“Over the summer, Bodycote opened a new facility on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham to support the aerospace and power generation markets in the UK and Europe. The move followed a contract win with Rolls-Royce’s Civil Aerospace business that is expected to be worth over £160m in incremental revenues over the 15-year period. Sales will ramp up over the next five years. Rolls-Royce also has a manufacturing facility on the AMP. For the four month period October 31 2018, Bodycote reported group revenue of £243.5m, 5% higher than the comparative period last year. Civil aerospace revenues grew strongly at 14% compared to the same period last year, with North America and Western Europe both registering good growth. The Macclesfield-headquartered firm said that this reflects increasing output for the LEAP program (work for Safran Aircraft Engines) and “an easing in the OEM supply chain bottlenecks for Titanium castings.” Bodycote is featured in the latest issue of Manufacturing Today. On the Rolls-Royce deal. Stephen Harris, CEO at Bodycote, told the publication: “As it is a sole source contract we are operating under, meaning that we are Rolls-Royce’s only supplier for thermal processing on particular components, we have to meet certain standards, in terms of capacity. In order to achieve that, we opened our latest UK facility in July 2018, in the Advanced Manufacturing Park, in Rotherham, where we offer numerous heat treatment processes, the principal ones being HIP and vacuum heat treatment. “The good news is that we have already started expanding the new site, shortly after we built it. Rolls-Royce is not the only customer available to us; we are looking to support other clients, too, but at the moment, Rolls-Royce is especially demanding for our services, which is helping the Rotherham factory grow very fast.” The most advanced turbine blade casting facility in the world was officially opened by Rolls-Royce in Rotherham in 2014. The 150,000 sq ft facility employs around 150 people and has the capacity to manufacture more than 100,000 single crystal turbine blades a year.”

Earlier this week we had a photo from the recent Heat Treat Seminar in Querétaro, México. As a follow up to that we have two more photos. In the first one we see from the left Esteban Aguilar Garcia of comercial Heat treater Crio, Steve Thompson of SSI looking very happy about something although we are not sure what and Carlos Torres of Mattsa Crio. In the second photo the only person we are sure of is Carlos Torres Senior of Mattsa Crio.

“November 28, 2018 – Thermal Process Holdings, Inc. (“TPH”) is pleased to announce its acquisition of Hudapack Metal Treating, Inc. (“Hudapack”), which owns and operates heat treat facilities in Elkhorn and Franklin Wisconsin.  Hudapack, co-founded by Gary Huss, Charles Davis, and Earl Pack, represents the third investment in our strategy to build a leading thermal processing company focused on value-added services.  Central to this strategy is identifying and bringing together leading businesses that share a focus on world-class safety, quality, service, and advanced technology.  John Hubbard, Chairman of TPH, said: “We are excited to announce the third acquisition in our strategy to build a best-in-class company that offers a range of advanced services. I have known and respected Gary Huss for over 30 years and am appreciative that he has entrusted us with the two businesses he has successfully built.  I am also pleased that Greg Huss has agreed to become the General Manager of both Elkhorn and Franklin and look forward to working with him as we seek to grow Hudapack.” Gary Huss, co-founder and President of Hudapack, remarked: “We began operations in 1985 and have been more successful than I ever imagined.  When making the difficult decision to sell the business and retire, an important consideration was finding a buyer who would ensure the continued success of the business and provide opportunities for the Hudapack employees.  I am confident that John Hubbard and the TPH team will carry out those objectives. I am also delighted that Greg will become GM of both locations. He has spent his career in the business and this transition provides an exciting leadership opportunity for him.”  

ABOUT THERMAL PROCESS HOLDINGS, INC. Thermal Process Holdings was formed by Calvert Street Capital Partners and John Hubbard (former CEO of Bodycote, PLC) to pursue a buy-and-build strategy in the thermal processing industry.  The team has a stated goal to build a diversified, professionally-managed thermal processing business generating over $100 million of revenue.  TPH also owns and operates Diamond Heat Treat, based in Rockford, IL and Certified Heat Treating, based in Springfield, OH.  TPH is actively seeking other addon acquisition opportunities.

ABOUT CALVERT STREET Calvert Street Capital Partners is a Baltimore, Maryland-based private equity firm with a focus on investing in industrial service businesses in the lower middle-market.  Since its inception in 1995, Calvert Street has partnered with skilled management teams of privately held businesses to drive profitable growth and organizational transformation.  TPH builds upon Calvert Street’s experience in other high-value add industrial sectors, including testing and inspection and precision machining. For more information, please go to www.cscp.com.”

Business is good in the industry these days which means a shortage of used furnaces which translates into prices edging up but this is taking it to an extreme! Just yesterday we were offered this batch IQ furnace for $59,000 USD as is/where is but loaded on to a truck (the vendor stressed that as though this was a great selling feature). When we suggested that this was overpriced the response was that there was some room for negotiation.

$59,000? This piece of junk isn’t worth $59.00 much less $59,000. After 40 years in this business this has to be the most ridiculous asking price we have ever run across. It is tempting to publicly shame the vendor by mentioning his name but we will refrain from that. I guess at the end of the day it is kind of funny but it still offends us as it is so out of touch.

Besides offering Captive and Commercial heat treaters around the world the latest news and trends in the industry “The Monty” offers so much more. For instance our interviews page https://themonty.com/interviews/ offers almost 50 interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry. Rich Ott of Linamar Gear one of the largest captive heat treaters in the world is included as are Mr. Stephen Harris, CEO of heat treating giant Bodycote, Pat Toruk of controls company UPC, Pat McKenna of Ipsen and a host of others. Interested in what Commercial Heat Treaters or Employees at Furnace Manufacturing companies get paid-we would suggest clicking on the “Articles” button on the top of the page and while you are at it find out who the Largest Commercial and Captive Heat Treaters in North America are.

If you are looking to Buy/Sell Used Heat Treating Equipment you have come to the right spot-click on the Used Equipment button on the top of this page for one of the most complete lists of used furnaces in North America. If a Free Appraisal of your surplus furnace (s) is of interest feel free to use our contact form. Looking to Hire? That would be the Employment button at the top of this page where you will also find a spot where you can post your resume for free! In short after almost 50 years in business WG Montgomery Ltd., parent company of “The Monty” can help you with pretty well anything to do with heat treating.

This rather interesting article tells us about another company, Contour Hardening in this case adding gas nitriding. We honestly don’t know who the supplier is but there is only a handful of US companies that offer new gas nitriding furnaces.

“Contour is excited to announce the purchase of a gas nitride unit from a major U.S. furnace manufacture.  This strategic purchase will help Contour expand their offerings in the automotive sector and expand deeper into the aerospace market.  Contour will install the first unit at its Global Headquarters in Indianapolis, IN USA late spring 2019.  Since its founding in 1986, Contour has both, manufactured induction heat treat systems, as well as, offered commercial induction processing services for industry partners around the globe. The purchase of a gas nitride unit allows Contour to expand services focusing on distortion critical, complex parts for clients.  With the addition of nitriding, it allows increased offerings to solve complex parts demanding dimensional control through engineered processes. 

“Innovation is what Contour was built on, today is no different. Our customers rely on Contour’s controlled heat-treatment  processes, 100% hardness verification and dimensional inspections.  Our goal is to drive out part variation and provide a repeatable dimensionally accurate part.” stated Director-Heat Treat, Neil Merrell. “We have an extremely deep and talented bench of in-house engineering and metallurgical teams, and they couldn’t be more excited about Contour’s entry into the Gas Nitride market. For several years, Contour has planned having a more significant presence in the aerospace, agricultural, heavy truck and light automotive industries. The purchase of this gas nitride unit will allow us to do just that and complement our induction and dimensional services.” stated Contour CEO and President, Ben Crawford.

With locations in Indianapolis, Indiana USA, and Silao, Mexico, Contour is a recognized global leader in induction hardening process services and the manufacture of custom heat treat processing machines to companies on a global scale. Crawford added, “We plan to make Gas Nitriding capabilities available to our clients at our Silao, Mexico plant in the near future. We are committed to offering innovative thermal heat treat solutions to our clients globally and this investment is proof of our commitment.”. ABOUT CONTOUR Contour (www.contourhardening.com) is a full service induction hardening system manufacturer, specializing in induction hardening systems, contract processing, and application development work. The company was founded in 1986 and brings more than 30 years of industry leading research and innovation in the discipline of heat treat techniques and processes.”

“Hauck Heat Treatment has added further Vacuum heat treatment capacity to its range of Aerospace furnaces at the Letchworth site in Hertfordshire, UK. The high vacuum, high pressure quench furnace increases the total capacity offered on site at >30% by volume and >35% by weight and also increases the previous maximum working dimensions to directly support some specific Aerospace projects. Additionally, growth in the on-site hot isostatic presses (HIP) due to the high demand from additive layer manufacturing (ALM) parts means that faster throughput can be achieved. This will be of particular interest to “fast make” services where a speedy and flexible HIP & Heat Treat in one location creates many saved hours of advantage for the customer.”

We can’t recall anybody ever sending us a complete summary of their life in the Heat Treatment Industry so this marks a first and makes for interesting reading.

“After completing his metallurgical engineering degree with first class holding first rank, in December 1968 he joined one of the giant industries in India known as TATA STEEL INDUSTRIES as a trainee engineer in metallurgical department and began his career in the area of heat treatment and metallurgical testing.  After working for TATA STEEL INDUSTRIES for 5 years, he worked for one of the giant industries known as BIRLA GROUP carrying more responsibilities as a manager. In India during 1968-1992, he worked for TATA GROUP of industry, BIRLA GROUP of industry and FAG BEARINGS manufacturing facility and earned high respect as a very competent engineer/manager.

In August 1992, Ismail migrated to Canada and got himself registered as a professional engineer and earned a title of P. Eng. from Professional Engineer Ontario, Canada.  P. Eng. is the highest title awarded to recognized engineers in Canada by PEO and Canadian Council of Professional Engineer (CCPE), Canada. During 1972-2007, he worked for GABRIEL SHOCKS (ARVIN RIDE CONTROL), MAGNA INDUSTRIES, LISI AUTOMOTIVES and two commercial heat treatment facilities known as A & M Heat Treating Limited and HUQ Heat Treating Limited as a Chief Metallurgist.  While working in Canada during 1992-2007, he earned recognition from his employers and kept growing in his position carrying more responsibilities.

In November 2007, he moved to USA under work visa and joined RAMPF Mold industries, Inc in Hagerstown, MD as a Chief Metallurgist. RAMPF wanted to expand and add heat treatment facility to their new building.   Before Ismail joined RAMPF Mold – Hagerstown, MD, he went to RAMPF-Germany and trained their heat treatment department engineers for quality heat treatment and gained very high recognition for bringing  lots of improvement, minimizing distortion and improving  their quality.   Since November 2007 as on today, he has worked for RAMPF MOLD, Inc, MD USA (Germany base Company), and Dayton Lamina Inc.  OH USA (MISUMI Japan base company) and currently with ALD Thermal Treatment Inc. MI USA (ALD Germany base company) in the capacity of a CHIEF METALLURGIST and earned recognition as a most competent metallurgist in the area of Thermal Treatment, Research and Development, Product Development, Process Development, Quality Systems and Technical Sales and Marketing.

Today in December 2018, he is completing his journey of 50 years as a metallurgist and entering in 51st year as he would like to keep working and passing his experience and expertise to others in the above area. He expects blessing from all of his well-wishers, friends and family. His contact email is [email protected] and mobile 810-824-7003.

We have always had a real affinity to Brazil and have gotten to know a number of the captive and commercial heat treaters in the country. However as many people know the economy is not good and heat treaters are of course suffering also. Sergio Luiz Figueirego who has long worked as a heat treat rep through his firm Metaltech is unfortunately calling it a day;  “I’m closing Metaltech due to the Brazilian economic situation. Several companies and Commercial Heat Treaters have shut down in the last few years. Too many automobiles parts are imported nowadays. I’m selling my inventory and will work more as a consultant and having the Customer importing the products.” Commercial heat treater Metex Heat Treat in Canada is pretty proud of all of the investments they have made in 2018. These included a brand new AFC-Holcroft batch IQ furnace with working dimensions of 36″ X 48″ X 36″, a 3500 pound per hour Can Eng mesh belt line and a really cool SAET automated induction system. This is combined with the fact that they added a fourth facility this year to house all of the new equipment.

So how are we doing these days? According to MTI (Metal Treating Institute) commercial heat treaters are doing darn well in North America which will be no surprise to anybody. 2018 was an excellent year with most months showing double digit growth over the course of the year and this is expected to continue right through the first quarter of 2019. At this point forecasts have things slowing down a bit but nothing really bad on the horizon. Vacuum furnace builder Solar Manufacturing has this update about their new building; “The construction site in Sellersville, PA for Solar Manufacturing’s new building is well under way. The new 57,500 square foot building is dedicated to vacuum furnace manufacturing. As can be seen in the picture, the four bridge cranes are in place, the full plant and office roof is complete, and much of the concrete floor poured. The $8 million plus construction project is being financed through Univest Bank and Trust Co. of Souderton, PA. The general contractor is Gorski Engineering. The project site, Sellersville Business Campus, was developed by the Bucks County Development Authority.”

A company by the name of Flowserve US Inc., is closing their facility in Clarks Summit, USA with the equipment being auctioned off over the next couple of weeks. We mention it because included are a couple of ovens which are nothing fancy but which appear to be in half decent shape. Out in the Los Angeles, California, USA area we see that the relatively new Heat Treatment Australia facility continues to grow with the very recent addition of this SECO/WARWICK vacuum brazing furnace. We expect that we will have more announcement about equipment additions to this facility in the future.

Thermal Product Solutions sent us this press release about a truck-in-oven the company recently shipped. “Thermal Product Solutions Ships Gruenberg Truck-in-Oven to the Oil and Gas Industry. Thermal Product Solutions, a global manufacturer of thermal-processing equipment, announced the shipment of a Gruenberg truck-in-oven to the oil and gas industry. The truck in oven will be used to test parts used for downhole drilling in the oil and gas industry. If you would like more information on this topic, please contact Andrea Strand at (262) 248-0288 or [email protected]. .”

To round things out we have this from Mexico. Last week industry suppliers MATTSA, CRIO, AFC-Holcroft, and SSI hosted Expos Termicos in Queretaro, Mexico. This is an event which is held every two years and includes sponsors such as oil fluid suppliers and lab equipment providers. According to Carlos Torres of MATTSA/CRIO they wanted to create an event which provides education and value to the Heat treat community in Mexico.  As Carlos explained “we have noticed that there are many new show or expos in Mexico where the organizers just want to make money on sponsors and that there not many heat treat users at these events, just a bunch of suppliers looking at one another. We include panels and conferences regarding new trends in the market and we really try to focus on added value conferences and not a sales presentation. We brought speakers from high end automotive auditors,  heat treat plant mangers who run multiple facilities with different types of heat treat process even university metallurgy professors. It was a real success this year with over 200 heat treaters from around Mexico attending.” 

November 20th 2018 we speculated on this page that Bennett Heat Treat headquartered in NJ, USA and founded in 1923 might be the oldest commercial heat treater in North America at 95 years. A few readers chimed in suggesting Robert Wooler Company which was also founded in 1923 and Metlab which was founded in 1928. However to date the oldest that we have run across is Commercial Steel Treating Company in Michigan started in 1916 by Anthony and Ralph Hoensheid. Scott Hoensheid sent us this timeline.