“The Monty Heat Treat News” has long pointed out that the price of alloy furnace components and fixturing is largely dependant upon a very volatile material-nickel. Several readers recently pointed out to us that as electric vehicles grow in popularity so also does nickel demand. A good example can be found below.
“Recent reports suggest that Tesla had signed contracts worth about $5 billion to purchase nickel products from Indonesia. The materials will reportedly be supplied by nickel processing companies in the country. Indonesia has major nickel reserves, and it has been putting serious effort into attracting Tesla into the country. Being the world’s most esteemed electric vehicle maker and the largest automaker by market cap, the company requires a lot of nickel for its expansion plans in the coming years. As such, Indonesian officials including President Joko Widodo have met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the United States to drum up investment. A team from Tesla has also visited Indonesia to discuss a potential battery-related investment from the electric vehicle maker.
In a statement to CNBC Indonesia on Monday, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan noted that Tesla has already started purchasing two products from Indonesia. However, the official also remarked that it is still in constant negotiation with Tesla. “We are still in constant negotiation with Tesla . but they have started buying two excellent products from Indonesia,” Pandjaitan said. The official also noted that Tesla had signed a five-year contract with nickel processing companies that are operating out of Morowali, which is located on Sulawesi island, Indonesia. The nickel materials will reportedly be utilized in Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries, according to a Reuters report.
Tesla has not issued a statement about the matter as of writing. Indonesia seems set on becoming a major force to be reckoned with in the electric vehicle sector. The country is so serious in its efforts to develop its battery industry that it has actually stopped its exports of nickel ore as a way to ensure supply for investors. Tesla definitely seems to be shaping up into one of these investors. https://www.teslarati.com/tesl
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“The Monty Heat Treat News” is looking forward to attending FNA 2022 in Indianapolis, IN on October 3-5. This will be by far and away the largest heat treat show in North America for 2022. For more details about the show please take a look at the press release below. We look forward to seeing you there!
“One of the key elements of every Furnaces North America trade show is it allows for unlimited entry passes to the trade show for FREE. FNA 2022 in Indianapolis, IN on Oct 3-5 is no different. FNA 2022 will provide any company in the heat treating industry unlimited -1-day or 2-day trade show passes for their team to be able to see 125 top suppliers in the industry.
FNA Show Producer Tom Morrison states, “The stakes are high for every company in the heat treating industry. Change is happening so fast in manufacturing and with the long term labor everyone is experiencing, it is critical for companies to be able to bring their key people to one venue and see a ton new technology and learn how they can do their job more effectively. Those who learn about automation and maximizing productivity are going to the ones who thrive in this decade of change. That is why FNA Show Management has been committed to providing complimentary entry into the trade show portion of the show.”
At FNA 2022 you will see suppliers on the trade show floor:
- New Advancements in Furnace Equipment Including IIoT Integrations
- Latest Advances in Air & Atmosphere, Vacuum, and Induction Heating Systems and Technology
- Latest Advancements in Controls and Sensors
- Environmentally Friendly Combustion and Burner Technologies
- Standards, Compliance, Pyrometry Services for Nadcap, CQI-9, 2750 and More
- Latest Advances in Insulation and Refractories
- How to Implement Automation and Industry 4.0
- Emerging Technologies & Equipment for Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing
FNA 2022 has suppliers exhibiting in every facet of heat treating that services every industry and process you can imagine. CLICK HERE to view the full list of exhibitors.
To see the experience at FNA and why other attendees feel it is an important investment of time, CLICK HERE to watch a short video.
Don’t get left behind. Register your team and bring a carload to Furnaces North America 2022. To view schedule and register, CLICK HERE.”
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Why Did HT-MX Company Invest in Hot Isostatic Pressing System-“The Monty Heat Treat News” Will Tell You
Commercial heat treater HT-MX in Chihuahua, Mexico is justifiably very proud of the fact that they just ran their first HIP cycle for the Aerospace Industry, a milestone for Hot Isostatic Pressing in Latin America.
This is the culmination of a process the company started on several years ago, you can see in the January 15, 2021 news item from “The Monty Heat Treat News” why they went down this path and why it is working for them. We are also including a photo from the atmosphere side of this facility.
“AUGUST 15, 2021; Very happy to announce that a few days ago HT-MX became the first Mexican and Latin American company ever to run a Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) cycle for the Aerospace Industry! Getting the certification, validation and earning the OEM´s trust is a process that took several years and I couldn’t be prouder of our Engineers for finally getting to this point. We are fully aware this is only the beginning of our HIP journey but, from time to time, its good to look back at the road traveled and appreciate & enjoy the little (and not so little) achievements.”
“JANUARY 15, 2021; HT-MX Mexico First To Achieve NADCAP For Hipping in Latin America
We have mentioned commercial heat treater HT-MX in Chihuahua, Mexico a couple of times in the past (previous press releases are further down). Those previous press releases related to the fact that the company was one of the only ones in Mexico to offer Hot Isostatic Pressing. HT-MX is now very proud to announce that their official NADCAP certificate has an increased scope. It now includes HIPing as well as aluminum, stainless steel and carbon steel heat treat. The CEO of the company Mr. Humberto Ramos Fernández believes that they are the first certified HIP facility in all of Latin America!
“Heat Treatment in Mexico/HT-MX Profile; September 24th we had a news item entitled “Heat Treating Mexico-Globalization to Regionalization”. The item was about a commercial heat treater in Mexico who was finding business to be very good partially because US manufacturers appear to be bringing their supply chains closer to home-namely reducing their reliance on Chinese companies. The company is HT-MX and the founder and CEO of the company, Mr. Humberto Ramos Fernández is providing us with these comments. It is interesting to note that he is also looking at partners to help him expand the company.
Around 8 years ago, having identified a gap in northern Mexico´s supply chain, two local industrial companies joined forces and founded the region´s first heat treat supplier-HT-MX. Since then, HT-MX has been working on establishing a reliable operation. That included getting its AS9100D certification and just last year becoming Mexico’s only commercial NADCAP heat treat plant for controlled atmosphere heat treatments. Additionally, HT-MX is Honeywell´s only approved heat treat in the country and are currently very close (last stages) to finishing a couple of other OEM approvals.
Additionally, HT-MX recently became Latin America’s first Hot Isostatic Pressing supplier with the acquisition of a brand new HIP press which will be added to its NADCAP scope in a couple of months. HT-MX is currently validating the HIP process while working along side the OEM it will be supplying, (this marks the first time that this process will be done outside the US for them). But HT-MX´s markets go beyond aerospace, it also serves the automotive industry as well as the Oil & Gas industry among others. HT-MX is currently processing a large volume of manufactured parts for fracking components for the Odessa/Midland market, in addition HT-MX supplies Tier1 automotive companies as well as serving the local tooling market.
With all that is happening in the world right now with the pandemic and the current global trend away from globalization and towards regionalization, some manufacturing industries are turning away from Asia and looking at Mexico for suppliers. This puts HT-MX in a great spot to catch some of that national growth. HT-MX has been quoting several interesting projects and is are looking for ways to secure its ability to continue to grow as a company and add to its NADCAP heat treat and HIPing (including new locations). There are opportunities that require additional funding and HT-MX is looking for potential joint venture partners in the US that bring value to our vision.”
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(Oklahoma City, OK) Aerobraze Engineered Technologies Oklahoma City is pleased to have been awarded a five-year contract with the United States Air Force (USAF). The contract includes the overhaul/remanufacture of F-15 fighter aircraft tubular heat exchangers and C-130 heat exchangers at the Tinker Air Force Base. Based in Oklahoma, Tinker Air Force Base has a rich history beginning in the early 1940s. It is the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command’s (AFMC) Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC), which manages aircraft, engines, missiles and more.
“We are very pleased to build on Aerobraze Oklahoma City’s 25-year history in remanufacturing the F-15 tubular heat exchanger by adding the C-130 heat exchanger remanufacture to our product portfolio. We look forward to supporting both the USAF and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers over the life of this contract,” states Brian Martin, Director of Business Development, Aerobraze U.S.
Aerobraze Oklahoma City has overhauled/remanufactured over 2,500 F-15 tubular heat exchangers for more than 20 years. The process was developed to support USAF and FMS customers who were seeking a more cost-effective measure. This includes one hundred percent replacement of all tubes, non-serviceable manifold component parts, and inspection in accordance with the USAF Technical Order. Adding the C-130 heat exchanger expands Aerobraze Oklahoma City’s product lineup and military capabilities.
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Since its introduction to the North American heat treat market many years ago by Canadian furnace builder Can Eng Furnaces International, mesh belt furnace lines have grown in popularity especially amongst heat treaters processing fasteners. The advantages over cast link belt furnaces, rotary retort and shaker hearth furnaces are so glaringly apparent that mesh belt lines have a virtual stronghold on processing high volume, relatively small parts (the only area where you occasionally see a new cast link belt line is where heavy parts are involved. New shakers have virtually disappeared from the industry as have new rotary retorts). While originally mesh belt lines were relatively small at 500-1,000 pounds per hour, the industry standard has grown to the point that the new standard is 3,000 to 6,000 pounds per hour.
For reasons unknown to us recently there has been an extremely strong demand for used mesh belt lines, as mentioned above at least 3,000 pounds per hour. Perhaps it has to do with delivery times, perhaps it has to do with price increases but whatever the cause it would appear that North American captive and commercial heat treaters are searching for used mesh belt furnace lines. We will shorten the search, currently there are virtually no used lines on the market and “The Monty Heat Treat News” is not expecting any short term reduction in demand or availability.
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For an experienced European concern, Härtewerk Chemnitz, selecting SECO/WARWICK technology is an excellent market recommendation. Commercial hardening plants are one of the most demanding industries since their needs are comprehensive, and the processes must be optimized. In the German plant, Super IQ will replace legacy atmosphere technology.
“With the furnaces from SECO/WARWICK, we want to expand our capabilities for mass-produced processing parts. The machines we have worked with so far had required time-consuming and expensive preparation, especially when the equipment was not at the right temperature. Unfortunately, this is the main shortcoming of atmospheric furnaces. They require constant readiness, so they must be kept at temperature even when empty and when the manufacturing process is halted or stopped. From a financial point of view, it is less beneficial to shut down and cool down existing furnaces than to keep the equipment ready for manufacture, resulting in high maintenance costs. The Super IQ furnace that we have ordered eliminates not only these difficulties but also enables efficient heat treatment with very high repeatability and uniformity of the carburized layer, which with atmospheric furnaces was only possible to a limited extent,”
explained Kai Werlitz, Technical Operations Manager, Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH. Combining a proven and reliable vacuum furnace design with conventional oil quenching technology guarantees reliable and very efficient operation. Super IQ enables efficient and clean hardening processes while providing stable economies. This is particularly important when energy prices are rising steeply across Europe.
Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH is a leading commercial hardening plant on the German market. Chemnitz and Chomutov plants provide a wide range of services related to metal heat treatment and guarantee high quality. More than 500 customers in Germany and Europe’s mechanical engineering, automotive, and metalworking industries have put their trust in Lohnhärterei Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH.”
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Solar Atmospheres of Western PA (SAWPA) has received Nadcap accreditation for it’s new, fully integrated Vacuum Oil Quench (VOQ) furnace. Designed and built by Solar Manufacturing, this two-chamber VOQ furnace is completely sealed, meaning a significantly cleaner and safer oil quenching process. The entire VOQ system is much “greener” than traditional integral quench or open-pit quench furnaces.
With a maximum load weight of 2000 pounds, the SAWPA VOQ furnace can successfully quench alloy steels and martensitic stainless steels to the most stringent of aerospace industry standards. Near-net shapes and finished products can be hardened by quenching in oil with minimal risk of surface contamination. SAWPA Plant Metallurgist Greg Scheuring says: “I admit I was nervous the first time we ran low alloy steel parts for a military contract. I assumed there would be a minimal partially decarburized layer. But when the low alloy steel parts came out with no decarburization with zero intergranular oxidation (IGO) I knew the VOQ was going to open up a whole new market for SAWPA.”
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Aalberts, one of the largest commercial heat treaters on the planet continues to invest in more equipment, this time at their facility in Dzierżoniów, Poland. “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited this location during a visit to Poland and this is what we saw.
“SECO/WARWICK equipment has been selected yet again by the international Aalberts Surface Technologies Group. The company already owns nine SECO/WARWICK solutions, and this contract is the third one associated with the expansion of the machinery base in Dzierżoniów. Aalberts Surface Technologies owns SECO/WARWICK equipment working with both vacuum and atmosphere technology. This time, the Dzierżoniów hardening plant will receive an innovative AFT process line that is based on two-chamber atmosphere furnaces.
The hardening plant expansion step by step. Customers who operate specialized hardening plants demand versatile solutions enabling them to carry out many different metal treatment processes. When deciding on the expansion of a hardening plant, one does not only take into account the equipment capacity, but also its versatility, reliability and the necessary support. Commercial hardening plants do not allow for production outages, they should be ready 24/7 and their machinery should provide as many services as possible. SECO/WARWICK has expanded the machinery base in many commercial hardening plants.
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The #1 issue in the global heat treatment industry these days is finding and retaining good people. To find out how this is affecting the industry, we spoke with an expert on filling positions, Mr. Josh Hale of International Search Partners, the foremost recruiting firm in the heat treat field. Part 1 of this two part series can be found at The Monty Heat Treat News-Finding and Retaining Good People | The Monty, today we present to you Part II.
Last time we spoke, you mentioned that salaries are rising – is there anything other than money that an employer can offer to entice new hires?
Yes. Salary is a huge motivator, but it is not the ONLY factor that workers look at when making a career move. Most candidates will consider any prospective offer wholistically and factor in benefits, bonus potential, growth opportunities, etc. Extra PTO and schedule flexibility are two things that many employers use to tip the scales in their favor when there isn’t room left in the salary budget. Companies should be cautious, however, about using “great team” or “good work environment” as a lure because it’s hard to quantify and it won’t be the needle-mover to get a candidate to jump from one company to another. Instead, fostering a synergetic work culture should be seen as part of a retention (not recruitment) strategy – not to mention just generally a good idea for all.
Is the situation getting any better or is it getting worse? In other words, is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
Unemployment will remain extremely low for the foreseeable future, and it seems highly unlikely that there will be a wane in demand for talent any time soon. Even if there are some near-term vicissitudes that cause a slow-down in the broader economy (a big IF), the need for specialized heat treat skills will remain high as much of the current talent pool begins to age out and retire.
With employers willing to pay higher salaries, are you seeing sing that employees are “flitting” from job to job and taking advantage of better offers?
Not really. The reason is that as recruiting and hiring becomes more difficult, companies are recognizing the importance of not only identifying new recruits, but also retaining the employees that they do have! We’ve seen client companies offer things like extra PTO, bonuses, raises, OT opportunities, etc. as ways to keep the good people they have happy and engaged.
Are salaries positions harder to fill than hourly waged positions, or vice versa?
We work more on higher-level or technical searches, but it has always seemed that hiring hourly production workers poses quite the challenge. Due to the nature of the work, these positions have high turnover, and it can be costly to invest in training when someone may only work for 6-12 months.
We’ve focused on things from the company perspective – what advice would you give to workers or potential candidates?
It really is candidate driven market right now like no other time in history, so it is a great time to consider making a move. We work with a lot of people who are working currently and generally content in their roles but can “put feelers out” confidentially by having us keep them in mind for certain opportunities. This works best when the employee has a good idea of what he wants, so another piece of advice would be to think about career goals, company preferences, personal strengths/weaknesses, desired locations, tradeoffs, etc. so that when that “dream job” is presented, there’s no delay.
Josh Hale has been collaborating with companies to identify, engage, and hire top performers as a professional “headhunter” and human capital consultant since the early 2000’s. He’s focused exclusively on the thermal processing industry since acquiring International Search Partners in 2015. ISP was originally founded in 1998 and is the only search and placement firm to specialize exclusively in heat treat.
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“HI TecMetal Group, Inc. (HTG) a leading provider of metal brazing and heat-treating services announced that on June 1st 2022, it acquired the business of Universal Heat Treating, Inc. (UHT), one of Cleveland’s largest commercial heat treaters. For 57 years, UHT has provided commercial metal processing services to a variety of industries, including automotive, heavy truck, energy, wire rope, heavy equipment, rail and agriculture. With this acquisition, HTG has expanded the capacity of its already comprehensive metal processing offerings. This increased capacity will provide greater one-stop-shopping and increased technical sophistication for HTG customers. The team is currently installing Two Surface Super 30 integral quench furnaces, one Surface dunk/spray washers, two Surface temper furnaces and an endothermic gas atmosphere generator, all scheduled for completion in August. Once operational, these furnaces will enhance delivery of smaller orders.”
“They are also pleased to welcome Michael D’Amato, as Vice President of the Thermal Treatment Sector and his UHT Team to HTG.”
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