Nitrex supplied Alugen Aluminium with a high-performance compact nitriding/nitrocarburizing system allowing the company to bring all manufacturing operations in-house for more optimal work planning and quality control.
Turkish aluminum extrusion company, Alugen Aluminium, recently expanded their production capabilities with the addition of a new Nitrex NXK series nitriding system. Founded in 2012, Alugen is a dynamic company and the only business of its kind in Turkey operating in a free trade zone, with customers in various European countries.
“Utku Inan, Nitrex sales representative serving Turkey, led the discussion with Alugen about the strategic decision to bring nitriding operations in-house based on improved quality consistency and cost-effectiveness of their gas nitriding processes. Over the years, Alugen has expanded its production to meet growing demand. The addition of a Nitrex system into the company’s manufacturing process has increased efficiency and time to market for their customers, supplying profiles reliably and with consistent quality,” said Marcin Stoklosa, Project Manager at Nitrex Poland.
“Alugen provides mass production extrusion services as well as boutique production to its clients; therefore, Nitrex had to consider the performance benefits of a single system that can handle both custom and mass production requirements. The multipurpose NXK-612 batch-type furnace was a clear choice,” noted Utku Inan. With a compact footprint, a work area of 23.5” x 47 ¼” (600 x 1200 mm), and a load capacity of 1700 lbs. (800 kg), the NXK system allows Alugen to mix special dies with regular production dies for a faster turnaround of product-specific production plans.
Die Shop Manager, Özcan Sürücü, added, “In partnering with Nitrex, we (Alugen) have become self-sufficient from an operational point of view, no longer relying on external contractors to fill this work gap. This allows for more effective planning and ensures that all projects, whether big or small, are done on time and on budget. Moreover, I cannot say enough about the technical support we receive from Nitrex and locally from Utku Inan towards improving our heat treating and extrusion operations as well as our product quality. We are extremely satisfied with the performance and results of our Nitrex turnkey system and the expertise provided by Nitrex beyond the sale of the equipment.”
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Unfortunately twice in the past week we have heard about German furnace manufacturers filing for Insolvency. In this case Simplon-Werk in Aue, Germany a supplier of heat treatment systems mainly for the automotive industry recently entered insolvency proceedings. The company will continue under court protection with their current 28 employees and will process all in house orders. From the trustees we have this statement’ “The Simplon plant had experienced a large setback last year due to the failure of a major furnace order from the USA. While the company was able to stabilize things in the first quarter of 2020 the Corona pandemic stopped many hoped for international orders. Sales were down 50-60% at the time the company entered Insolvency.” These photos show some of the systems the company has produced over the years.
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Back in 2018 we ran across a very interesting fellow by the name of Mrinal Nandi who at the time was a metallurgist in India who was looking for a change. Fast forward and today Mrinal is a metallurgist in Australia who is going to tell us a bit about the heat treatment industry in Australia amongst other things.
Mrinal I just gave a very brief summary about your career, perhaps you could tell us how you got into the industry and how you ended up moving from India to Australia.
First of all, I would like to thank TheMonty.com for this opportunity to share my background, work 
One of my professional passions is the automotive sector and I aspired to work in this fast paced, highly competitive industry. That opportunity came with Mahindra Automotive, one of the most reputable organizations in India that manufactures products for the global automotive market. Before moving to Australia I was working with Auto Auxiliary Giant Bosch India Ltd (Bosch Group) as department head- Heat Treatment for 5 years. In 2018, I received and offer I simply could not refuse and moved to Australia under an employer sponsorship program as skills and experience are in high demand for my field.
A few years back I spent some time in Australia for a mixture of business and pleasure. One of the companies I had planned on visiting was your current employer Hofman Engineering, however due to the vastness of the country this did not come to pass. Please share with us some information about Hofman, particularly as it relates to heat treating.
Since 1969 Hofmann Engineering has provided specialist engineering services to Australia’s industry leaders. Quality Assurance accreditation by Lloyds (LRQA) complements total quality culture. Hofmann Engineering is committed to continuous quality improvement which touches every aspect of products, services, and customer support. Hofmann Engineering staff and management alike pursue a single goal – a total focus on quality in every aspect of manufacture, customer service and on time delivery. We believe in continuous improvement and always working at being the engineering and technological leader in our industries. Our individual skills and experience are what underlies our reputation as a totally self-contained engineering company with all resources “under one roof”.
How about processes offered? Do you see any limitations on what is available in Australia?
Hofmann Engineering owns four large factories in Australia as well as factories in North and South America. In Perth, the company headquarters, the company has a large heat treatment operation: Our largest is a carburising furnace with working chamber of 1.9m diameter and 4.8m deep from Aichelin. Other carburising and nitro carburising furnaces are 0.9m diameter x 1.8m deep, 0.6m diameter x 0.8m deep and 2 off 0.3m diameter x 0.6m deep in the form of fluid bed furnaces by quality heat treatment.
The Perth facility also made significant investment into induction hardening with a complete ABB robotic induction hardening cell, 1 off EMA tooth by tooth gear hardener, 1 off large capacity Radyne pin hardener and 2 off variable frequency induction hardeners. We also have a large portable induction hardening unit for re- hardening rope drums in situ. Finally in the heat treatment area we have an assortment of quench and temper, cryogenic, salt bath, draw furnace, blackening and shot blast.
In the fabrication area we have extremely large PWHT and stress-relieve furnaces in the form of a top hat 4.6m diameter x 2m high and a box furnace 14m x 14m x 4m high. Our eastern state factories in Bendigo and Newcastle have specialist PWHT for railway bogies on a large scale among other smaller heat treatment capabilities. One limitation I can see is that manufacturing costs relatively high in Australia due to factors like power, labour and geographically long supply chains. Having said that, Hofmann Engineering competes globally with up to 50% of sales for export.
How would you sum up the future of heat treating both captive and commercial in the country? Do you believe it can look forward to a bright future with steady growth or the opposite?
I believe the future of captive and commercial heat treating in Australia is bright. The reasons are that the current government is launching key policies in defence, resources, power, transport and other sectors as part of the post COVID recovery plan that will stimulate local, in-country manufacturing. It is a great time to realise the potential within Australian manufacturing. In fact Hofmann Engineering will invest in heat treatment equipment in the coming years and upgrade exiting processing units with SCADA monitoring and automated controls.
How about differences in heat treatment processes in India and Australia? I have always thought heat treating is heat treating no matter where you go but you have far more firsthand knowledge than I.
Heat treatment scope in India is vast due to the automotive, agriculture and textile industries. The automotive industry plays a pivotal role in driving the heat treatment market in the country. Various parts and components of an automobile undergo a variety of heat treatment processes, hence, the heat treatment sectors has been fueled by the significant growth in automotive industry.
Secondly, favorable government policies such as Make in India, StartUp India, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and Goods and Services Tax have attracted significant investments from large overseas multi-nationals adding to the demand for heat treatment.
Australian heat treatment industry is far smaller than India’s and a direct comparison between the two countries is difficult. None the less, you are correct in saying that the principles of heat treatment are the same regardless of country and, from my perspective, the only significant differences are in the size and volume of parts processed. This obviously impacts on the equipment and process choice that companies in the two countries must invest in to be competitive.
Seeing as how it is a fairly small market do these pose problems when it comes to equipment suppliers, spare parts or service?
You are correct; we have very limited resources for equipment supply, spare parts and service, and the fact that Perth is the most isolated city in world we have long supply chains to deal with as well. This has driven Hofmann Engineering to become self-reliant in many respects with the ability to perform servicing and upgrades in-house.
This leads to another question, who in Australia does service and support heat treating?
Most of our essential consumables come from NSW and Victoria. Regarding service we have 1 or 2 specialist companies in Western Australia who provide local spares and services for heat treatment furnaces.
On a final note do you expect to see any substantial changes going forward?
As mentioned above, if the government can stimulate manufacturing and allow Australia to realise its’ full manufacturing potential then there are substantial opportunities on the horizon. On a lighter note, there is a great sporting rivalry between India and Australia on the cricket field. I do not see much change there as India will remain the most loved, most supported team in the world!
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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 Alexander 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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According to this press release Canadian furnace builder Can-Eng Furnaces recently started up a 6,000 pound per hour mesh belt furnace line; Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd., recently commissioned a 6,000-pound/hour mesh belt furnace to a supplier of safety-critical automotive fasteners. The system includes a loading system, controlled-atmosphere mesh-belt hardening furnace, oil-quench system, post-quench wash system, mesh-belt tempering furnace, soluble oil system and Can-Eng’s SCADA system.
This is the third mesh belt furnace line the company has announced in 2020. The two others include Gallos Metal Solutions in Milwaukee, WI, USA, and Metex Heat Treat in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and we have included those press releases below;
“September 1/2020; Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd. (CAN-ENG) has recently delivered a high capacity Mesh Belt Heat Treatment Furnace line to Gallos Metal Solutions Inc., Milwaukee, WI (GALLOS). Specializing in continuous mesh belt atmosphere heat treatment, GALLOS selected CAN-ENG to provide a custom engineered continuous atmosphere heat treating system to be used primarily for demanding processing including Carbonitriding and Carburizing, while allowing for neutral heat treatment with a production capacity up to 4000 lb/hr. This furnace line is part of GALLOS’ massive plant expansion and modernization project which has more than doubled the existing plant square footage, increased capacity and added automation.”
“March 23/2020; Metex Heat Treat Orders Mesh Belt Furnace Line. Commercial heat treater Metex Heat Treat in Mississauga, Canada is bucking the trend these days with a major new investment. Just last week the company placed on order a brand new 7200 pound per hour mesh belt furnace line. The gas fired line with oil quenching and state of the art controls will be provided by a Canadian company. Metex is a family owned business founded by the President and owner Mr. Surjit Bawa Metex which has grown to be one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America for fasteners. Currently the company has 7 mesh belt furnace lines ranging in size from 1,000 pounds per hour up to 6,000 pounds per hour with a total capacity of over 300,000 pounds per day AND this is before this newest addition. Interestingly enough the demand for their continuous heat treating is so strong that the company has asked for an expedited delivery. This photo shows one of the lines installed at the plant. It is worth pointing out that second from the left we see Mr. John Vanas, President of Euclid Heat Treat, a very large facility located in Euclid, Ohio, USA.”
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Monday October 12th us Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. Consequently the offices of “The Monty Heat Treat News” will be closed with regular heat treatment news updates resuming Tuesday October 13th.
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Last week furnace builder ECM issued a press release about an ECO furnace, a furnace which they feel is a very interesting alternative to a batch IQ or Sealed quench furnace. The press release caught our attention and we asked Dennis Beauchesne General Manager of ECM USA a few questions-these are his answers.
Dennis in your press release of last week https://themonty.com/launch-of-the-new-eco-furnace-from-ecm-technologies/ you suggested that your “ECO” furnace is a very good alternative to sealed quench (SQ) or integral quench (IQ) furnaces, this leads to an obvious question; could an ECO furnace fit in line with a standard IQ furnace installation? As an example if a captive or commercial heat treater has a row of Surface Combustion Batch IQ furnaces could your system fit in the same system and utilize the same charge car? This leads to another question-what are the working dimensions?
What is the quenching medium? Gas? Oil? Polymer?
ECM has been working extensively on High Pressure Gas Quenching systems since the 80s. What most people don’t know s that we also have a large installed base of oil quenching systems to be able to treat a really large range of alloys. The ECO line is able to provide Gas, or hot or cold Oil quenching media depending on the customers’ applications and the furnace. As for oil quenching, customers have shown a strong interest to eliminate risk of fires – you yourself reported in the Monty several fire accidents in the last few months and along with this technology is the possibility to decrease insurance premiums .The ECO line allows for clean and ergonomic heat treatment, in safe conditions. NO Flames, NO Smoke, NO Soot, NO Endothermic generator, NO Nitrogen Methanol.
Will this type of furnace help heat treaters find and retain personnel to work in the heat treat industry?
As you well know, safety and working environment has become a major factor with finding and retaining personnel and we feel that the ECO will drastically change the working environment for the future. The reduced surface temperature of the equipment, reduced risk of explosions, and the reduced noise levels and less overall risks are significant added benefits for the workers and owners.
Right off the bat I noticed that this is electrically heated and I can understand why (that will be our next question by the way). But what about operating cost? In many parts of North America heat treaters will only consider gas fired furnaces because natural gas is so much cheaper than electricity. Can an electrically heated ECO compete with a gas fired Batch IQ with the same working dimensions?
The target of this furnace is to be competitive not only in Europe or North America, but also in the Asia and Central America markets. We have comparison data showing a significant reduction of cycle time (average 40%) , process gas (average 95%) and energy consumption savings (average 40%).
Electrification is key in other parts of the world. It is becoming more the case also in North and South America. With electric powered furnaces, comes huge gains in safety, reliability and maintainability, these must be considered in the investment along with additional savings which can be had by turning the equipment off during down-time such as weekends and holidays without supervision necessary and readily available within one hour after being turned on. ECO is the TESLA of furnaces.
You make the point that it is electrically heated which means you can substantially reduce CO2 emissions, you say by 80%. However in North America is that a selling point? Although many North Americans support reducing CO2 emissions study after study has shown that we are not concerned enough about CO2 to actually pay to reduce it. Do you think this is a major selling point?
Environmental trends are evolving and younger generations are being educated to show more interest in reducing CO2 emissions even in North America. Rules, laws and restrictions are coming to most areas of all countries that will limit the amount of emissions from every plant with an added cost if those limits are exceeded. These potential additional operating costs should be considered when looking at future equipment expansion. The CO2 emissions are directly linked to the energy and gas consumption, so we do believe this should be a strong selling point as it the ECOlogical performance of this furnace is strongly representative of the ECOnomic performance (and profits) of the heat treaters using this equipment.
Now this is the big question-how does this furnace compare in price to a standard 36” X 48” X 36” batch IQ furnace?
We would love to have this conversation with your readers and review their applications and details and compare. ECO 36” x 48”x 36” has a very good ratio of investment cost vs productivity in $/Lbs./Hr or €/kg/Hr On top of this, quality of the parts, operating environment, process flexibility and integration of the heat treatment processes are improved and safety overall must be considered.
Have you sold or installed any of these furnaces yet?
We already have several smaller ECO furnaces ordered and installed in Europe and the America’s. In our headquarters, the newest model, ECO 36” X 48” X 36” is currently under construction, we plan an Open House event early next year.
Thanks for your time Dennis, I look forward to hearing more about this.
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From time to time we play the “what’s it worth” game about the value of a used heat treat furnace, today we look at quite an unusual item. What we are looking at is an unused horizontal vacuum furnace with working dimensions of 36″ X 48″ X 30″, an operating temperature of 2500F, a diffusion pump, 2 bar quenching (either argon or nitrogen) and a Dry Coolers water cooling system. There is an interesting history behind this furnace, it was built in 2003 for the US government, tested and for reasons unknown to us it was never put into service and has sat in storage ever since then. New this would be $600,000 or $700,000 USD and it is a very desirable item, so what is it worth now?
It is difficult to say and that is partly because of the manufacturer. It was built by IVI Corp., of Pembroke, MA, USA, a long established furnace manufacturer who has been around since 1969. The issue is that IVI is a name that most vacuum heat treaters are not familiar with as the company seems to specialize in other technologies such as Ion Vapor Deposition (we hasten to add that it appears IVI is a top notch supplier just not known for this type of furnace).
The fact that the furnace has sat unused for so long, is a rather unknown brand and that the photo shows the furnace sitting in a field will all have an effect on the sale price (by the way it has been stored inside for all this time, the photo was taken when it was being moved). The vendor has assigned an asking price of $175,000 USD and if this furnace was a better known brand it would probably sell in one day. With a lesser known name our guess would be that it will sell, might just take a bit more time. We will update you down the road.
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Press Quenching (also known as fixture hardening) has long been known as a technology to reduce distortion in parts and is typically found in captive heat treating departments of gear or bearing manufacturers. Today we speak with Mr. Hans-Joachim Wickert, Managing Director of Wickert Maschinenbau one of the leading providers of Press Quenching systems.
Lets start with some background about you and your company. Perhaps you could share with us the history of Wickert, the size of the company and your part in it?
“Wickert was founded in 1901 by Jakob Wickert, who was my grandfather. Originally he made forging presses for horseshoes. His business was located in the town of Landau which at the time was a garrison town which meant a lot of horses for the military which meant a lot of horseshoes. After the 1st World War, the Wickert company, located in the middle of a large wine-growing area, started making wine presses. This production continued until 1945, when it was gradually converted to industrial presses.
Today, Wickert employs 180 people, 25% of whom work in engineering and R & D. From this pool of qualified engineers the company today draws its innovative strength. From a company that only offered press quenches, Wickert has developed into a manufacturer who also offers complete turnkey systems for all aspects of presses. Today I personally take care of the sale of hardening systems and hardening presses and am the technical manager for the company.”
When I think about Wickert I think of press quenches but I realize that is probably unfair as the press quench is only a small part of what you have to offer. It would probably be more fair to say that you offer complete heat treatment solutions with press quenching being one part of a complete system. What would a typical Wickert Heat Treatment system look like and consist of?
If required, deep-freezing stations can also be integrated into the production process for the complete conversion of residual austenite. All components of the system are incorporated into the Wickert control system. This would include part tracking, process data, datalogging and complete control of the entire system. Interfaces to the customer’s own computer systems are programmed according to customer specifications. Statistical process control enables the customer to set his individual test levels. Wickert thus supplies turn-key systems for component hardening in gear manufacturing with the corresponding planning and deadline tracking capacities.”
Do you manufacture everything? For instance do you build the automation, furnace and associated equipment or do you partner with other companies?
“In order to be able to offer complete systems, we always purchase additional furnaces, blasting machines etc., or the customer provides them and we integrate them into our system control. At the end of the day Wickert provides the total design and is responsible for co ordinating all mechanical and electrical interfaces, start up and project management.
All automation including handling and loading of parts are designed and manufactured by Wickert. In addition Wickert designs and builds the washing systems, press quench itself and oil return system. It would be fair to say that a complete system is designed and built by Wickert, with some components coming from outside suppliers.”
At this point lets talk about press quenching in some detail. Press quenching is a very high end process and not something that most heat treaters run across on a daily basis. Why would a manufacturer consider this process and what are the most common applications? As an example are you going to see your equipment in automotive transmission applications or would it be more common to see a Wickert system in a bearing facility?
“Lets look at manufacturers of gearboxes and bearings as an example. Manufacturers of gearboxes know that the service life of a gearbox depends upon the precision of each individual component. In addition the efficiency and associated fuel savings also depend upon the precision of each part. The same holds true for bearings, precision is crucial to reducing friction and also reducing weight while maintaining the same performance. In this age of ever more powerful, lighter and environmentally friendly drives, process-safe precision in particular plays an increasingly important role for each component.
To achieve this precision, the parts are hard machined after hardening. As hard machining is expensive, the aim is to reduce this as much as possible. This is made possible by reducing the distortion of the components during hardening to a minimum. The avoidance of distortion results in a reduction of the hardening depth in addition to the reduction of hard machining. All in all, this is also a contribution to a more climate-friendly production of these components. This is why press quenching is so popular in the bearing and gearbox industries-we are able to reduce distortion which reduces hard machining.
The most common method used in gear manufacturing is the so-called mandrel hardening. With this method, the component is shrunk onto a fixed mandrel and thus maintains its roundness and cylindricity. At the same time, hydraulic hold-down devices such as press quenching act on the component to ensure the axial run-out of the component.”
If distortion is the main reason to use press quenching the next obvious question then is what sort of distortion levels can you achieve?
“While most people think of reducing distortion as the main advantage of press quenching this is not entirely true-metallurgy is also a very large factor. Press quenching can create a homogeneous microstructure property in the part by a targeted flow of the quenching medium to the component. This is of enormous importance, especially in the case of mechanical stress and/or wear resistance.”
What are the largest and smallest parts you have ever processed?
“The largest parts that we have hardened in a press quench so far have a diameter of 1 m (3’) and a weight of up to 75 kg (165 pounds). The lightest part, on the other hand, weighed only a few 100 grams. When it comes to an entire press hardening system, the largest components measured 1300 x 1400mm (51” X 55”) and had a sheet thickness of up to 150mm (6”)with a component weight of more than 100kg (220 pounds).”
We have spoken about your systems, where they are likely to be found and why a manufacturer would invest in the technology, now lets switch gears slightly and look at the overall market. Would you care to hazard a guess as to how many systems using press quenching are in operation around the world?
“This question is very difficult to answer, as there is a very wide range of applications for press quenching. Therefore, the question cannot be answered in general. But I would guess that there are several thousand systems in operation worldwide, if you include all types and styles of press quench machines.”
Is this a growing market? There are a number of processes available which claim to be able to significantly reduce distortion, bearing that in mind is press quenching growing in popularity?
“The press quenching business is not a growing market, at least not currently. This is not because of press quenching technology, rather a changing market. Largely this is because drive technology is moving away from the internal combustion engine and more and more towards electric drive. Nevertheless, we believe that our systems offer technological advantages over other technologies and that we have the right solutions in the drawer, especially for recording all process parameters in the sense of Industry 4.0.”
Where are the markets for your technology geographically? Being based in Germany I would assume your largest market is in Europe, but beyond that do you do much in Asia or North America? I know that recently we had a press release about a new sales office in the US which caught our attention.
“Yes that’s correct. The European market is the most important market for Wickert next to North America. Especially in America we see a good chance for Wickert to sell more press quench presses and press quenching systems. Therefore we have established a new sales office in Hebron, Kentucky. Our sales manager, Matthew Stachel has been active since January 2020. He is supported by a very experienced service technician who takes care of the after sales service of our machines.”
There are a lot of challenges in the world these days ranging from COVID 19 to growing protectionism to shifting markets. As Managing Director of an international company what do you see as your greatest challenge these days?
“As managing director of a family-owned company, you have to think long term. That is why Wickert is using this period of slower economic development to push ahead with its own technological developments and innovations. By advancing our technology now we will be able to help our customers in the future. In spite of the current political climate I don’t believe that protectionism will hinder us in the future. On the contrary, I think that volatile markets will demand much more flexibility and as a medium-sized enterprise, we can demonstrate this flexibility very well.”
What has 2020 been like for Wickert in terms of sales? Good? Bad? Indiffirent? And what would your prediction for 2021 be?
“In terms of new orders 2020 has been weaker than 2018 and 2019. Having said that Wickert has a very broad base and supplies presses and lines to many different industries. This broad base has so far helped us through the crisis. While it is very difficult to make a forecast for 2021, we are preparing for another weak year.”
Hans-Joachim I appreciate your time today and look forward to a time when we can sit down together and talk in more detail.
“Finally, I would like to thank you, Gord, for giving me the opportunity to report on Wickert Maschinenbau GmbH.”
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Hector Ibarra has been involved in both captive and commercial heating in Mexico and the USA, most recently he worked with ALD Thermal Treatment, one of the largest commercial vacuum carburizing companies in the world. In this article he talks about the differences between heat treating in the two countries and in the process he puts some myths to rest.
My cross-border heat treatment experience. By: Hector A. Ibarra.
Safety. There is really not a lot of difference between working in the USA and Mexico, even though each country has its own set of government agencies, they usually follow the same guidelines. As we know OSHA is the leading standard in the USA and you will find very similar requirements in Mexico. Most international companies will follow the same tracking to compare performance across its facilities, most will track incidents, non-lost time accident and lost time accidents.
Companies will always put safety as their number one priority and prevention is equally important in each country. I have not observed any difference in people’s behavior and the leaders have to lead by example, being aware that workers will test the boundaries to see how far they can go without getting in trouble (Ex: not wearing safety glasses all the time, not wearing ear plugs, etc.). I have always believed that your minimum expectation is the maximum you will receive, as an example: if you walk by someone and you do not notice or mention to them to properly use their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), then you are allowing this bad behavior to continue, there is generally, no difference between countries. Regarding the Company security please be aware that in Mexico you will be more likely to have a company providing protection services than in the USA. (editors note; we have always found security to be more strict in Mexico than in the USA).
Quality. Since all companies follow the same standards if you are a supplier of automotive or aerospace industries, there are international standards that have to be followed, CQI-9 and NADCAP are the obvious examples. My personal experience is that both countries have similar implementation and maintenance on their quality systems.
Moral. This is where is starts to get interesting and where the same approach will not work. What I learned is that people are motivated differently in each country and sometimes you will find major differences between regions of the same country. The first major difference is that religion has been almost fully removed from the workplace in the United States. In my experience in the USA religion is a topic that you do not talk about it, everyone has their own religion and people respect each other without really talking about it. In Mexico, religion is quite often a part of the culture of the Company, for example there are several festivities that that would never be held in a US manufacturing facility but which are regularly held in Mexican facilities. For example in Mexico we have the Virgin of Guadalupe celebration, Day of the Dead celebration, etc., and for these occasions you will very likely have an event inside your Company where all of the employees participate-this is part of the culture and this is something which foreigeners find different.
People in Mexico are very family oriented so it is very likely you will find several people from the same family working inside the same company. I think in the USA you will have something similar but not as strong as it is presented in Mexican culture. People inside the plant in Mexico perform better then they feel they are part of the “Company Familia”. If you can build a family friendly environment you will see tremendous results. What I have seen is that in both countries people are looking for respect, to be treated fairly and to feel they belong.
Another thing you will find in Mexico is that most of the salaried people will have degrees sometimes bachelor, masters or above, there are a lot more opportunities for education in Mexico. In Mexico it is unusual to find individuals in higher positions who worked their way up the Corporate ladder based upon their hands on experience. In the US though it is quite common to find people who do not have a college degree but who worked their way up by learning skills and gaining experience on the floor. I believe both are very good for the heat treatment industry
Costs. As we know there has been a lot of talk about the cost difference between manufacturing in Mexico vs the USA. I would say the main difference will be in the hourly wages, but be aware that if your company is very technically advanced then your costs may be almost the same to produce in the USA as in Mexico. For example: if you are maintaining your equipment and want to do the right thing which is to use original OEM spare parts, this will likely be more expensive in Mexico than in the USA-this is mainly due to importation costs and also availability in the local market. This is improving every year, but I still believe that in the USA you have a better chance of getting parts for your high-tech furnaces at a cheaper price (of course maintaining the same quality) than in Mexico.
Salaries for Salary personnel will not be that much different between the countries, plan for your upper management salaries to be almost the same in both countries. In Mexico by the way plan on paying 12 months plus 1 month to cover the other benefits while in the USA it is a straight 12-month salary (bonus would be the same proportion in both countries). Be aware that Mexican currency fluctuates a lot more than the dollar or the euro, so you will have to account every month for the gains or losses due to this high value variation.
Delivery. As we know heat treatment is a service and transportation always needs to be considered so location will always be one of the reasons why companies are setting up facilities in a close range to their customer. In Mexico this is a very critical point to consider because as you may know the infrastructure is not comparable to the USA. This means the risk of damaged parts or late delivery is greater if not planned correctly.
I hope these are similar experiences for people who had the opportunity to work in both countries and hope it provides a small introduction into what to expect when running business on both sides of the MX/USA border. I want to thank to the Companies who offer me these opportunities during my professional life in the heat treatment and outside the heat treatment industry.
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