“The Monty” Talks Vacuum Furnaces & Hot Zones with “Max Stormo” of “Ipsen”
We are indeed privileged today to be speaking with “Mr. Max Stormo”, “Ipsen Customer Service (ICS) Operations Manager”. In this interview Max shares with us details about how Ipsen Souderton, PA focuses on hot zone related fabrication, machining and assembly, retrofits and aftermarket parts;
Max we always like to start our interviews with a bit of personal background, for instance could you please share with us how you ended up in this new position.
“In early 2024, the timing was right as I was looking for a new opportunity. I was contacted by Ipsen regarding the open site leadership position in Souderton, and I quickly realized this could be a good fit for both myself and Ipsen. As I continued through interview process, I was very impressed with the company, product and people I met. I got the opportunity to tour both facilities, see the processes and meet many people and was very excited about the potential of joining the Ipsen organization. Ipsen matched the opportunity I was looking for, and I knew I could join the organization and be a key contributor to the vision the organization had in place for the Souderton location.I am new to the thermal processing equipment industry but having spent a career in manufacturing, was very familiar with heat-treating and heat-treating processes. The knowledge I had was all in the atmospheric heat treating. Vacuum heat treating was new to me, and I found the technology incredibly intriguing having spent most of my career in aerospace and oil & gas manufacturing.
Significant selling points for me deciding to join Ipsen were the leadership and the employees I met throughout interview process. Ipsen’s leadership team was open and transparent and transparent throughout the process. I trusted opportunity that presented itself with Ipsen and was excited when I accept the role.”
You have a very impressive title “Ipsen Customer Service (ICS) Operations Manager” – what are your responsibilities in this position?
“As the site leader for Ipsen in Souderton, Pennsylvania, I’m responsible for all operational activities that include leading the manufacturing, purchasing, production control, shipping and receiving, and warehousing. Safety, quality and continuous improvement are critical aspects of our core values and vision for Ipsen, so I take personal ownership of these aspects. Trust, collaboration, communication and employee engagement are critical to achieving these core values and are reflective of our culture and the way we lead at Ipsen. This has been the gateway to realizing the transformational improvements that we’ve made in 2024 and 2025.”
Ipsen North America is based in Rockford, Illinois which is where furnace assembly is located, and you are in Souderton, PA. What does your facility offer? In fact, lets elaborate on that a bit, could you please tell us the size of your plant and the number of employees?
“Ipsen Souderton’s team is focused almost entirely on hot zone related fabrication, machining and assembly, serving the new equipment, retrofit, and aftermarket parts side of Ipsen. Hot zone retrofits and aftermarket parts ship directly from our factory to our customers. We also support non-hot zone aftermarket parts for our VFS customers.
(Ipsen merged with Vacuum Furnace Systems in 2007.)
Ipsen Souderton is approximately 60 employees including factory workers and support staff.”
Is it ever an issue the geographical distance between the two plants?
“The advantage of having this location is that it gives Ipsen strong representation on both the east coast as well as the Midwest. The two plants complement each other by focusing on two unique elements of our total business. In Souderton, we are heavy fabrication, machining and hot zone manufacturing focused, while the Cherry Valley, Illinois plant is primarily focused on engineering and assembly, from a manufacturing perspective. Because our focus is so different, the geographic distance works in our favor for many reasons.”
My understanding is that you have made some very substantial investments in new equipment in Souderton, please give us some details.
“Our CapEx investment strategy has been focused on automating equipment and processes. In 2024-25, we’ve added additional CNC machining centers, CNC fabrication work centers, and a fiber laser system. The driver behind this CapEx strategy is to improve quality, increase throughput, reduce lead times and improve the overall experience for our current and future customers.
We’ve also invested significant time and resources in OpEx (operational excellence) by enhancing processes, looking for opportunities to reduce steps, handling, time and travel in the manufacturing process. We want to minimize the number of times a part is touched, reduced travel times both within our factory and to our facilities and customers. We’ve also made a major investment on the system side, rolling out enhanced ERP tools and adding real-time MES capability on the shop floor.
Let’s talk a bit about hot zones. Are you able to share with us how many hot zones per year you are producing and how many you would like to be building? In other words, do you have a goal that you would like to reach?
“In both 2024 and 2025 we doubled our hot zone output. We anticipate an additional 10-15% volume growth in 2026 based on our trends and outlooks. We also fulfilled over 4,000 parts orders out of our Souderton location last year. We make all critical components in house which allows for quick turnaround to customers.”
Continuing the topic of hot zones, do you provide units for competitors furnaces, or do you focus on replacement hot zones strictly for Ipsen furnace systems?
“Approximately 90% of our business for retrofit hot zones is made of a mix of Ipsen style and VFS style hot zones. VFS continues to be a significant part of retrofit hot zone business. 10% or less of our retrofit hot zone business is comprised of hot zones for competitor’s furnace but we are always willing to review new opportunities.”
Are you limited geographically to North America or do provide your products and services to the entire globe as required?
“Because Ipsen furnaces are operating around the world, we ship all over the globe – both parts and retrofits. On any given day, we may have orders from North and South America, Europe, and Asia. We serve a global market.”
My understanding is that while you certainly have a very impressive manufacturing background, this is your first foray into the world of thermal processing equipment. After 19 months in the industry what are your impressions about heat treating equipment, Ipsen and the industry in general? Is it much different from other industries you have been involved with?
“Having spent my entire career in operations, specifically in the manufacturing industry, I’ve been associated with thermal processing of the manufactured components in every organization I have been a part of. It is a process that was either done in house in small batch quantity, or we outsourced to a third party. Ipsen has been my OEM experience in thermal processing equipment.
Thermal processing is a vital global industry and has been for generations. It continues to advance as emerging technologies and an ever-evolving industrial landscape place new demands on manufacturing. From aerospace and energy to medical and beyond, thermal processing is an essential service that supports virtually every manufacturing sector and continues to expand each year. This growth is fueled by the need to support increasingly complex applications and new product development.”
Care to make some comments about the coming year? Predictions are always tricky and I am probably being very unfair even asking the question but what are you forecasting for 2026?
“For 2026, from an operations perspective, we’re going to continue our focus on OpEx and CapEx, concentrating on quality, continuous improvement, system utilization, automation, people and culture development. These investments continue to drive our business to the next level.
Our goal is to exceed customer expectations for service, quality, and timeliness – at Ipsen we refer to it as “Quality at Speed.” Internally, we are constantly asking the questions: How do we better serve our customers? How do we push to be the benchmark that competitors have to compare themselves against?
From a customer service perspective, quality must come first in our industry. Lead time and quality expectations matter. Systems, processes and investments are all being driven from that point of view.
To that end, we are pursuing the processes of Lean Manufacturing/Continuous Improvement to remove non-value-added activities out of the process and streamline process flow. We want a continuing effort towards 5S, streamlining process flow, minimizing transportation waste, and diversifying our supply chain.
We have several new capital investments online and ready to serve our customers and our organization, with a continued focus on optimization.
The passion and pursuit of excellence is booming in Pennsylvania.”