In North America a manufacturer has to remove his entire aluminum heat treat department to make room for new equipment. All 3 items are complete, installed and ready to go for $50,000 USD;

• Despatch Aluminum Horizontal Heat Treat Equipment. Working dimensions of 40” X 40” X 40” with a weight capacity of 500 pounds per load. https://themonty.com/project/dispatch-aluminum-horizontal-heat-treat-equipment/
• Batch furnace with external water quench tank. This is a front loading aluminum solution heat treating furnace with a manual water rinse tank in front. https://themonty.com/project/itemiq472/
• Walk in oven with an operating temperature of 450F. https://themonty.com/project/itemt380-gruenberg-walk-in-oven-450f/

Jordan Montgomery, [email protected]

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In our humble opinion the best annual heat treat show in Europe is without a doubt the HartereiKongress held each year in October in Cologne, Germany. While traditionally it has focused on the German heat treat market over the past number of years it has expanded to cover all of Europe and in the process become more international. The show last year was “virtual” due to COVID 19 so the question has been; “Is 2021 going to be virtual or live”? And the answer is-we don’t know yet. It is scheduled for October 26^th to 28^th and a final decision will be made April of this year. Liver or virtual “The Monty” will be attending but our fondest wish is that it is live this year. This photo was taken at the 2019 event and in it we see the UPC/Nitrex booth.

“HartereiKongress is the largest industry meeting for the heat treatment industry in Europe. As a symposium with a top-class program and a renowned trade fair, the HartereiKongress combines knowledge and practice in a unique way. Each year about 500 professionals attend the congress. This year again more than 200 companies from Germany and abroad will be presenting themselves at the exhibition. Use this forum for the optimal presentation of your company.”

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Signature Vacuum Receives Fifth Order from US Defense Contractor. Harmonsburg, PA: Signature Vacuum today announced another order from a United States defense contractor for a custom ceramic sintering vacuum furnace.  The Model VBS-12 ordered, will increase production capacity and is the fifth Signature furnace to be manufactured and installed in this contractor’s facility. The furnace will be provided with a 36” diameter x 48” high work zone in a graphite hot zone rated for 1850°C. 

“Our strength at Signature is solving problems and delivering solutions. We have enjoyed the progression of this relationship over the years and we are committed to providing quality products and dependable services,” said Signature President Greg Kimble. Greg also indicates the defense contractor cites efficient design, consistent performance, and quality support from Signature as critical components to their decision to continue the relationship. 

About Signature Vacuum Systems Inc. – Signature designs and manufactures vacuum furnace systems for thermal processing applications in the metals and ceramics industries.  With many years of experience serving the thermal processing industry, Signature is a reliable partner that clients trust to meet their heat processing objectives.  Signature offers innovative solutions, timely manufacturing, and quality support services.  Signature is a full-service supplier able to lead their customers from concept to startup as well as provide troubleshooting and repairs.

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“Pleasant Prairie, WI – February 22, 2021 – ECM’s dedication to providing captive and commercial heat treaters the best vacuum furnace solutions continues into 2021 with two multi-chamber system orders for Low Pressure Carburizing.

After shipping more than 60 vacuum heating chambers in 2020 for existing and new heat treat applications, it’s clear that ECM’s commitment to customer satisfaction & application solutions continues to thrive into the New Year. Advanced automation technology, including robotics, and decades of experience are also proving to be a driving force behind this surge in activity including those applications outside the LPC-HPGQ sector, including, but not limited to: multiple tool steel processing systems, brazing applications, and Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) systems.

With the automotive industry embracing revolutionary environmental policy and process changes, an automotive supplier of innovative driveline solutions recently invested in an ECM Flex system for vacuum carburizing. This system is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions significantly for vacuum carburizing vs. an existing atmosphere carburizing furnace. A second Flex vacuum furnace was purchased by a hydraulic pump manufacturer. For this customer, the modular flexibility of the Flex furnace was the most important advantage, especially since the furnace is built as a standard system with the possibility to further expand its capacity and/or to upgrade to a high level of automation (robots, AGVs, vision systems, or other 4.0 elements). In addition to modularity, several processes can be handled in the Flex furnace, such as: low pressure carburizing (LPC), vacuum tempering and a combination of vacuum sintering followed by hardening.

ECM Technologies is an innovative low pressure vacuum furnace manufacturer with headquarters in Grenoble, France. With subsidiaries and ventures around the world, including ECM USA located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin USA. ECM’s global presence is well known in the automotive, aerospace, nuclear, energy, electronic, induction and 3D additive industries. With such versatile product lines and service capabilities, ECM is the ideal furnace system supplier for heat treatment processes ranging from rapid thermal processing (RTP) to low pressure vacuum carburizing (LPC). Our service capabilities include advanced automation, robotics, after sales, spare parts, on-site training and more. For more information, visit us online at www.ecm-usa.com or www.ecm-furnaces.com.”

The photos below show the ECM facility in Grenoble, France as we at “The Monty Heat Treat News “saw it in 2019.

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Why does Pete Batche have a smile from ear to ear? Because Pete just read the February 2021 issue of “The Monty Heat Treat News Magazine” https://fliphtml5.com/gvbzt/ejjj and now Pete knows everything there is to know about the global heat treatment industry. He has spent his life in the heat treating industry and is a Quality Manager/Metallurgist at Emerald Steel in Michigan. He is also part of the CQI-9 team which sets standards for heat treating of automotive components.

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“Magnetic Specialties, Inc. recently shipped 22 3-phase input / output line reactors engineered in nine configurations. These NEMA 1 enclosed reactors are used with variable speed drives up to 1500 horsepower.

Each 3-phase reactor ranges from 5-30 uH and rated to 1000 ARMS. These reactors feature copper windings, distributed gap cores and Dupont Nomex® insulation rated at 220°C. Core and coil assemblies were designed using proprietary software and Solidworks® 3D modeling.”

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While large in size, the global heat treatment industry is an industry largely unknown to most with few individuals just starting their working careers giving it any thought or consideration. For this reason it is largely dominated by families, “The Monty Heat Treat News” is a perfect example of this given that it is now into it’s third generation. Other examples abound, alloy company Wirco, commercial heat treater Solar Atmospheres, furnace builder Surface Combustion-all spring to mind as examples of successful family businesses. This leads us to Vacuum & Atmosphere Services Ltd., (VAS) in the UK which is another perfect example of a family owned and operated business.

“When Vacuum and Atmosphere Services Ltd was founded in 2000, the company never imagined how successful it would be or how it would develop in the ensuing years.

Mike Long and John Sheahan were friends and colleagues at Ipsen Abar UK Ltd, before embarking on an adventure that would change their lives. Initially they employed former colleagues, forming long-term partnerships by offering early employees, Nick Houghton and Paul Buttery, shares in the business. This was the cornerstone of future success as it bought loyalty, longevity and stability to a young fledgling business entering a competitive and difficult market. Little did they know then how their future would work out or more importantly how the company would become a ‘family’ business in the true sense of the word. They considered all their employees part of the VAS family, which the staff all bought in to and felt part of. They employed friends, friends of friends and never advertised – at this stage their children were far too young to be considered future employees. VAS enjoyed tremendous loyalty and 10 years of stability, with no staff departures. A remarkable achievement when industry experts predicted the pair would  be out of business and back at Ipsen Abar UK within a year.

Today the business still enjoys a loyal employee base, but now the next generation have joined in. Both Managing Director Mike Long’s sons, James and Aaron, are employed in the business, fellow Director Paul Buttery’s son Lee, has been with us since he was 17 and his cousin is now employed as a Service Engineer. Finance Director Ian Scott’s partner Julie, supports him with the accounts. In addition to the family ties the business boasts long-term employees such as Mike Oldham, who joined VAS in July 2000, Mark Smith, Lee Hollis, Tony Corbett and Martin Perry.  VAS did move away from its employment policy for a short while, advertising and using recruitment companies, but this failed to bring the loyalty and longevity, which was the cornerstone of the company’s success story.

A swift return to a ‘family and friends’ employment policy has as again bought stability, loyalty and a much more enjoyable working environment. The next generation of family, employees and friends are busy building their futures at VAS and the company has a strong succession plan, which will see the four remaining Directors retire in the coming years, but remaining as part-time employees to support the next generation. The current Directors of VAS firmly believe under the next generation the business will grow, develop and achieve even greater success.”

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It is no surprise to any that it is tough times for the oil & gas industry and the companies that service it. One of the giants in the industry US based Haliburton recently closed down their facility in Carrollton, Texaswith the equipment heading for the auction block March 3, 2021. Included are a few heat treat items including an old Holcroft Car Bottom furnace-it isnews to us that Holcroft (now part of AFC-Holcroft) ever made car bottom furnaces. The other hear treat related equipment includes a small vacuumfurnace, some ovens and a bit of induction equipment. Overall on the excitement scale we would have to rate this auction at a 4 (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most exciting).

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Heat treating of automotive components is the largest heat treating segment in North America which means the health of the auto industry is vital for many captive and commercial heat treaters. The report below from Hilco Global provides a very optimistic report about the state of the industry these days and also points out the biggest issue the industry currently faces-a shortage of computer chips. The chip shortage has lead to several automotive assembly facilities in North America closing temporarily and the result is that a number of in house heat treaters have been forced to shut down furnaces until the shortfall is addressed. In the past couple of weeks we at “The Monty Heat Treat News” have spoken with several parts suppliers with in house heat treating departments and most are saying that at least for the short term their heat treat requirements have dropped. So while the industry remains very healthy, short term things are slower than most would like. The attached photo shows a typical automotive heat treat department, this particular one is Dana Cardenes, Mexico which we visited in 2020. 

“January 18, 2021 – The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales (SAAR) for light-duty vehicles topped 16 million vehicles in December for the third month since April, when the industry slumped to a 50-year low. For the full year, light-duty vehicle sales totaled 14.6 million, a decrease of 14% from 2019. Not great, but a whole lot better than analyst expectations in March when dealer floor traffic and assembly plant production was at a standstill, and every analyst had cut their forecast for the year from nearly 17 million vehicles to under 13.5 million vehicles. So what has changed since March?

Original equipment manufacturers and their extensive supplier network have once again demonstrated their ingenuity by figuring out how to restart production while respecting social distancing protocols that protect their workforce. For its part, the dealer network had been experimenting with various on-line retail models for years but, until now, failed to make a real connection with consumers. Suddenly, consumers were shunning public transportation and ride sharing options in favor of personal transportation. Additionally, those that could afford to buy were opting to buy bigger vehicles loaded with expensive options. The K-shaped recovery described by economists is playing out in the auto industry in real time. White collar employees that could work from home, found themselves flush with money that they could not spend on leisure activities such as dining and travel. The only nameplates to report year-over-year volume increases in 2020 are three luxury brands: Tesla, Volvo, and Alfa Romeo. The average transaction price set an all time record above $40,000 in December.

Looking forward, dealers say their biggest challenge is lack of inventory. The total U.S. supply of unsold new vehicles was 3.0 million at the end of December, a 48- day supply at current sales levels. Dealers prefer stocking levels of around a 60-day supply, anything less and they risk lost sales. Manufacturers say they would build more if they could but their biggest challenge right now is supply shortages, namely computer chips. Worldwide productive capacity for computer chips is constrained by the increasing demands from manufacturers of automobiles  and consumer electronics. Much like automobiles, consumer products such as phones, game consoles, laptops and TVs are increasingly complex, requiring ever -more computer processing capability. Chipmakers favor consumer-electronic customers over automotive because those volumes are higher and the associated margins are fatter. Assuming there is some relief from chipmakers beginning in the second quarter, analysts expect the market to recover to 16 million vehicles in 2021. Some of the risks to the forecasts include the roll-out of the vaccine, the continued strength of the stock market, and the resurgence of the fleet market.” 

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