 UBQA Furnaces, 2 UBT Pre-Heat Furnaces, EZ 45 Endothermic Generator, UHT Holding Tank with Transfer Pump Station, Salt Recovery System and Computerized Control and Logging system. The system was built according to AFC-Holcroft proprietary technology. Powermax Furnace Company time and time again proved that it is a prominent furnace company with outstanding technical and manufacturing capabilities. Two major trade shows happened in China: the HVAC and Water Tanks Exhibition in Shanghai and Chongqing International Furnace Expo in Chongqing. The next major heat treatment conference will be held in Chennai, India. ASM Chennai Conference May 16 to 18th has excellent technical program and should be well attended. Brain Russell from Dry Cooler and Martin Steward from PhoenixTM U.K. also visited AFC-Holcroft, Shanghai office. May 10/2013 National Heat Treat/Houston, Texas. We recently mentioned the newest game in town when it comes to commercial heat treating in Houston, Texas-National Heat Treat. One of the first investments the company made was in a very large bottom load vacuum furnace-possibly the largest bottom loader in Texas but we can't promise this. The company is so proud of what they are producing that they sent us the photos below showing some of the work. At the same time National is in the process of developing the Honeycomb Braze     Heat Treating India. Not that long ago we ran across a blog from the Netherlands that has some interesting comments about commercial heat treaters Bodycote, Aalberts Industries and in this particular case a summary of the heat treating market in India. While we can't vouch for the accuracy of all of the comments it does make for rather interesting reading, partly because the fellow that writes this blog is looking at the industry through "financial eyes" as opposed to a heat treaters eyes. May 8/2013 "I’m currently looking into creating a report on Bodycote’s shares and see that they have what they call a strategic outpost in India. They announced their expansion into the country in 2006 near one of its automotive hubs in the western region of India in Pune. I thought it could be interesting to have a quick initial look at this large emerging market. I’ll be getting a lot of information via internet searches from various internet websites which I will try to mention throughout this post. I will not be verifying this information at this stage so there could be large inaccuracies contained in my rough initial overview. I hope over time that I can improve this overview as it is an important growing market for the heat treating industry. ASM International’s Chennai Chapter provides an estimate of the size of the Indian heat treating market on the website for “Heat Treat & Surface Engineering Conference & Expo 2013.” This is at USD 1bn + with a growth rate of 12% per annum. Bodycote has estimated the size of the global heat treating market at GBP 20bn (of which around half is in the US) which would suggest that the Indian market is a significant one globally (so a super rough estimate would be 5% of the global market if these figures are correct). When DOWA raised its stake in Hightemp Furnaces in 2011, it also estimated growth of the Indian heat treating industry to be at a rate of approximately 12% per annum to 2015. I unfortunately don’t yet have an estimate of captive vs. commercial for the Indian market although, in a 2012 interview with The Monty Heat Treat News, Hightemp Furnaces indicated that the captive market was larger than the commercial but that this scenario was changing rapidly. What’s the Key Driver? The long term rise of India as a leading emerging economy is a well known theme. As GDP continues to grow and investment in infrastructure is made, the automobile industry has huge potential. The growth of the Indian automotive industry is providing the demand for most heat treating activities. There are four main hubs and a newer growing 2nd hub in the west of the country. The industry has experienced a boom in recent years with a 6yr CAGR of 13.1%". Solar Manufacturing/Press Release. Souderton, PA. 5/6/13 - "Solar Manufacturing recently launched a new bimonthly podcast series in cooperation with Industrial Heating called “Vacuum Heat Treat Minute”. The topics will concentrate on providing helpful tips and new knowledge to vacuum furnace owners and users. The podcasts feature Solar Atmospheres, CEO, William R. Jones and Solar Manufacturing president, Jim Nagy. Mr. Nagy explains, “Solar Manufacturing is dedicated to educating owners on how to best care for their vacuum furnace and keep it running smoothly for years to come. Between our engineering expertise and the feedback we receive from our sister company, commercial heat treater Solar Atmospheres, we are intimately familiar with the challenges and best practices for getting the most out of your furnace investment. We are excited to have this new venue for sharing these lessons learned.” The debut edition covers “The Advantages of Processing Titanium in Vacuum Furnaces” and the second explores “Responding Effectively To Utility Loss: Power/Gas/Water”. The podcasts are available free of charge and can be accessed through the Industrial Heating website at www.industrialheating.com or the Solar Manufacturing website at www.solarmfg.com. If you would like to be alerted when the next podcast is posted, please email your request to info@solarmfg.com. ABOUT SOLAR MANUFACTURING; Solar Manufacturing designs and manufactures all types of vacuum heat treating and brazing furnaces and offers replacement hot zone and spare parts for various vacuum furnace brands. To learn more about Solar Manufacturing’s diverse product line and services, contact Pete Reh, VP of Sales, at 267-384-5040 x 509 or pkr@solarmfg.com. Additional information can be found on our web site – www.solarmfg.com." May 8/2013 Advanced Heat Treat Corp. /Nadcap Approval. "WATERLOO, IA —Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) received Nadcap (National Aerospace Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) approval at their MidPort Facility in Waterloo, Iowa for nitriding and AQS (Aerospace Quality System). AHT was audited February 25-March 1st, where they passed the quality systems audit with zero findings and received notice April 22nd of accreditation. Nadcap certification is something Advanced Heat Treat Corp. has been considering for several years. Advanced Heat Treat Corp. employees undergo intense training to ensure proper procedures are in place for ion and gas nitriding processes. AHT staff proficiency is tested every two years and AHT will be subjected to an annual audit with recertification every three years. According to PRI: “Nadcap is an industry-managed approach to conformity assessment that brings together technical experts from both Industry and Government to establish requirements for accreditation, accredit Suppliers and define operational program requirements. This results in a standardized approach to quality assurance and a reduction in redundant auditing throughout the aerospace industry because Prime contractors, Suppliers and Government representatives have joined forces to develop a program that: Establishes stringent industry consensus standards that satisfy the requirements of all participants "Advanced Heat Treat Corp. takes pride in holding ourselves to the highest quality standards and looks forward to providing the Nadcap certification for our aerospace and defense customers." Director of Quality, Tom Hafele, stated. “The certification is something we’ve been discussing for several years and are very excited”. Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) is a recognized leader in providing heat treat services and superior metallurgical solutions to companies across the globe. In over 30 years, AHT has developed into a multi-service heat treat company that takes pride in fitting the ideal solution to any application. AHT’s UltraGlow® family of processes includes Pulse Plasma Ion Nitriding, Ferritic Nitrocarburizing (FNC), Gas Nitriding, UltraOx®, Through Hardening (i.e. Quench & Temper), Carburizing, Carbonitriding, Induction Hardening, and many more services. The company’s unsurpassed customer service, high quality standards, prompt turnaround, commitment to research and development, and state-of-the-art equipment and technology have led AHT to where it is today. To learn more about AHT’s capabilities, contact Mr. Mikel Woods (Sales / Marketing) at 319-232-5221 or woodsm@ion-nitriding.com, or visit AHT online at www.ahtweb.com. Codere/Switzerland. Furnace builder Codere last year told us about a furnace order the company had received from a European aerospace supplier. Today they give us an update and a photo of the completed installation. May 7/2013 "CODERE Switzerland last year informed readers of our largest System 250 installation with our useful load diameter of 2000 mm with a useful load height of 4500 mm for a leading European aerospace supplier. This company manufactures shafts, rotating parts (fan discs, drums), aerospace bearings and landing gear components. This installation is for heat treating titanium alloys for the new Airbus A350 and existing A380 with our high temperature and water quench for solubilisation and ageing. Codere will be respecting AMS 2750E, class 1 with instrumentation type C, with a load weight of 5 tons. One specific request relating to this norm is a quenching delay of 15 seconds in a water volume of 65 m3. During pre-reception their customer was very satisfied that Codere were within +/- 3°C at working temperature 860°C. Our System 250 with furnace transfer over our quench tank represents a unique alternative to follow these aeronautics norms. Our load remains in hot conditions during transfer to quench tank (without temperature loss) and immersion is completed in a short time. Please view our demonstration video's www.youtube.com/codere123 Our picture represents our installation ready for pre-acceptance tests in-house here. Water quench tank will be assembled in pit construction beside furnace." .jpg) Monday Morning Briefing. We're going to start off in Texas where we see that Steve Cargill-a lifer in the heat treating industry recently parted ways with commercial heat treater Bodycote where he was General Manager of one of the company's location in Houston, Texas. No idea what his future plans are. Continuing on with Bodycote we also see that Jonathan Souer is now Quality Manager with Bodycote in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Previous to this Jonathan was Quality Manager at commercial heat treater Tri-City Heat Treat in Rockford, IL. Moving to the US Southeast we see that Braddock Metallurgical has moved to a new location in Riverview, FL which is literally minutes from their former location. Family owned Braddock has over the years become one of the largest family owned commercial heat treaters in the US and they are far and away the dominant player in the Florida market. Garlan Barnes, a Nadcap Auditor for Performance Review Institute was recently interviewed and his comments were certainly of interest to us http://www.pri-network.org/quality-is-everybodys-job/ Atmosphere Engineering in Milwaukee, WI (best known for their Endoinjector's and flow meters) moved into a new building earlier this year and to commemorate the event recently showed off the plant to 25 reps as you can see in the picture below.  In Rochester, NY Burke Forging and Heat Treating had an electrical panel explode recently with the result that the fire department was called and about 30 people had to temporarily evacuate the building. No one was hurt and the extent of the damage is unknown at this point in time. We recently came across a company in India, M/s.Therelek Engineers Private Limited that claims to be the only Nadcap approved commercial heat treater in the country which rather surprised us. Our instincts were correct and they are not the only Nadcap source in India, at least one other-our friends at Hightemp Furnaces Limited in Bangalore also is Nadcap certified and I am sure there are others. In Canada Chris Otten, Schaeffler Canada Inc., Process Engineering Leader, Heat Treating and Metallurgy has a new position where he will be overseeing heat treating for all the Schaeffler heat treating locations in North America including Canada, USA and Mexico. Couldn't happen to a nicer more competent guy. In Germany, ALD has acquired a patented nitriding technology which they are pretty pleased with. "ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH, Germany, the engineering unit of Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V., has acquired a patented nitriding technology based on an active screen plasma nitriding(ASPN) process. It enables nitriding at low temperatures and for non-conductive materials, which is not possible with any other technology commercially available today. It will enable ALD to expand its services to new aerospace and energy applications, as well as the medical market". In Switzerland controls company ECONOX tells us that a number of companies are choosing to update controls on older furnaces as opposed to investing in new furnaces. ECONOX is a global supplier of measuring and control systems for heat treatment. "We supply controllers, oxygen probes, oxygen sensors and supervision software. This company has seen a drastic increase in companies who no longer have the finances to invest in new installations with economic uncertainty but rather optimize their existing at times outdated heat treatment lines where Econox could be the answer Econox is currently commencing assembly & commissioning at a leading military leader in France to modernize their existing nitriding control systems with our very own Nitromonitor with a new gas cabinet to update their out dated interface and control systems. Our supervision software was also purchased to complete treatment reports including all information for optimum quality follow-up & a very powerful historic function. This company has installed a number of their control systems across Europe and also as far away as in Japan last year with great success. Just only last week we have successfully completed market entry into Bulgaria for a leading automobile parts supplier to upgrade their traditional batch chamber furnace line. Econox wants to make readers aware that one can offer modernization to carburizing and nitriding furnaces so please don't hesitate to contact our Sales manager David Howard for further information at info@econox.ch or 0041 32 465 1000" And to close things out TTI Group, one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the UK is justifiably proud of their recent SC21 Bronze award. "TTI Group Ltd receive the SC21 Bronze award. Launched at Farnborough, SC21 is a program designed to increase the competitiveness of the aerospace and defence industry by raising the performance of its supply chains. The 650 companies that are currently on the SC21 journey, are committed to achieving common industry development and performance gains, and many commit to working within cluster groups in order to maximize the effectiveness of collaboration. The prestigious SC21 Bronze award recognizes the company's efforts to develop world-class status within the Aerospace supply chain and was commented on by ADS, the aerospace trade organization who run the SC21 program, to be of significant importance as TTI are not only the very first heat treatment facility to receive this award, they are also the only company of its kind currently on this program. TTI Group Ltd provides a comprehensive array of heat and surface treatments to a range of market sectors from multiple locations across the UK. Each site has a focus to a market, process type or combination of the two, and is linked by a support network of quality, logistics and management systems. Their facility in Letchworth offers an extensive range of heat treatments, including HIP (Hot Isostatic Pressing), and their strategic focus to the Aerospace sector has allowed for significant investment to both 'man' and 'machine' in recent times". May 6/2013 Jet Aviation Specialists, Inc/Industrial Furnace Specialties. We always enjoy a story and pictures about a captive heat treat and that is exactly what this one is. May 3/2013 "Industrial Furnace Specialties (IFS) recently delivered and installed a refurbished Abar vacuum furnace to Jet Aviation Specialists recently expanded 65,000 sq facilities located in Miami Florida. The vacuum furnace will be utilized for Heat Treating and Brazing Aircraft and Industrial Gas Turbine Components. To ensure continued component support from the manufacturer the AMS 2750 E compliant turnkey rebuild and installation was accomplished utilizing OEM components. Controls were upgraded to include a United Process Controls Protherm 700 Touch Screen Control/ Data Acquisition System and Televac MM 200 Vacuum Control System. Consulting services provided by Jimmy Morris of Furnace Parts LLC. http://www.furnacepartsllc.com Jet Aviation Specialists, Inc is one of the world's premier maintenance facilities, providing quality repair solutions to a wide range of customers and markets. For more information please contact: Michael Beltran COO, Jet Aviation Specialists, Inc., MBeltran@jas-inc.com http://jas-inc.com/ Or Randy Rowland, Industrial Furnace Specialties Inc. randy@industrialfurnacespecialties.com http://industrialfurnacespecialties.com     Ipsen Press Release. "Customer accommodations are of the utmost importance to Ipsen. Ipsen knows that, no matter how standard the features may be, each furnace is as unique as the customer purchasing it. This individualistic approach to Ipsen’s product engineering is exemplified in the recent shipment of two custom-sized, bottom-loading furnaces to a global manufacturer of flow and density measurement devices. One furnace was sent to their domestic branch in Denver, Colo., the other to their facility overseas in mainland China. The vertical furnace measures 72” x 84” (1,829 mm x 2,134 mm), designed specifically to nickel braze the customer’s desired part load configuration and number of parts. For 65 years, Ipsen has been turning dreams into realities, engineering advanced, custom thermal processing systems for everything from simple tools to giant wind turbine gears. If your process and workload requires a specialized heat treating solution, Ipsen's world-class engineering team has the experience and the resources to design and deliver a custom-engineered system. A selection of the features that can be tailored to customers’ specific needs include, but are not limited to:
Not only can the furnaces be customized, but our support is customized as well. From the moment a new furnace is delivered, the Ipsen support team stands ready to facilitate on-site installation, expert training and start-up assistance, as well as provide responsive field support and spare parts that fit your custom design. For more information, visit www.ipsenusa.com/custom-vacuum.php or email Sales@IpsenUSA.com." May 3/2013  Katy Heat Treat/Katy, Texas. During a recent visit to the Houston, Texas are we had a chance to visit a local commercial heat treater by the name of Katy Heat Treat, a company that we are familiar with but knew little about. Originally part of Katy Spring the heat treating department was spun off, renamed Katy Heat Treat and acquired by an individual by the name of Mark Homestead http://katyheattreat.com/. What we saw was a relatively small but impeccably clean and neat facility which has found their niche and is sticking to it, a practice we always like to see in a commercial operation. While the company does offer a number of processes what they really specialize in is tool steels, super alloys, cryogenics and precipitation hardening. The operations manager is a very experienced fellow by the name of Bill Luce who has spent his entire life in the heat treating industry (surprisingly enough he is not related to the Luce family involved in other commercial heat treats in Texas). In the rather poor quality photo below can be seen Mark in the center and Bill on the right. May 2/2013  European Heat Treatment Conference 2013. April 25th and 26th IFHTSE (International Federation of Heat Treating and Surfacing Hardening) held their 2013 conference in Luzern, Switzerland. For those not familiar with IFHTSE it is an international organization of individuals involved in the heat treating industry more on the theoretical side. I have had the privilege of attending one of their conferences in Austria and while it was very interesting I have to confess that a number of the discussions were far over my head. To give you a feel for the conference we have these photos. May 2/2013    .jpg)
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