ALD SyncroTherm System Shipped to China

If you recall September 12 of this year we had a news item about German furnace builder ALD shipping a “SyncroTherm” furnace system to China-along with that item we had a few comments about how many such systems the company has sold over the years (the original article can be found further down). In response to our comments Dr. Klaus Loeser, Senior Vice President of ALD sent us a very informative response:

“Gord, correct, we delivered 5 SyncroTherm lines to the USA. Since the introduction of SyncroTherm a total of more than 30 lines have been delivered worldwide. The spectrum of application ranges from the automotive industry and its suppliers, the aviation industry, tool manufacturers to contract heat treaters. Let me say a few words about the costs of the system, which at first glance appear high. For our customers, the total production costs in the manufacturing chain count. They invest in SyncroTherm technology if, for example, the low-distortion heat treatment in this system can significantly reduce their hard machining costs, or if, for example, a hardening press can be dispensed with. The costs of the pure heat treatment system are then subordinate. We have customers who have invested in two technologies for their product range, in a SyncroTherm system with 2D-small batch production technology for components that cannot be treated differently due to distortion reasons, and in a ModulTherm system with 3D-large batch production for the remaining components. Best regards, Klaus Loeser, Senior Vice President Heat Treatment, ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH”

September 12/2019 News Item; German furnace builder ALD of Hanau started offering their SyncroTherm thermal processing system a few years back and this press release tells us how the company has shipped their first system to China. The SyncroTherm system offers some advantages over other furnace systems but the very high cost is certainly a detriment to a lot of potential customers. We are unsure of how many systems the company has in the worldwide market place but we can say that our understanding is that the company has 5 such systems installed in North America, two at Milwaukee Electric Tool in Mississippi, USA (which were installed in 2013) and 3 at an aerospace components supplier with 2 locations in the US.

“The vacuum heat treatment systemSyncroThermcreates completely new perspectives for an effective and more economical hardening of high-quality components. This new and unique technology improves productivity meanwhile simultaneously reducing negative effects such as distortion of the treated components and a high degree of environmental compatibility.With the delivery of the first SyncroTherm to a well-known institute in the Beijing area, ALD has been able to create an important reference and provide impulses for technological developments. The carburization of components made of micro-alloyed steels is carried out at high temperatures above 1,000C without unwanted grain growth. In addition, single-layer charging permits individually controlled and component-adapted high pressure gas quenching for a wide variety of component geometries. With the SyncroTherm, our customer will be testing novel steels for high-temperature vacuum carburization, which in the long term can make a significant contribution to cost-effectiveness and environmental protection. Our delegation of customer was convinced of the quality of the system after the preliminary acceptance. It is now prepared for shipment to Beijing.”