In January of this year “The Monty Heat Treat News” announced that Metex Heat Treating (one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America) had acquired Exactatherm another Canadian commercial heat treater-the original press release can be found further down.
The acquisition is now concluded and Jordan and Gord Montgomery took the opportunity to visit Exactatherm last week in a tour provided by Raman and Anoop Bawa. During the tour Raman and Anoop took the opportunity to tell us about the acquisition and future plans; “If I had to describe the acquisition in one word I would have to say “exciting”, said Raman Bawa. Exactatherm has always served different markets than Metex and offered different technologies so while this acquisition has offered challenges it has also been a lot of fun to date learning about the differences. As an example while Metex has primarily focused on automotive heat treating Exactatherm has concentrated on the aerospace and medical industries which is largely new to us. Exactatherm operates in 3 areas which we have not been involved with previously, Vacuum Oil Quenching, Plasma Nitriding and Vacuum Hardening-when these systems are added to what we now have at Metex, namely Batch IQ furnaces, Mesh Belts, Gas Nitriding and Induction Hardening it means there is little we can’t offer when it comes to heat treating.”
“Certainly we plan on making investments in Exactatherm but what shape those investments will take is still up in the air, having said that though we are planning on having a very close look at heat treating of aluminum. All in all this is an exciting time for us and we are looking forward to new challenges and getting to know the Exactatherm team better”, added Raman.
“Metex Heat Treating Ltd, a leader in automotive and commercial heat treating, proudly announces the successful acquisition of Exactatherm Ltd, a prominent player in the aerospace, stainless, and tool steels heat treating industry. This strategic move marks a significant milestone in Metex’s growth and expansion strategy. The acquisition of Exactatherm Ltd represents a key initiative in Metex’s commitment to enhancing its capabilities and offering comprehensive solutions to its clients in the automotive, aerospace, nuclear, commercial, and tool and die industries. This strategic alliance combines the strengths of both organizations, leveraging Exactatherm’s expertise in heat treating with Metex’s cutting-edge technologies and market leadership.
Metex recognizes the valuable reputation that Exactatherm and the Lidster family has built over the years for delivering high-quality heat treating services. Their name stands by itself and will continue to operate as a separate entity of the Metex family. With this acquisition, the Metex group aims to strengthen our position as a market leader and provide new services for all our customers. Both companies will continue to uphold the highest standards of quality and service that both organizations are known for.
“We are excited to welcome Exactatherm to the Metex family. This acquisition reinforces our commitment to delivering unparalleled solutions to our customers and further solidifies our position as an industry leader. Together, we will build on our shared strengths and create new opportunities for growth and success,” said Surjit Bawa, President, Metex Heat Treating Ltd.
About Metex Heat Treating: Metex was founded in 1983 and has since grown to the largest heat treater in Canada with over 100 employees and over 85,000 square feet. Metex specializes in continuous and batch heat treatment, induction hardening, and nitriding. Metex primarily services the automotive sector across Canada and the Eastern US and has the capacity to turnover 350,000 lbs per day.
About Exactatherm: Established in 1979, Exactatherm is one of North America’s leading companies for vacuum heat treatment processing of metals used primarily by the Aerospace, Mould and Tool and Die Industries. Exactatherm Limited is committed to maintaining its position as a market leader and world class provider of heat treatment and advanced surface technologies. Exactatherm is at the forefront of maintaining and setting quality standards for these advanced processes and implements Nadcap AS7102 and AS 9100.”
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Anoop Bawa, Jordan Montgomery, Sheela Samy, Raman Bawa, Zubair Alam
Raman Bawa, Sheela Samy, Zubair Alam, Gord Montgomery
Established in 1985 by brothers Jim and Mike Barron and headquartered outside Chicago, IL, Pro-Tech has built a strong reputation for supplying high-temperature products utilized in various sectors including heat treating, steel production, lime production, cement production, and power generation. Pro-Tech’s proprietary products, coupled with its strategic approach of utilizing company-owned tooling and outsourcing production to high-quality foundries, have enabled it to establish a solid foothold in the thermal processing market.
Pro-Tech proudly serves a diverse customer base of over 100 clients, ranging from commercial heat-treaters to major players in heavy-duty truck manufacturing, power generation, automotive, and aerospace industries with captive heat-treating operations. With 90% of its revenue originating in the United States and additional contributions from Mexico, Canada, and India, Pro-Tech has effectively expanded its global footprint while upholding a robust presence within the domestic market. EQI is excited about partnering with Pro-Tech to further strengthen the company’s position and deliver enhanced value to its customers.
“We are thrilled to welcome Pro-Tech into the EQI family,” said Blake Phillips, President & CEO of EQI. “Their extensive expertise in the thermal processing industry and their commitment to quality align perfectly with EQI’s core values and strategic objectives. Together, we will leverage our combined strengths to deliver exceptional value to our customers and drive innovation in this critical sector.”
Under the terms of the acquisition, Pro-Tech will operate as a division of EQI, maintaining its focus on delivering high-quality products and services to its customers. EQI remains dedicated to fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence, ensuring a smooth transition for both teams, and further enhancing customer satisfaction.
About EQI, Ltd: With an unmatched range of expertise and production capabilities, EQI is a leading provider of line-ready metal components that streamline and de-risk the supply chain for industrial equipment manufacturers. The company’s one-of-a-kind foundry network delivers high-quality metal castings, forgings, and fabrications on-time and on-budget. With a team of experts and locations in the U.S., Canada, China, India, Europe, and Vietnam, EQI’s tailored solutions mitigate risk and contain costs for manufacturers worldwide.
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Soaring aftermarket sales drive record revenue: Ipsen experienced exceptional performance in the aftermarket sector, achieving a 38 percent increase in replacement hot zone orders for both Ipsen and non-Ipsen furnaces compared to their previous record year. This surge in sales demonstrates Ipsen’s position as a trusted provider of aftermarket support for the vacuum furnace industry.
Key achievements highlight operational excellence:
- Global Reach: Ipsen shipped more than 50 vacuum furnaces to customers across 10 countries, showcasing their international presence and ability to cater to diverse customer needs.
- Production Expansion: To meet the growing demand, Ipsen strategically expanded their hot zone production capacity by repurposing the former Ipsen Ceramics This expansion ensures efficient production and timely fulfillment of customer orders.
- Quality and Precision: Ipsen conducted more than $1 million in calibration and temperature uniformity surveys, demonstrating their commitment to supporting their products with quality
- Accreditation for Excellence: Ipsen completed ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for pyrometry services, a testament to their adherence to the highest industry standards.
Investing in the Future: Recognizing the growing service needs of the industry, Ipsen made significant investments in its workforce by hiring more than 60 new employees in 2023. Additionally, they established a dedicated team for recruiting and training field service engineers, positioning themselves to further amplify their service presence in the years to come.
Ipsen’s 75th anniversary year was a resounding success, marked by record-breaking achievements, strategic expansion, and a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. With a focus on continued growth and investment in its people, Ipsen is primed for an even brighter future.
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Commercial heat treater American Heat Treating Alabama in Anniston, Alabama very recently appointed Ms. Jennifer McPeek as President. Jennifer brings a lifetime of experience in the heat treatment industry in the US Southeast with her, having worked with companies such as Suncoast Heat Treating, Bodycote and Accurate Brazing.
About American Heat Treating Alabama; This location was part of Rex Heat Treat in PA one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America as ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News” before being sold in 2022. At the time of sale the firm had 3 batch IQ austempering furnaces and a pusher line along with related equipment. This is how the company describes themselves; “Welcome to American Heat Treating Alabama, a highly specalized company that offers Austempering Ductile Iron (ADI), Salt quench services to meet the growing demands of foundries and manufacturers across the country. Headquarter in Anniston, Alabama, our team takes great pride in having more than 120 years of combined heat treating experience”. https://ahtalabama.com/
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Worldwide Heat Treat https://worldwideheattreat.com/ was founded by Mr. Robert Gutierrez a well known figure in the Texas heat treat industry several years ago as a commercial heat treater. Never one to let the grass grow under his feet Robert just 2 months ago moved into a new larger facility and added substantial furnace capacity with more to come. Gord and Dale Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the opportunity to visit the new location earlier this week and this is what we found.
The new facility is located at 12249 Northwoods Park Drive in Houston, Texas and covers 40,000 square feet with room for substantial expansion. The centerpiece so far are two pit carburizing furnaces with working dimensions of 72” X 84” deep each with a weight capacity of 30,000 pounds-at this point in time the furnaces are within weeks of entering production.
Other equipment includes a 40’ carbottom furnace, several gas nitriding furnaces, shot blast equipment and a Surface “Super 30 Allcase” batch IQ furnace with washer and tempers. As we speak the company is taking possession of 2 more “Super 30” furnaces, tempers, charge cars and washer. It is estimated that these furnaces will be in production the middle of 2024 latest.
These are just the beginning of Robert’s plans, we expect to hear more about Worldwide in the near future. In the meantime we leave you with these pictures. The one photo taken in front of the new pit furnaces shows a large part of the Worldwide team. From Right to Left we have; Eddy Perez, Oscar Moralez, Robert Gutierrez, Cesar Ruiz, Leo Martinez (in the back), Fernando Gutierrez and Gord Montgomery. Not shown is Mr. Scott Licklider.
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“Together, the rolling bearing manufacturer SKF Group and the hardening furnace manufacturer AICHELIN Service GmbH have investigated the operation of roller hearth furnaces at SKFs Schweinfurt site and developed a process to massively reduce CO2 emissions. Until now, most furnaces in the SKF hardening plant have been continuously burning so-called pilot burners to burn off exhaust gases from the furnaces as a precaution. The natural gas consumption on a prioritized furnace was 12,600 cubic meters per year, which corresponds to an energy consumption of around 145 MWh. SKF and Aichelin replaced the gas burners with electric spark plugs, with Aichelin taking care of the electrical conversions and the integration of the furnace safety and SKF manufacturing special brackets. As the conversion was carried out during the annual routine inspection thanks to well-planned co-operation, there was no additional downtime. The environment and global climate are grateful to the resourceful hardening shop team from SKF and the Aichelin hardening furnace experts and will be delighted if this example sets a precedent elsewhere.”
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Over the course of the past week we have featured several heat treaters in the Houston, Texas. USA heat treatment market and pointed out what should be obvious to everybody-everything in Texas is indeed bigger.
A prime example of this would be fourth generation commercial heat treater “Lone Star Heat Treating” one of the 50 largest commercial heat treaters in North America as ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News”
As we have pointed out in the past virtually everything in the state is related to the oil and gas industries and the result is that heat treaters both captive and commercial spend their time and energy on components for the industry; pipe, bar stock, pump components are a few examples.
While most of the equipment at Lone Star takes the form of both batch and continuous furnaces the company has long included induction heat treating and is also venturing into vacuum heat treating.
Our recent visit gave us the privilege of meeting the fourth generation of the founding “ Van Dorphy” family, Jake Van Dorphy, a very personable and knowledgeable young man. We will mention at the same time that the company is very “family” oriented. Our good friend “Bud van Rooyen” has been second in command at Lone Star for many years now, his son Jason has now worked with the firm for a number of years and mark our words, based on his experience and enthusiasm he will be going far in the heat treatment industry.
These two photos show a continuous heat treatment line for bar and pipe, the other shows a 1,000 ton straightening press in front of which from the left are; Jake van Dorphy, Jason van Rooyen, Bud van Rooyen and Gord Montgomery. https://www.lsht.com/
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Texans are always very proud of the fact that everything in Texas is bigger and heat treating is no exception. To make a very broad generalization most heat treating in North America involves parts that weigh under 100 pounds, auto components, firearms, fasteners, aerospace parts to name a few but in Texas many of the heat treaters talk about parts in the 1000’s of pounds, this leads us to family owned Specialty Heat Treat, one of the 50 largest commercial heat treaters in North America as ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News”. https://themonty.com/project/the-50-largest-commercial-heat-treaters-in-north-america-2023/
Last week Gord and Dale Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the chance to tour this facility with Sam Moore who along with his family own and run Specialty.
What we saw was a facility largely dedicated to heat treating of “bar stock” and pipe most of which is destined for the oil and gas industries. As an example a number of the furnaces (designed and built by Specialty themselves) are 25’ long with a capacity of 20,000 pounds and quench tanks with either polymer or oil-in one of these photos we can see a load about to be quenched, another shows Sam Moore and Dale Montgomery standing in front of one of the many furnaces.
Another feature of the company is their straightening ability for large pipes and bars. The entire company is quite proud of the fact that by the end of this month they will be bringing on line a 1,000 ton capacity straitening press (one of the largest in the North American) this is shown in one photo with Sam and Fritz in front.
Perhaps everything in Texas is bigger.
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On an annual basis since 1997 “The Monty Heat Treat News” has been putting together a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America and on this list we find Lark Heat Treating in Houston, Texas https://www.larkheat.com/ which is the subject of this news item.
While Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” has visited this location several times over the years it was time to revisit Lark and this visit took place last week. Matt Clark very kindly took the time to give us a very thorough tour of the company and point out recent changes. At the top of the list is the fact that the firm acquired adjacent land several years ago and in spite of bureaucratic delays it appears the company will probably start construction of a new facility later this year.
Other changes which were obvious was a vastly expanded vacuum heat treating department, additions to the nitriding area as well as upgrades to the atmosphere heat treat department. A number of these changes can be seen in these photos.
Matt Clark is a very open individual and he was very clear that he has ambitious plans, one of which is to create the largest commercial vacuum heat treating company in the southern USA-a plan which will include some of the largest bottom loading vacuums on the market (some of the equipment is already acquired).
While these photos show Matt Clark, Gord and Dale Montgomery in the various departments we should mention the rest of the team who were not included in these pictures. These include; Gene Clark (Matt’s father), Mark Banas, jack of all trades heat treat encyclopedia who has been with the company since 1981, Ruben Parga Plant Manager (and degreed Metallurgist), Ahmed Figueroa, quality department (and degreed Metallurgist), Greg Blackburn, office manager, Harold Gum, Induction Manager, Jesse Salas, Shipping/Receiving Manager, and Gabriel Duenes Vacuum and Nitride production Manager.
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June 2023 Bosch Rexroth announced that they had started production at a brand new facility in Querétaro, Mexico (the announcement can be found further down in this article). When the facility orignally opened it did not include in house heat treating capabilities although long term that was the plan-that timing is now being realized. The company is now saying that a supplier for the furnaces has been selected and that the site is being prepared for the equipment. More details to follow.
“JUNE 2023 Querétaro, Mexico; At its 42,000-square-meter plant in Querétaro, Bosch Rexroth began manufacturing hydraulic pumps, motors, and valves for mobile machinery such as excavators, forklifts, and tractors in June. The company prepares the ramp up of hydraulic components and products of linear motion technology. It is planned that additional products will be manufactured there for mobile machinery (transmission units, radial piston motors) as well as linear motion technology products (rails, runner blocks) for applications in mechanical and plant engineering as well as factory automation. Overall, industry specialists expect strong growth for mobile machinery and for the factory automation market, especially in North America.
“With its local-for-local strategy, Bosch Rexroth increases the capacity, flexibility and robustness of supply chains, reduces the CO2 footprint by regionally manufactured products and achieves shorter delivery times,” emphasizes Reinhard Schaefer, Member of the Management Board of Bosch Rexroth with responsibility for manufacturing and quality. In addition to its existing supplier base in North America, Bosch Rexroth relies on a stable and further growing supplier network in Mexico, for example for castings, machining, steel, drive shafts or cylinders.
Together with the Bosch Rexroth production sites in Bethlehem (Pennsylvania), Charlotte (North Carolina), Fountain Inn (South Carolina) and Lincolnshire (Illinois) in the United States, which have been existing for decades, the new plant in Querétaro will serve the market with hydraulic and Factory Automation solutions in a much faster and stable way. In Fountain Inn, Bosch Rexroth is expanding its services to include prototyping, customizing, re-manufacturing, and aftermarket service and spare parts.
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