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“The YAZICI TRANSFER MAKINA company decided to add a second NITREX turnkey nitrocarburizing system to its Istanbul facility as a way to increase the manufacturing capacity of tooling and machinery components for the company’s precision CNC machines. It started production with the new system in the fall of 2021, and is used for NitregR-C nitrocarburizing and ONCR in-process oxidation treatments. This second NITREX furnace is the same type as the first installation, a compact size NXK series furnace that became operational in 2019, simply bigger.
“In addition to improving tooling quality and performance, the NXK-812 is very economical to operate, if you take into account the low gas consumption and optimized energy efficiency. A solution that improves the company’s bottom line and reaffirms its commitment to sustainable manufacturing,” explains Marcin Stokłosa, project manager at NITREX Poland. YAZICI TRANSFER MAKINA chose NitregR-C nitrocarburizing and ONCR in-process oxidation for their combined ability to improve the wear and corrosion properties of alloy and carbon steel parts. “In the beginning, YAZICI TRANSFER MAKINA was relying on a very well-known commercial heat treater from the Turkish market to nitrocarburize the parts it needed,” says Utku Inan, Nitrex representative in Turkey. “But now, the company has moved heat treating operations in-house, purchasing its own systems to nitrocarburize metal parts, which saves the company on lead time and transportation costs.”
About YAZICI; YAZICI TRANSFER MAKINA is located in Turkey, with its main office in Istanbul. The company operates in the fastener, button, needle, and pin manufacturing sector. This family-owned company was established in 2003 and oversees two plants. www.ytmmakina.com“
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As we work towards our updated list of the “50 Largest Commercial Heat Treaters in North America-2022” we look at one company, Solar Atmospheres, headquartered in Souderton, PA, USA who has made our list every single year for the past 25 years. In our 2021 ranking we had this summary about the company; “Solar Atmospheres Heat Treating Operations. The Solar Nation heat treating plants includes Souderton PA, Hermitage PA, Fontana CA, and Greenville SC, and have in total 357,000 square feet of plant space. This does not include Solar Manufacturing division which produces vacuum furnaces. While the down turn in the commercial aircraft business due to Covid effected the company their military business along with their health care business remained strong and the company continues to be profitable. 2019 sales were $61.2 million USD, 2020 sales were $54.3 million and estimated 2021 sales are expected to be $55 million. https://solaratm.com/“
For 2022 the company reports that sales are strong for the aircraft, space, defense, medical, petrochemical, and electronic industries and that they expect sales volume to be up approximately 5% from last years levels which would mean roughly $59 million USD in sales for the four locations this year.
Our rankings for 2021 can be found at https://themonty.com/project/5
The attached photo was taken at the Hermitage, PA facility and shows one of the most impressive vacuum furnaces we have ever seen, a 48′ carbottom furnace with loading at one end and unloading at the other.
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Established in 1981, Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) is a recognized global leader in providing heat treat services and metallurgical solutions. Between its locations in Alabama, Iowa and Michigan, AHT offers over 20 surface treatments such as UltraGlow® Ion & Gas Nitriding, UltraOx®, Nitrocarburizing, Induction Hardening, Carburizing, Quench & Temper and more.
AHT had record-breaking sales last year. Approaching its 40th year, the company credits its success to its loyal employees (42% have been at AHT for over 10 years) and a focus on “exceeding customers’ expectations.” Over recent years, AHT has been recognized for numerous industry and employer awards including, but not limited to: Business of the Year, Employer of Choice, Top 25 Most Influential People in North American Heat Treat and more.
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“If you are like most heat treaters, captive or commercial, the last 24 months have been some of the most challenging times in our history of being in business. Lost sales, increased costs, and a lack of qualified employees have plagued everyone in the heat treating industry. The good news is the economy is on the rebound, but not without some serious challenges ahead. With uncertainty looming in labor and overall costs, and as businesses begin to build back again, every company needs to be focused on six key elements:
- Sales Regeneration
- Cost Containment
- Quality Performance
- Workplace Safety
- Employee Recruitment
- Automation
Throughout COVID, the Metal Treating Institute and its wide array of over 100 volunteers made up of heat treaters, worked diligently to engage in a process to drive value and creative programs in an effort to help heat treaters maximize success and maintain their businesses. Because of these efforts, MTI has been able to provide many programs and resources that are helping heat treating companies, both captive and commercial, to not only navigate, but thrive in this current business climate.
The following are the key elements that MTI committees delivered over the last 12-months, and that every commercial and captive heat treater should be diving into to accomplish the six core goals above:
NextGen Committee: HeatTreatCareers.com – Recruiting New Employees
Finding qualitied people is the #2 challenge for any heat treater. The bigger challenge is being able to communicate, “Why work in the heat treating industry” in a way that is appealing to any prospective employee. In 2021 MTI’s NextGen Task Force invested several months to create a digital resource for any heat treating company to connect into their website that shares through video stories:
What is Heat Treating
The Impact of Heat Treating in Society
Why Choose a Career in Heat Treating
Ability Search Companies by State to Look into a Career
Heat treat companies can place a banner ad on their website that says, “Looking for an Engaging Career?”, CLICK HERE and then link to HeatTreatCareers.com. The website is a free resource by the Metal Treating Institute and every company is encouraged to tap into it.
Education Committee: NEW Heat Treat Quality Specialist Certificate
MTI’s Education Committee has put more emphasis on training by launching MTI’s newest technical training certificate, the Heat Treat Quality Specialist Certificate. With turnover at a high rate and not enough time for management to oversee everyone all the time, the new certificate provides a 360 degree view of quality, including blue prints, pyrometry, process, metallurgical theory, equipment, and hardness testing to name a few key areas. MTI has the industry’s most efficient online training system that provides an online corporate account to easily administer and manage your company training. It is 24/7, mobile friendly, and all digital. NO PAPER! MTI’s training also meets minimum requirements for auditing groups like Nadcap, ARP 1962, ISO 9000, and AS 9100.
Benchmarking Committee: Sales Trend & Quarterly Forecasting Reports & Webinars
MTI is partnered with ITR Economics to deliver monthly historical trend analysis and quarterly sales forecasting for heat treat sales and eight industry segments that drive heat treat sales. MTI delivers a quarterly webinar that digs into the numbers behind the printed report. This monthly and quarterly data would cost any company over $20,000 to get the same results. Through the work of MTI’s Benchmarking Committee, you receive all this business intelligence for FREE as a part of your general membership. The #1 value of these reports is that they create clarity for key management decisions in an uncertain future.
MTI Technical Standards Committee: Your Voice in Making the Rules
In a recent survey of heat treaters, 70% stated technical specifications play a major role in their quality department and profitability. With cost of quality being around 13% of sales, it is important for your company to have the inside information to stay ahead of the continual changes happening with Nadcap, aerospace standards, CQI9, and ASTM to name a few. MTI’s Technical Standards Committee, made up of 25 heat treaters and suppliers, meet quarterly and deliver a live webcast quarterly to keep your quality team ahead of the information curve on technical specifications. With MTI’s Technical Standards updates, it takes all the guess work out of your quality department and allows you to provide input into the rules you have to live by.
MTI Safety Committee: Resources to Combat High Turnover
One of the key downside to the lack of qualified labor is the temptation to deviate from the high levels of safety; taking shortcuts because staff is simply doing so much, given production increases with no new staff. MTI’s Safety Committee revamped its Safety Self Audit Checklist documents and created (4) template safety documents in lockout/ tagout, confined space, elevated work, and arc flash, all meeting OSHA standards. Most associations charge you for these critical documents. MTI provides them free because the leadership believes safety needs to be a bigger priority given current labor challenges.
The bottom line is, MTI’s programs are created by heat treaters for heat treaters. Don’t take on the daily grind and challenge by yourself. Tap into the powerful resources MTI has created to minimize uncertainty and maximize productivity, quality, and safety.”
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So why are the fellows at Sutton Tools in Thomastown, Australia delirious with happiness? Because they just read the June 2022 issue of “The Monty Heat Treat News” and they now know all the latest news and trends in the global heat treatment industry. Want to be as happy as Sutton Tools-you can find the June issue at June 2022 Issue
Sutton Tools has some of the largest vacuum furnaces available in Australia and “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the opportunity to visit this firm several years ago-this is our report; “In House Heat Treating-Sutton Tools Australia; A regular feature of “The Monty” is our articles profiling manufacturing firms which do in house heat treating, today we feature an Australian company by the name of Sutton Tools. The best background from the company comes directly from their website https://www.suttontools.com/
“Sutton Tools manufactures cutting tools at two sites across Victoria, both for the domestic market and for export. The bulk of general production occurs at our head office site at Thomastown, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, with more specialised operations centred at our Maryborough facility. We also have overseas production plants in Auckland, New Zealand, and in the Netherlands. Sutton Tool’s state-of-the-art production processes begin with raw material preparation. High-speed steel is imported from France and Austria, as Sutton Tools has found the quality of this European-manufactured steel is superior to raw material sourced from Asia. This steel is processed to workable length & diameter, then turned, using computer controlled machines that are able to complete a number of turning operations in a single manufacturing stage.
While Sutton Tools supplies tools to a broad spectrum of industries – including general manufacturing, electronic manufacturing, automotive, medical, mining and power generation – most advancement in material technology it experiences are occurring in the aerospace, defence and oil/gas industries. The development of so-called ‘super alloys’ for these sectors is constantly pushing material performance boundaries. However, the tougher these materials become, the tougher the tools need to be to work the new generation of alloys.”
Sutton does their heat treating through a division by the name of Surface Technology Coatings located adjacent to the manufacturing facility in Thomastown, a suburb of Melbourne. The heat treating department consists of 3 large Abar Ipsen vacuum furnaces with quenching up to 12 bar and an Ion Nitriding system. While Surface Technology Coatings is dedicated to heat treating and coating tools for their own production they also offer commercial heat treating and claim they have the only commercially available Ion Nitrider in the country which we have no reason to doubt. Interestingly enough the Ion Nitrider is a “NitroPlas”, a brand or name we are not familiar with.
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“A newly designed Vacuum Oil Quench (VOQ) furnace, purchased by Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, recently entered into full production after passing a vigorous start up protocol. The initial temperature uniformity survey, compliant to AMS 2750 F, produced +/- 10°F results at all setpoints. Most importantly, the critical lift and place transfer mechanism worked flawlessly. This robustly designed system delivered hot 2000-pound loads to the internal oil quench tank seamlessly time after time. With a quench system that is entirely self-contained and vacuum tight, the typical positive pressure “flare and smoke-ups” during each quench cycle was nonexistent.
See a video with an internal and external camera during a quench operation. https://youtu.be/qqZc3pi65Hs
Other features of this unique furnace include the ability for the customer to attain the actual work temperatures within the 36” x 36” x 48” hot zone. Additionally, with an atmosphere totally devoid of oxygen there is no need to use problematic oxygen probes. Material surfaces are free from intergranular oxidation (IGO) along with zero evidence of decarburized or carburized surface conditions. Heat treated components emerge from the quench oil bright and clean! With carbon potential issues totally eliminated, alloys of dissimilar carbon contents with comparable cross sections and austenitizing temperatures, can all be treated within the same load!
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March 2 of this year we had an article entitled “Deep Cryogenic Treatment and it’s Place in The Heat Treatment Industry” (the article can be found at https://themonty.com/deep-cryogenic-treatment-and-its-place-in-the-heat-treatment-industry/) Since that time a heat treater in Colorado by the name of “Metalex Thermal Specialties” adopted the technology and since that time they have processed literally thousands knife blanks. We can now report that Metalex has achieved AS9100:2016 and ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Chris James, General Manager had this to say. “This is an important milestone for Metalex Thermal Specialties,”. “It’s a rigorous process to become AS9100 certified; this certification is vital for anyone working with aerospace manufacturers and suppliers. Most organizations in this sector won’t do business with a company unless they have AS9100 certification. Organizations like NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense as well as privatized aerospace giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin all require suppliers to achieve AS9100 certification.
Our staff worked very hard with Platinum Registration’s auditors to demonstrate that we meet the requirements of the Standard. Not only does that make us feel confident that we’re the most efficient that we can be, it assures our customers that we have a completely transparent and robust management system. As a result we have reliable, repeatable, continuously improving business processes so that our
customers are receiving the best value for their money.”
The press release can be found below and further down this page you will find a press release issued by “The Monty Heat Treat News” from March of 2020 when we announced that the company had found new owners.
“MARCH 22, 2022: DEEP CRYO FOR KNIFE MAKERS DCI LEASES CP-200 TO HEAT TREATER Metalex Thermal Specialties in Berthoud, CO has expanded their HT capabilities by leasing a CP-200i from DCI. Within days after installing the 200, they began processing thousands of knife blanks to meet production demands. Metalex General Manager Chris James also intends to support local machine shops and injection mold makers with DCT – adding 30-70% increased wear life to D2, O1, H13, S7 and HSS tooling. You can reach Metalex at 970-532-3796 metalexts.com
“OCTOBER 12, 2020: Commercial heat treat Metalex Thermal Specialties in Colorado, USA has new owners. This is a plant which has been in business for quite some time offering vacuum heat treating, oil hardening, stress relieving, annealing and many other processes, under the direction of Greg Alexander. The new owners are Debra James, CEO, Bruce James, Vice President, and Chris James, General Manager. Chris and Debra have been involved in the heat treatment field in California for several years. Greg plans to stay on for awhile as a consultant. The James Family have ambitious plans for expanding the business in Colorado.”
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Ramiro Galvan-Shop Supervisor, Debra James-President/CEO, Chris James-General Manager, Jeff Bacon-Furnace Operator
To start off George I have to confess that this interview is very personal for me-let me explain why. When I first started working with my father William in the heat treat rep business just over 40 years ago one of the very first company’s we started repping for was SBS Corp., I well remember meeting with your father Jeff and the Sales Manager at the time, Don Clark. Thanks for spending some time with us today.
Thank you for having me Gord! Some of the pictures from those early days have recently surfaced and have been great to see. It’s amazing to think SBS is coming up on our 50th anniversary.
Lets begin with the history of SBS, when was the company formed and what was the vision-in other words what if any was the long term plan for the company? What prompted the move a number of years ago from Michigan to Florida?
SBS was formed in 1974 out of what can be best described as a barn! In 1978 SBS moved to a Rochester, Michigan location and following a number of successful years we increased our production capacities, moving to a new nearby facility that doubled the manufacturing space.
We moved to Sarasota, Florida in 2015. I must admit it was a rather easy decision to make. There is a somewhat underserved but booming heat treat sector in the South East and we wanted to be closer. Having beautiful weather year round was also no small improvement!
As for the future, we plan to continue serving the heat treat industry with an expanded line of products. We see “data” as the future and have a number of systems coming available that monitor, warn, record, and plot any aspect of the heat treating process. For a fraction of the cost of an employee standing around with a clip board, we can automatically pull readings and chart them on a minute by minute basis. This allows us to look inside our equipment. From across the country, without raising a finger, we can inform our customer that a bearing is going bad or a motor is over current. Alerting to a potential issue before it becomes an emergency. We see this as the future and are very excited to be a part of it.
At this point I would like to say how much I miss your Dad, he was a remarkable man and his passing last year was a real loss to the industry.
He was a remarkable man and I miss him a great deal. I was lucky to have him as a father and mentor. We spent the last 10 years working side by side and I am forever grateful for everything he taught me.
When I think of SBS I think of the original product, the almost legendary “Quench Air”-an air cooled quench oil cooler which was the first of its kind in the industry. I do realize though that it is only one of your product offerings, could you give us a detailed idea about all the products you have to offer?
SBS has always strived to fill gaps. Our products reflect that. The quench Air was designed to remove waste water from the heat treat industry. That has been SBS’s goal since day one. We also offer several warning and monitoring systems such as our Aqua-Sense Moisture Monitor which detects humidity in oil before liquid water is present to avoid a possibly explosive situation that occurs all too often in our industry.
We focus on reducing waste, improving the cleanliness of parts and extending the useful life of quench oil. On average, our SMART Filter systems can double the life of oil in a quench tank. This has also been a major interest of mine as I have a degree in Environmental Science.
SBS started off in the heat treat industry but I know your customers are not limited to just heat treatment. What % of your business is based in heat treatment and what other sectors do you get involved with?
We are about 50/50. The heat treat industry has always been our core focus but we also have a number of HVAC solutions. Recently, we have seen a very large increase in demand for air cooled heat exchangers in the data farm arena. Dielectric fluids are very similar to quench oils, so our Quench Air line of heat exchangers has found a new home at data centers and even Bitcoin mines. With this increase in business we have had a record breaking year so far. We have nearly doubled sales when compared to last year and we expect that trend to continue.
I never cease to be amazed at how global the SBS presence is. I have literally seen your products in Peru, China, India, South Africa and a host of other countries. Do you know how the number of countries that you have shipped products to?
I will have to double check my count on this but on last tally we have equipment in 48 countries world-wide. We do keep a rather large map on our front wall as I know you do as well.
Many if not most of the furnace builders around the world have used your products over the years which must give you a real insight into changes in the industry. Have you seen any trends over the years that have caught your attention and are worth mentioning? As an example do you see a surge in batch processing vs; continuous or visa versa?
Our current trend is not so much batch vs continuous, but a trend toward smaller furnaces becoming more desirable. This may be an economic impact but this has definitely become a topic of interest for us.
Lets talk supply chain issues. I do not need to reiterate what the entire world knows, that the global supply chain is a mess right now. What I would like to ask you is how much this has effected your pricing and deliveries.
We have definitely experienced the price hikes… Luckily, our products are made in the US with American steel and domestically produced components which has allowed us to maintain our standard lead times for the most part. This has been a transformative couple of years, navigating shortages and long lead times. I am very proud of our crew for adapting to the challenges, finding new suppliers, and maintaining the excellence we expect.
Supply chain issues are just one of the challenges we all face today, what other topics concern you these days as a small business owner?
The single largest concern I have right now is price hiking. I believe in some cases it has been warranted, in others it has been taken advantage of. As a small business, these unexpected increases have been a real challenge. Quotes that we use to say were valid for 6 months now expire in under a week. That has been a major frustration and when the bottom line becomes unpredictable small business will inevitably suffer.
Earlier I asked you about what products SBS currently offers, what I didn’t ask you about was what new products are in the works. I realize you might be rather reticent to let us any secrets but can you give us some hints about what might be in the works for SBS in the future?
We have a number of exciting products in the works. What I can say is that we are striving to make break downs a thing of the past using artificial predictive maintenance.
As a footnote to this interview I would like to make an announcement that I am rather excited about; WG Montgomery Ltd., the rep firm founded by my father William in 1969 is very pleased to announce that as of June 1 we will again be representing SBS. The territory will be Canada and New York state and both Jordan and myself are looking forward to working with you in the years to come.
Gord, let me say personally that we are all very excited to be working with the entire Monty family! We look forward to a successful future with you and Jordan.
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“The Monty Heat Treat News” has always prided ourselves on having the most up to date news in the entire global heat treat industry-much of it news that will not be found at any other heat treat news source in the world. With that in mind lets have a look at what is happening in the heat treatment industry this week;
Bayson Heat Treat adds vacuum furnace; Family owned commercial heat treater Bayson Heat Treat in London, Ontario, Canada has recently purchased a large, used Surface Combustion vacuum furnace. This will compliment the firms existing vacuum capacity and atmosphere furnaces. Bayson is a well established company having been in business since 1974.
Chain Manufacturer Allied Locke Industries Adds Heat Treating Capacity; In Dixon, IL we find chain manufacturer Allied Locke Industries, a supplier of high end chain products destined for the agricultural and industrial markets. Allied Locke has a very respectable heat treating department which consists of a mixture of both batch IQ and mesh belt furnace lines. The company has been finding business good enough these days to warrant adding more mesh belt furnace capacity.
Phoenix Heat Treating Adds New Horizontal Aluminum Quench Furnace. In Phoenix, Arizona, USA commercial heat treater Phoenix Heat Treating has been busy these days. Recently the organization removed two older aluminum drop bottom ovens and in turn are in the process of installing a brand new horizontal aluminum quench furnace provided by Wisconsin Oven. Want to know all about this booming heat treater? https://www.phoenix-heat-
RBC Bearings Selling Off Unused Heat Treat Furnaces; Bearing manufacturer and captive heat treater RBC Bearings, a very respected bearing manufacturer is in the rather unusual position of selling off some never used heat treating furnaces. The shaker hearth furnace line and salt bath line were purchased to process titanium components however the project like so many others around the world was derailed because of changes in the market due to COVID. The end result is that the installed but never used equipment is now popping up all over the North American surplus heat treatment furnace market. Great looking equipment but unfortunately it is so specialized that finding a buyer could prove to be difficult. Founded in 1919, RBC Bearings Incorporated is an international manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered precision bearings and products, which are integral to the manufacture and operation of most machines, aircraft, and mechanical systems, in order to reduce wear on moving parts, facilitate proper power transmission, reduce damage and energy loss caused by friction, and control pressure and flow.
From the Induction world we have this press release. “Ambrell & EPGA Induction Partner to Open Mexico Applications Lab; The LAB in Monterrey Mexico will feature Ambrell induction heating systems; Rochester, NY (April 21, 2022) — EPGA Induction, a distributor of Ambrell Corporation in Mexico and Latin America, is opening an Applications Laboratory, sales, and service facility in Mexico dedicated to Ambrell induction heating products and solutions. Applications from Latin America will be tested in this facility, enabling customers from the region to travel and observe applications and parts-testing more conveniently. Ambrell manufactures induction heating systems ranging from 500 W to 1,000 kW and are used for applications such as annealing, brazing, curing, soldering, heat staking, heat treating and shrink fitting. Customers send in their parts to the nearest applications laboratory to prove feasibility prior to making most initial purchases. “We’re delighted to partner with EPGA Induction and open an Applications Laboratory in Mexico,” stated Scott Nolen, Division President of Process Technologies. The recently announced Process Technologies Division is part of inTEST Corporation and includes Ambrell. Nolen continued, “EPGA Induction has extensive experience with induction heating and Ambrell equipment. We know they’ll deliver a superior experience to customers, and we’re excited to expand our footprint and have a sales, service, and Applications Laboratory dedicated to Ambrell solutions in Mexico.”
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