In a move which surprised many, Aalberts Industries of the Netherlands, one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the world acquired Premier Thermal in the US, July 16th, catapulting the company into the second largest commercial heat treater in North America in terms of sales, The official press release is below along with our descriptions of both Aalberts Industries and Premier Thermal. To find out how each company rates in terms of annual sales please look at our list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America in 2020 https://themonty.com/project/largest-north-american-commercial-heat-treats-august-2020/ Keep in mind that “The Monty Heat Treat News” will be updating our list to the 50 largest in North America in the coming weeks.
 
“Aalberts N.V. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Premier Thermal Solutions LLC (PT), based in Lansing (Michigan, USA). PT operates nine locations across the industrial Midwest in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, generating an annual revenue of approximately USD 60 million with 250 FTE.
 
PT provides surface technologies and related services to achieve metallurgical specifications for its various industrial customers. As leading aluminium treatment provider in North America, PT is serving the light and heavy truck, electrical vehicles, agriculture, defense and aerospace end markets. For steel treatments, PT also offers ferritic nitrocarburising processes. PT invented NitroSteel®, a more durable and sustainable alternative to chrome plated steel products. This ferritic nitrocarburised steel bar is wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant, providing outstanding durability for cylinder rods.
 
PT is active in the industrial Midwest region of the USA, where Aalberts surface technologies already has core activities in the Northeast and Southeast region. The specialised technology portfolio is complementary to Aalberts surface technologies. The combination of Aalberts’ surface technologies business with PT’s technologies and footprint creates a stronger business with significantly increased scale, a wider surface technologies offering to our customers, expanded geographical footprint and enhanced growth prospects throughout the North American market. PT has a promising project funnel, mainly in the electrical vehicles, light and heavy truck, agriculture and industrial end markets. Critical NADCAP and OEM certifications allow Aalberts surface technologies to further penetrate the defense and aerospace markets in North America.”
 
The experienced management team of PT, under the leadership of Steven Wyatt, will continue to develop the business, driving the many business opportunities.  The results of PT will be consolidated after finalising all necessary formalities. The acquisition will directly contribute to the earnings per share and will be financed from existing credit facilities.
 
About Premier Thermal. Premier Thermal is a commercial metal processing company based in Lansing, MI.  With ten plants and 260 employees located throughout the Midwest, Premier Thermal has been delivering high quality products and services to its customers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico since 1978.  Premier Thermal has the technical expertise and equipment necessary to heat treat both ferrous and non-ferrous metals with diverse processing capabilities including ferritic nitrocarburizing, isothermal annealing, spheroidize annealing, solution annealing (water, air and glycol quench), aging, normalizing, neutral hardening (oil and polymer quench), zinc phosphate and lube coating, blast cleaning, grinding and polishing.  Premier Thermal also offers a ferritic nitrocarburized bar product; NitroSteel® bar is an environmentally friendly alternative to chrome plated bar providing superior corrosion resistance, improved wear resistance, better lubrication retention and no surface pitting or flaking. www.premierthermal.com
 
About Aalbert. Aalberts N.V. is a public company with its global HQ in the Netherlands.  For years, Aalberts’ has maintained a significant position in the heat treat industry in Europe with its Hauck heat treatment division.  Aalberts has continued that success here with its group of US heat treaters:  Accurate Brazing, Applied Process and Ionic Technologies.  The US group consists of eight physical locations and offers a wide range of heat treating technologies with the most recent addition of HIPing in its Accurate Brazing facility in Greenville, SC.
 
www.accuratebrazing.com
 
www.appliedprocess.com
 
www.ionic-tech.com
 
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Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd. (CAN-ENG) has recently been awarded a contract to design and manufacture Two (2) 50,000 lb/hr. Car Bottom Furnaces for one of the Largest Metals and Mining companies in the World. These custom engineered furnaces will support the manufacturing critical metal hot rolling machine components used in the production rolling of high value-added automotive steel sheet and plate.

During the bidding process, Can-Eng was able to identify areas of improvement within the customers existing heat treatment system which allowed Can-Eng to develop a concept that better suited the customers needs while providing faster heat up and improved part uniformity. This in turn will increase efficiency, enhance part quality, and reduce operating costs.

The two systems, although located side by side will utilize completely independent control systems allowing for the ultimate in flexibility for schedule and maintenance. Both furnaces will be interconnected to the larger plant wide system for data acquisition and trending capabilities with Can-Eng’s Support.

Can-Eng Furnaces International is a global provider and leader of state-of-the-art thermal processing systems. Headquartered in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada, Can-Eng is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company. For further information please contact Can-Eng at [email protected] or fur[email protected].

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To this very interesting press release from furnace builder SECO/WARWICK we can add these comments. voestalpine (formerly Bohler Uddeholm) maintains facilities around the world, most of which include heat treatment departments. “The Monty Heat Treat News” team has been fortunate enough to see a number of their locations and in each we have seen “state of the art” heat treatment systems. As an example these photos show a voestalpine location in Canada and one in South Africa.

“A leader in the “Tool & Dies” segment — voestalpine High Performance Metals Polska, placed an order for a retort tempering furnace with vacuum purging. The SECO/WARWICK furnace will be used for tempering tool steel after the gas quenching process. This is the first sign of cooperation between the companies after the global-pandemic-caused crisis. The new contract is the result of long-term cooperation between SECO/WARWICK and voestalpine High Performance Metals Polska Sp. z o.o. (formerly Bohler Uddeholm Polska). A retort tempering furnace with vacuum purging will complete the production line installed in Łomianki near Warsaw. The facility is currently operating the equipment delivered previously, including a hardening furnace and a tempering furnace. Another SECO/WARWICK furnace will significantly increase the capacity of the hardening plant.

“I think it won’t sound too immodest if I say that the majority of customers come back to us after a completed contract and purchase other equipment. Voestalpine High Performance Metals Polska is a partner whom we’ve known for many years. We know their needs, we are able to provide advice and most importantly, customize the equipment to their specific needs. Our relationship is not just superficial — we learn from each other, and thus we know the challenges they face in their day-to-day production. This contract could have been executed earlier, but the global pandemic had postponed the plans. I truly believe that this will not be our last job for the voestalpine Group companies” said Maciej Korecki, VP, Vacuum Business Segment, SECO/WARWICK Group.”

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Solar Atmospheres – Souderton, Pa announces that it has been awarded Nadcap 24-month merit status for heat treating, brazing and carburizing. We are extremely pleased PRI has recognized our corporate commitment to quality. The adherence to strict specification requirements, flawless process execution, and a daily commitment to quality processing is evident among all employees at Solar Atmospheres.

The Solar Atmospheres Souderton, Pa facility has held Nadcap accreditation since 1995. Having demonstrated their ongoing commitment to quality by satisfying customer requirements and industry specifications, the Nadcap Task Group has determined that Solar Atmospheres – Souderton, Pa, has earned this special recognition. Instead of having their next Nadcap audit in 18 months, Solar has been granted an accreditation that lasts until August 31, 2023.

“I am pleased to announce that Solar Atmospheres in Souderton, Pa has been awarded 24 month merit status. This is the goal that all Nadcap suppliers strive for, and is not an easy task,” states Jamie Jones, President of the Solar Atmospheres Souderton, Pa facility. “It truly is a team effort from the employees handling our customers’ products while conducting the thermal processes and testing, to the post process compliance and review. Everything must be in order and completed without issue. Our team in Souderton, as well as all our other locations, are committed to top tier heat treating services. This 24-month Nadcap accreditation award is evidence of our unwavering commitment.”

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Our weekly “Heat Treat Podcast” this week features the “great” Jason Orosz, President of Nitrex, Global Heat Treating Services (HTS). Jason can be considered a “hard core” heat treater in that like many of us he was born into the industry and it has been his life since his early teen years. In this episode our host, Mr. Carlos Torres talks with Jason about the “Digitization of Heat Treat”.​

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In Germany we find Mr. Achim Scheider who for his entire working life has been selling heat treat equipment into the European heat treatment market. Over the course of his career he has sold cast and fabricated furnace components and also enjoyed a spell selling new furnaces for Aichelin of Austria. Very recently Achim switched direction slightly and he is now an independent sales representative selling for several companies providing products to the heat treatment industry. These include Wuxi Cast GmbH, Burgdorf GmbH and furnace builder ROHDE Schutzgasofen GmbH. The name of his new company is IndVAS Industrievertretung https://indvas.de/ and Achim can be reached at [email protected]

“The Monty Heat Treat News” Team had the opportunity to travel with Achim several years ago and one of the many captive heat treatment facilities we visited was the SEW Eurodrive location in Bruchsal, Germany which can be seen in this photo. SEW Eurodrive. If you’re in the heat treating business you probably also know SEW because their plants around the world generally include substantial heat treating departments.

The Bruchsal facility is an enormous operation covering many acres and while the heat treat department is large by any standards, it covers a small portion of the overall plant. The heat treatment area is relatively new-the furnaces you see in these photos are approximately 10 years old were built and installed by Austrian furnace builder Aichelin. This is a fairly typical set up for a gear manufacturer-a number of multi chamber batch IQ furnaces with oil quenching designed for case hardening of gears and shafts along with washers, tempers, charge cars, shotblasting equipment and a very complete lab-in short everything required to run a state of the art heat treating department.

The batch IQ furnaces were chosen for the same reason that many manufacturers select them-they are versatile and easily adapt to fluctuating volumes. Even a cursory glance at this picture will show you that this is a meticulously maintained heat treat which is very much in line with the whole plant. While this installation is fairly typical of the heat treat department of a major gear manufacturer we will also say that this is a finer example than many. In this picture you see Mr. Achim Stassen who is in charge of this department (center) along with Achim Schneider and Gord Montgomery.  

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In a very unusual listing for “The Monty” we have available a brand new shaker hearth furnace line and an automated salt line. Both were designed for heat treatment of titanium fasteners and both have never been used which is unusual to say the least. More details can be found at https://themonty.com/project/item-c378-automated-electric-salt-bath-rinse-bath-system/ and https://themonty.com/project/item-c379-titanium-solution-shaker-furnace/.

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“As the engineering and manufacturing supply chains emerge from the pandemic, plasma nitriding is again in significant demand for the heat treatment of new and replacement components. Responding, Wallwork Group are upping capacity with the addition this year of two further Rübig plasma nitriding furnaces, the first due for August.

Wallwork director, Simeon Collins, explained, “This is a further £650K investment by the group, this time in our Cambridge plasma nitriding centre, increasing the existing capacity to six operational plasma nitriders, providing 24/7 processing. We are also adding a new dedicated area for inspection of case depth, structure and other quality aspects of the nitriding process.”

The Rübig furnace range chosen is the Micropuls Everest. This plasma nitrider offers several advantages, including three heating and cooling zones with the temperature measured directly at the component. A blast chiller shortens process times, while optimised filling and increased energy efficiency reduce running costs.

Nitriding is a metal heat treatment process that improves the endurance of wear parts such as gears, camshafts and followers, valve parts, aero-engine and airframe  components, dies, extruder screws and injectors. In the Rübig nitrider, molecular nitrogen is cracked in plasma to obtain active nitrogen which then penetrates the component’s surface. The process meets differing needs because the depth and properties of the case hardened layer can be finely controlled. Wallwork also design and manufacture the physical masking needed to ensure only the specified surfaces are exposed and hardened.

“The process has the major advantage of being relatively cool compared with other heat treatment methods. Importantly, this means the dimensions and characteristics of the base metal are not compromised. Also, it is ideally suited for low temperature plasma nitriding of stainless steels as it minimises potential loss of corrosion resistance in the metal, which could compromise its use in harsh environments,” Simeon added.

There are no chemical residues and so the process can be followed by physical vapour deposition (PVD) coating to impart even better wear resistance for use in high-load applications. Cambridge, also being Wallwork’s centre for advanced PVD coating technology, gives customers access to both plasma nitriding and coatings under one roof. Combined with the Group’s dedicated transport fleet for pick-up and delivery anywhere in the UK, this ensures an efficient and quick turn-around customer service.

Wallwork holds extensive approvals from company, national and international accreditation bodies. With well-equipped laboratories to test and evaluate existing plasma nitriding methods and develop new single or duplex processes, the company has a wealth of real-world problem solving experience.”

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Commercial heat treater “Thermal Process Holdings” https://thermalprocessholdings.com/ has appointed Mr. John Cunningham as Sales Manager for Region 2. John is a Metallurgist by background who has worked with companies such as Carpenter Technologies and Gautier Specialty Metals over the years. Thermal Process Holdings has 5 locations around the US and is rated by “The Monty Heat Treat News” as one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America https://themonty.com/project/largest-north-american-commercial-heat-treats-august-2020/

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It is with great regret that we mention the very recent passing of Mr. Keith Grier of ProTech Thermal Services at the age of 78. Keith’s entire life revolved around the heat treating industry, both from his time as a founder of GM Enterprises, a vacuum furnace manufacturer which is now part of Nitrex and with ProTech Thermal Services which also offers new vacuum furnaces and solutions for thermal processing companies. Both companies are located in California and Keith was still involved with Protech in Sales and Customer Service. Keith was a good man who will be missed. When more details are available we will share them.

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