North Americans are absolutely right to complain about the rapid run up in natural gas pricing in such a short period of time, however compared to Europeans we have absolutely no reason to complain. Our good friend Alan Hick, is CHTA Secretary/Editor of Hotline, the largest heat treat publication in the UK (CHTA stands for Contract Heat Treatment Association, an organization of commercial heat treaters in the country-their counterpart in North American would be MTI).
In the March 2022 issue of “Hotline” 299410 Hotline Newsletter No167.indd (chta.co.uk) Alan speaks about energy pricing and CHTA’s efforts to influence costs and point out to everybody who will listen how crucial heat treating is to manufacturing (and much to his credit he references “The Monty Heat Treat News”). His article makes for very interesting reading and we would suggest reading it however this graph in a nutshell sums up the differences in the cost of natural gas in Europe as opposed to North America and shocking is the only way to describe it. This graph (which is in USD) shows the relative costs from 2014 to late 2021 and as you can see while there have been fluctuations the two lines show similar ups and downs (American costs are in blue, European costs in black). However starting in early 2021 European cost increased wildly and we would imagine that given the current political situation the spread is becoming even more pronounced.
Can you imagine European heat treaters paying 6 times North American prices? Amazing.
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You would not expect to find one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America in Northern Michigan, however such is the case with Century Sun Metal Treating which for over 30 years have been offering heat treating services in Traverse City, Michigan. Century Sun (which is part of a larger group) has a great deal of vacuum and plasma nitriding capacity which they use to service a wide variety of industries.
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Moedling, Austria based furnace builder “Aichelin” ranks as one of the largest furnace builders in the world with manufacturing locations on several continents AICHELIN Holding The company’s thermal treatment offerings are wide and varied and largely focused on atmosphere heat treating although through various divisions they are able to offer Induction Hardening equipment, commercial heat treating and burners as an example.
The focus of this news item today is their industrial furnace manufacturing division in Slovenia, “Bosio Furnace Solutions”, a company in which Aichelin acquired a majority ownership stake back in 2012. According to this news story which appeared in a Slovenia business publication by the name of “ STAkrog”, “Aichelin Holding” just started construction of a brand new 7 million EURO building located quite close to the firm’s existing facilities in Bukovžlak, Slovenia. The press release goes on to say that this investment marks the beginning of several and that some production will be shifted from Austria to Slovenia in the future. STAkrog: Celje Bosio in the construction of a new industrial building
We have two photos to go with this news item, one shows a typical Bosio furnace, the other shows the Aichelin manufacturing facility as “The Monty Heat Treat News” saw it pre pandemic. We will keep you updated on this story.
“3 March – Celje company Bosio, which develops and manufactures industrial furnaces, will start building a new industrial building in Bukovžkuk near Celje. The cornerstone of the investment of around €7 million was laid today in the presence of Economy Minister Zdravk Počivalška.
As the director of Bosio, Hugo Bosia, the ceo of majority Bosio owner Aichelin Holding, Peter Schobesberger and Celje Mayor Boen Šrota, said, Bosio, which employs 115 workers, has made a significant investment in the expansion of production. So far, the company has carried out more than 3000 projects for subscribers on three continents.
Bosio said that the new, 2,000-square meter industrial facility, which will grow in close proximity to the company’s existing business and manufacturing premises in Bukovžlak, will be designed to assemble thermal materials treatment equipment under the Bosio and Aichelin brands. As production capacity expands, the company is forecasting 30 new jobs. Completion of construction is scheduled for 1 September this year.
The main investor is the Austrian Group of Aichelin, the umbrella company of Bosio, which invests with the aim of moving and expanding capacity from Austria to Slovenia, said Bosio.
Due to the increased number of orders obtained in the company last year and this year, according to him, after consulting with the Aichelin Group, they have already started to produce project documentation for the second and third phases, which would have acquired an additional 4000 square meters of commercial and production premises, while opening 40 new jobs. The completion of the two phases is foreseen by August 2023 and Slovenia would acquire a ‘distinguished international centre for the production and assembly of industrial lines’ through this enlargement.
Bosio was founded in 1988 when owner Hugo Bosio began producing small laboratory and melting furnaces for heat treatment. In 2012, the family business had become part of the international Aichelin Group, which owns 75 per cent of its own.”
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Regular readers will recall that in late 2021 Halliburton, one of the world’s largest providers of products and services for the oil and gas industry auctioned off some of their equipment at their facility in Conroe, Texas, USA. Included in the offerings were three 36″ X 48″ X 36″ batch IQ furnaces provided by AFC-Holcroft and all ancillary equipment including tempers, washer, charge car and endo generator. The equipment ended up being bought by a US used equipment dealer for less money than we would have expected considering it was in half decent shape and relatively new.
We have just learned that the entire package was purchased by a commercial heat treater in the US Midwest. We are not privy to the customers long term plans, but we will say that if they intend to install all 3 in the near future this is adding a lot of capacity when you consider this size of furnace is capable of 3500 pound loads.
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Furnace Builder Ipsen is having a good year, no make that a great year with a vacuum furnace backlog of over 60 furnaces which might be a record for the company. This photo shows one of the largest projects the company is working on, all we can tell you at this time is that the system is destined for a captive heat treater involved in the energy sector. As work on this monster system progresses we will be posting additional photos.
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It is quite unusual to see a commercial heat treater close it’s doors for good and sell off the furnaces and building separately but it does happen from time to time. A couple that come to mind that have closed down in the past few years would include the Robert Wooler Company in Dresher, PA., and Donovan Heat Treating in Philadelphia, PA but these are exceptions. Unfortunately we have just been informed that a commercial heat treater in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA has recently closed their doors for good-Precision Heat Treating is no more with the equipment being sold off. We know little about this company although it had been in business for over 70 years and had roughly 10 employees. A quick look at the equipment gives an indication as to why, it would appear to be old and tired with little sign of new investments. It is a shame to see such a long established company disappear.
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So why is this experienced group of heat treaters at Centek Group ecstatic with happiness? Because they just read the March 2022 issue of “The Monty Heat Treat News” and now they have the absolute latest news about the global heat treatment industry https://fliphtml5.com/gvbzt/di
“Centek Group-In House Heat Treatment of Oil & Gas Components; This is how Centek Group, a manufacturer and captive heat treater describes themselves; “Founded in 2001, Centek Group specializes in the development of engineering solutions for casing running environments. Our focus has always been to reduce risk and rig time. We design and manufacture a range of revolutionary centralizers which provide unprecedented stand-off: giving optimum pipe centralization, aiding pipe rotation and easing the string to total depth without issue. https://www.centekgroup.com/”
To a layman such as myself this means the company designs, manufactures and supplies centralizers, a product used when drilling for oil or gas. This is done in two manufacturing locations, the first in Newton Abbot, Devon UK, the second in Oklahoma City, OK, USA. “The Monty Heat Treat News” team was able to get a half day tour of the location in the UK and this is what we can report.
This location has always been a firm believer in keeping the entire manufacturing process in house and this includes heat treatment. In approximately 2014 the decision was made to update the entire heat treatment department and the end result was an Ipsen 2 row gas fired “pusher” style furnace, using endothermic atmosphere provided by a single retort Ipsen generator.
In overall concept this would be considered a fairly typical “U” shaped pusher design with loading and unloading in the same area, high heat, oil quench, wash, temper and a feature we always like to see-an automated “tray flipper” to provide longer life to the cast base trays. The entire system is controlled by an up to date PLC system with datalogging, with atmosphere controlled by oxygen probes.
What is rather unusual though is the cleanliness of the entire operation, not a breath of smoke or a hint of quench oil to be found in the entire department. Originally this was a family run, employee owned company and while this is no longer the case the family “feeling” and pride lives on.
While this entire project is very much a family affair we have to mention that the fellow in charge of the heat treatment department, Mr. Phil Hayes is a lifelong heat treater who takes his job seriously and he perhaps more than anybody else is responsible for the fact that the department runs so smoothly. Vacuum & Atmosphere Services provides help as required.
While we have not personally seen the location in Oklahoma City, USA our understanding is that it is largely a mirror image of the UK facility although the furnace was provided by AFC-Holcroft, a US manufacturer.
These photos will give you a very clear view of the entire facility. Our thanks go out to the entire Centek Group who were so incredibly hospitable during our visit.”
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This interesting press release comes from heat treat industry supplier Vacuum & Atmosphere Services (VAS) in the UK, a company “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited in late 2021. We are including a photo we took of a recent VAS installation, this was taken at captive heat treater Krohne in Wellingborough, UK. Gord Montgomery of “The Monty” is on the left, Aaron Long of VAS is on the far right.
“A leading furnace servicing company is looking forward to making further progress in 2022 on the back of a successful year and a strong order book of domestic and international business. Vacuum & Atmosphere Services (VAS), based in Smethwick, saw more than £1m in additional service work generated by a new-look management team as it built on more than two decades as a market leader in its industrial sector.
A trusted partner for leading brands, VAS launched in 2000 to offer services for vacuum and atmosphere furnaces before the company progressed to offer the complete service package to the heat treatment industry, from bespoke new furnaces to spare parts. Originally started by two engineers, VAS now employs 31 staff and provides furnace services for a range of clients including Mercedes, GE Power, Moog and Collins Aerospace. Seen within their sector as an engineering company run by engineers, VAS is expanding its products and services for clients in the UK and abroad by adopting new technology including hi-tech control systems.
Managing Director Mike Long said results for the last 12 months were pleasing given the bigger picture for the UK economy. Mike said: “Our financial performance for 2021 was on a par with pre-Covid years, despite the challenging economic headwinds, with the business lined up to exceed this level in the coming years. “We firmly believe the business is on a journey to meet the requirements of customers as they change, with VAS adapting in turn to be there to deliver high standards of service as our market moves forward.”
The VAS company motto is “Quality from experience”. Although the business has extensive experience of its sector it is not afraid of moving forwards to embrace the change ahead. Mike explains: “The company has made a conscious effort to prepare the younger generation of leaders to be able to take on the challenges ahead of them to lead the company to further success. Over the last 12 months, the VAS senior management have supported and funded management training for the figures likely to be at the heart of the business in the years ahead.”
Having completed their management courses, Aaron Long has been promoted to head of vacuum sales, Greg Walker leads atmosphere sales and Lee Buttery has become projects manager. Following on from these promotions, a group of managers have completed Black Country Chamber of Commerce training, resulting in Lee Hollis, James Long and Mike Oldham all taking on middle manager roles. Andy Nisbet was appointed to the newly created role of quality and health and safety manager to ensure compliance with the fast changing regulations around Covid and to use the time to ensure quality check systems were in place.
Mike attributes an increase in service contracts of £1m per year, generated over the past 12 months, as being proof that the young managers can make a quick impact. Mike said: “The Covid pandemic has changed things and made us aware of the need for future planning. We firmly believe that if you always do what you have always done you will always get what you always got. So investing and supporting in the younger leaders has paid off.” The VAS team are making conscious, practical efforts to reduce their carbon impact, while VAS adapts its offer to keep ahead of the industry changes. The team are increasing their services around digital control systems and growing their energy efficiency offering.
VAS have introduced a long term strategy to bring in apprentices and future talent. Two apprentices have progressed to be engineers, with a new one on board to begin training. VAS has also earned its official gas registration after two engineers achieved their qualifications. Head of Atmosphere Products Greg Walker says the future of VAS looks “more positive now than ever before”. He says: “Going into 2022 we have a bigger order book than ever before. Covid has make us take a step back and define what we want the business to be.”
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Controls company Super Systems UK recently appointed Mr. Stephen Biggs as Sales Director, Super Systems Europe. Stephen has extensive experience in the heat treatment industry as you can see in his introduction below. You can see the rest of the SSE team in this photo.
“My name is Stephen Biggs and I am pleased to be able to introduce myself as the new Sales Director here at Super systems Europe.
My path to Super Systems has taken me into many of the world’s biggest manufacturers, OEM’s and blue-chip companies in diverse markets across the globe. I have always worked in complex and technically challenging environments and thrive on such challenges.
Some of you may know of me from my years at PhoenixTM, where I was the USA sales manager responsible for selling in process data logging and thermal profiling systems across all heat treatment processes.
I developed a real enjoyment for the heat treat world and the people in it while at PhoenixTM and am very excited to be returning to the industry I truly enjoy.
I have travelled the globe extensively in my career which has given me a broad wealth of Experience and cultural understanding, which I am pleased to now bring to Super Systems Europe. I established a reliable, trusted and industry respected team of USA sales agents across the country, and became a High Temp process and AMS2750 / CQI-9 specialist in the USA. I have helped engineer, promote and establish ground-breaking products to address specific market requirements and have always had a super keen focus on customer service and satisfaction, that I believe will fit right in here at Super Systems.
I bring with me years of Thermal profiling experience and AMS2750 / CQI-9 TUS experience, having worked directly with major furnace manufacturers, many OEM,s auto and aviation manufacturers, plus tier one suppliers to auto and aviation as well as many heat treaters both captive and commercial plus special / sensitive processes including defence.
I look forward to being able to meet and work with clients old and new in the coming months and to working closely with you all on any projects that you feel Supersystems Europe could help with. I am very excited to be working with such a great and talented team of individuals here at Super Systems Europe and being able to offer truly industry leading products and services across such a wide field of atmosphere process applications here at Super systems Europe.”
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Thermetco is a second generation heat treater founded by Mr. Andre Houle. The firm has over 100 employees and offers Carburizing, Vacuum Hardening, Austempering, Plasma Nitridng and Carbonitriding. In the past several years the company has moved to a new location, acquired two competitors and added a number of new furnaces. It is ranked as the second largest in Canada.
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