It is regret that we mention the passing of Dick Schumann one of the founders of furnace builder HeatTek. Dicks’ obituary is further down this
page along with a press release the company issued back in December of 2021 about how the company was expanding.
“Many of our customers serve critical industries and are seeing historically high demand. HeatTek has committed to support them,” explains Jason Plowman, President of HeatTek. “Because of our equipment’s large size, floor space is an important asset, so investing in new facilities is essential.” HeatTek’s original location will remain home to its headquarters offices, R&D lab and over 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Plowman summaries, “The recent expansion has tripled our capacity and optimized our manufacturing process so we can support these crucial industries.”
Richard “Dick” Schumann, 79, of Watertown, passed away on Sunday, January 23, 2022, at HonorHealth in Scottsdale, Arizona, following a brief illness.
He was born Richard Raye Schumann on March 3, 1942 in Watertown, son of Raymond E. Schumann and Norma P. (Daugs) Schumann. Known as “Dick” to his friends, he graduated from Watertown High School in 1960 and pursued a degree in Engineering at Stout University in Wisconsin. He married Deanna K. Haessig in 1963 and began their family life in Watertown. He was employed at Lindberg Hevi-Duty in Watertown for a short period of time before moving on to employment at Oven Systems, Inc.(OSI) in New Berlin. In 2000, Dick, alongwith a few highly experienced industry veterans, founded HeatTek in Milwaukee, a pioneer in the heat treat industry. He continued to help the company grow and expand to a larger facility in Oconomowoc, and then into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Ixonia, in 2004 where he worked well into his 70s.
Dick was a pillar in his community. He gave generously of his time and finances and impacted the lives of so many. He loved to contribute to the success of others. He was a member of the Parent-Teacher Association, president of the Wisconsin Parkinson’s Association, a key figure in the development of the Avalon Equine Therapy Services, served on the Board of Directors for Ixonia Bank, and most recently, president of the Watertown Country Club.
Dick had a love for his family and friends. He was a loving father and a dedicated husband to his wife of over 50 years. He was her rock, championing her through the long road of Parkinson’s disease, and faithfully cared for her to the end. He loved spending time with his grandchildren, faithfully attending sports and theater events, fishing and many happy times in Florida.
Dick was highly athletic and competitive. He played basketball, football, baseball, and billiards in his youth, and enjoyed softball, tennis, skiing and golf in his later years. He enjoyed coaching flag football and basketball, had a love for ties, fancy socks, potato chips and SPAM sandwiches.
Dick was blessed to find love and companionship a second time in his life with Brenda Geib. The two of them shared travel, adventure, a love for fast driving, golf, and singing to the oldies.
Dick is survived by his two daughters, Kelly Beltz and Kim (Jon) Loomis, four grandchildren, Alexander, Abigail, Isabella, and Gabriel Beltz.
He was preceded in his death by his wife, Deanna, and his parents, Raymond and Norma.
A memorial service will be held in his honor at the Watertown Country Club on February 19, 2022, beginning at 11:00 a.m. A luncheon will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Wisconsin Parkinson’s Association or Watertown Country Club Tree Fund would be appreciated. Hafemeister Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Watertown is serving the family. Onlinecondolences may be made at www.hafemeister.com.
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Back in early 2021 it was announced that 3 commercial heat treaters in Turkey had combined under the name “Alpha Heat Treatment” to form the largest commercial heat treat in Turkey. The original press release is below and in it the company tells us that the combined company with have 8 locations around the country with roughly 150 employees.
The company has now announced that they have just taken possession of a new vacuum furnace from French furnace builder BMI. The furnace is shown being unloaded prior to installation at the company’s location in Konya, Turkey. With this latest addition the facility now has 4 vacuum furnaces.
“May 2021 POST; Three Commercial Heat Treats in Turkey Merge-Form Largest Heat Treater in the Country A Historical joint venture in the Turkish Heat Treatment Market.
“Three Istanbul-based heat treaters with more than 40 years of experience have combined. Alper, İnsa and Tamçelik Heat Treatment will now be known as Alpha Metalurji A.Ş. and will serve the manufacturing sector in Turkey. The combined company will have 8 locations in 4 different cities, and will provide job opportunities for more than 150 employees. This is the first time in the history of Turkish heat treatment that three rival companies have come together and joined forces. The company, aims to bring together high technology heat treatment processes with appropriate quality standards.
The agreement of the parties in the merger decision took about 8 months. With the fulfillment of the legal requirements, signatures were signed and Alpha Metalurji was established. According to company General Manager Koray Yavuz, the company’s turnover and number of employees will make it the largest in the Turkish heat treatment market. “The company will serve the automotive, defense and aerospace sectors, as well as aluminum extrusion and general machinery manufacturing.” said Utku Inan, Business Development Director at Alpha.”
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Ipsen has expanded its field service capabilities to include ultrasonic wall thickness testing for vacuum furnaces. The test helps customers verify the integrity of their chamber and determine its remaining lifespan.
“Having a better understanding of the furnace’s condition will result in more accurate maintenance planning,” said Ipsen Chief Service Officer John Dykstra. “Customers can have peace of mind knowing their furnace is safe for operation, while also preparing for future repairs or replacement.”
Vacuum chamber wall thickness testing is a service provided by Ipsen’s Field Service Engineers using an ultrasonic inspection instrument. This non-destructive method requires only the removal of a small amount of paint at each desired test point.
Ipsen’s service team works with the engineering department to determine the appropriate thickness for each chamber wall, and whether it passes or fails to meet the ASME Pressure Vessel Code. When the test concludes, customers receive a detailed report charting the thickness of the chamber wall across a wide range of areas, as well as maintenance and repair recommendations.
The service is now available anywhere in the United States on both Ipsen and non-Ipsen equipment. For more information, customers can contact their Regional Service Manager, or call 1-844-GO-IPSEN.
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Since 1999 “The Monty” has been publishing annually a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America based upon annual sales, our 2021 list can be found at https://themonty.com/articles/50-largest-north-american-commercial-heat-treats-2021-2/ This year readers will see we became much more ambitious and expanded the list to the 50 largest. In our 35th spot we have Voestalpine AG.
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GM is issuing a recall of 1,789 full-size SUVs as a result of a supplier issue that may make their rear driveshafts wear prematurely and could lead to them seizing. The recall affects the 2021 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, the 2021 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, as well as the 2021 Chevrolet Suburban, and Tahoe. All were fitted with incorrectly produced parts from a supplier.
The issue relates specifically to the rear-wheel driveshaft assemblies with recirculating balls that were not properly heat treated. These were supplied to GM by Tsubaki Nakashima Georgia, which informed the automaker of the potential problem in October.
Between October and November, GM worked to evaluate the potential effects of the improperly heated recirculating balls on the driveshaft’s durability and reviewed its records to see which vehicles at its Arlington, Texas, plant had been built with the part. By mid-November, GM determined that there might be long-term durability concerns as a result of the production error. It opened a formal investigation in mid-December after finding that the components could become deformed with long-term use, which could lead to a loss of propulsion, which could increase the risk of a crash, per NHTSA documents.
It is now issuing a recall on all 1,789 vehicles identified, which will have the left and/or right rear driveshaft assemblies replaced at no cost to the owner. It plans to start sending letters to customers in March. In the meantime, drivers are warned that if they experience gradually increasing noise and vibration from under the vehicle, it could be a sign of the failing part.
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In Plainwell, Michigan, USA we find family owned commercial heat treater Darby Metal Treating, a company which has made “The Monty Heat Treat News” a couple of times over the years. They grace our pages again today because they just hired a new Sales Manager by the name of David Bates.
We would be remis if we didn’t mention our most recent news item about Darby, this is from February of 2021 when the firm installed a new gas nitrider; “Rubig, a furnace manufacturer based in Wels, Austria is in the process of installing a “duo” gas nitrider which can also nitride stainless steels at a company in Michigan. Darby Metal Treating in Plainwell, Michigan is a family owned business and in this picture you see from the left Tom, Max, and Adrien Darby, Mike Fortuna, Ernst (Rubig service), and John Young who is the local Rubig representative. While Darby offers a number of heat treat processes they really concentrate on vacuum heat treating.”
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John Hubbard, Chairman of the Board of “Thermal Process Holdings” announces the recent acquisition of “Rockford Heat Treaters” of Rockford, Illinois, USA. With this acquisition the firm now has 6 commercial heat treating facilities all located in the US Midwest. As is the case with all acquisitions made by “Thermal Process Holdings”, “Rockford Heat Treaters” will continue as an independent location continuing to build on their past successes. The two owner/operators of the firm, Tom and Ted Deutsch will be staying on in their current positions. This marks another step in “Thermal Process Holding’s” long stated goal of become one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the US through acquisitions.
About Thermal Process Holdings; Thermal Process Holdings has a very, strong, experienced management team headed by Mr. John Hubbard, P.E. Chairman of the Board and Mr. Todd McDonald, President and CEO. More information about the company can be found at; Thermal Process Holdings | A Unique Partnership for the Future You Want
About Rockford Heat Treaters; Rockford Heat Treaters was founded in 1967 with the vision of providing fast, quality heat treating services. Over the last 50 years we have grown to a 50,000 sq. ft. facility offering an array of processes to meet your heat treating needs and on time demands. We have been a family owned business since 1999, with over 100 years of management heat treating experience. Our employees and customer base have been the backbone of our success. We have built many great business relationships over the years, and hope to continue expanding our relations with new business. Rockford Heat Treaters | Rockford, IL
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Furnace builder Ipsen of Kleve, Germany just shipped a brand new nitriding furnace to commercial heat treater Härdservice AB in Hallstahammar, Sweden. Originally founded in Kolbäck, Sweden the firm recently added a second, brand new location in Hallstahammar which is where these photos were taken. This Ipsen VDR furnace has working dimensions of 900 x 1200 x 900 mm and a load capacity of 2000 Kg. This is the first furnace to arrive in the new plant.
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Expanite – The technology of the Danish pioneer for surface hardening of stainless steel and titanium is used more and more frequently when it comes to alternatives to classic fluoroplastic coatings such as Teflon®, Halar® or Xylan®. In addition to technical and commercial advantages, the environmental compatibility and sustainability of the Expanite process are playing an increasingly important role for customers.
After the discovery of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) – also known as Teflon® – in 1938, some time passed before technically usable applications for the highly inert material paved their way. Today, coatings based on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), known by their trade names such as Teflon®, Halar® or Xylan® or more generally referred to by the abbreviations ECTFE, PFA, FEP, ETFE, PVDF etc., are applied in many areas to optimize the sliding and non-stick properties as well as wear and corrosion resistance of components.
Accordingly, there has been a trend towards avoiding the use of these materials since the early 2000s, and especially when it comes to improving wear and corrosion resistance, Expanite surface hardening offers a costeffective and sustainable alternative.
The Expanite technology is based on a gas process in which carbon and nitrogen are diffused in the component surface. The otherwise comparable soft and wear-prone stainless steel material hardens by a factor of up to 10 and while classic diffusion processes impacting corrosion resistance of the material, the Expanite processes generally improve the corrosion properties of the component.
Sustainable against wear and galling
Besides the elimination of carcinogenic substances, Expanite’s gas-based diffusion process is significantly more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly than comparable wear protection processes, and thanks to the treatment in a vacuum, no time consuming cleaning of the parts, e.g., with aggressive chemicals, is necessary after hardening.
“The different cases in which Expanite is used as an alternative to such plastic coatings are widely spread and can be found, for example, in the areas of pumps and valves, food & beverage or general industrial applications,” explains Dr. Holger Selg, application expert and Expanite Sales Director DACH, and continues: “First and foremost, we increase the wear and galling resistance of stainless steel components. By hardening the surface, the sliding properties are improved at the same time and, depending on the application, offer an adequate replacement for fluoroplastic coatings.”
The Expanite technology, specially developed for corrosion-resistant materials, offers a solution for austenitic, martensitic, ferritic, and duplex stainless steels as well as for expensive nickel-based alloys such as Inconel and Hastelloy. Moreover, ExpaniteHard-Ti, which the Expanite team of experts has developed to market maturity in recent years, is used for titanium grades.
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Since 1999 “The Monty” has been publishing annually a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America based upon annual sales, our 2021 list can be found at https://themonty.com/articles/50-largest-north-american-commercial-heat-treats-2021-2/ This year readers will see we became much more ambitious and expanded the list to the 50 largest. In our 36th spot we have Thermal Vac, Orange, California.
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