Over the past number of years, no industry has embraced Vacuum Carburizing (LPC) technology to as large an extent as the global auto parts industry. From fuel injector nozzles to transmission components LPC systems are a very common sight in auto parts facilities around the world, so common in fact that it is quite unusual to see an  auto parts supplier reverse course on this technology.

Having said that “The Monty Heat Treat News” recently ran across a company that did just that. In 2015 this US firm enthusiastically invested in a very impressive LPC system which featured 4 carburizing cells with a gas quenching cell, an oil quenching unit and a “state of the art” vacuum cleaning system-all completely automated. While the technology worked well and the metallurgical results were all that could be desired this firm decided vacuum carburizing in house was not the direction they wanted to go. The end result that the furnace line was shut down, listed on the Used Equipment Market and the heat requirements outsourced to local commercial heat treaters who are processing the parts in large continuous furnaces. 

As mentioned, this is a very unusual development and our guess would be that this particular manufacturer decided that economically it made more sense to send this work out. 

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