Last year Gord and Dale Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited Cuba in a desperate hunt to find a heat treating facility in this Caribbean country. Alas we were unable to find one although we did hear rumors about an installation.

“Isoflama is a special Partner, because they were the first customer from the Brazilian market to trust SECO/WARWICK. Today, they have several of our solutions in production, and a new one has just been ordered. The customer wanted to shorten the heat treatment cycle time. We have used a number of modifications in this furnace, which are a response to the commercial heat-treating plant’s specific needs. By expanding their machinery park, Isoflama will be able to shorten the heat treatment waiting times for its current and future customers,” – commented Maciej Korecki, Vice President of the Vacuum Segment at SECO/WARWICK Group.

Over the years the team at “The Monty Heat Treat News” has visited literally hundreds of captive and commercial heat treats around the globe and we are constantly asked: “Does heat treatment differ much around the world”? The answer is that except for small differences heat treating is heat treating every where in the world. Granted Europe has more Plasma Nitriding and vacuum furnaces than most other areas around the world and granted that North America certainly has more oil quenching than Europe but again these are small differences. 

While there are similar systems in North America, they are few and far between. We can only assume that because of more limited space in Europe it makes sense to have a storage system with a more compact footprint.

“The result of technological tests carried out in a service hardening plant that the customer was acquainted with … convinced voestalpine Fastening Systems that we would meet the high requirements of the contract. The line is configured in such a way that if the volume of the company products decreases, the customer can also offer commercial processing due to the wide technological spectrum of this main furnace unit,” said Mariusz Raszewski, deputy director of the Aluminum Process and CAB Furnaces Team at SECO/WARWICK.

“The universal furnace solution will allow [the client] to process various parts in various configurations. Apart from technological parameters, it is important for us to limit processed part deformations, which is possible with the solution on order,” said Mariusz Fogtman, chief operating officer, voestalpine Fastening Systems Sp. z o. o.”

• Total commercial heat treat sales for 2025 are expected to be approximately $3 Billion USD
• There are approximately 550 commercial heat treat plants in North America
• Rankings are based upon anticipated sales for the calendar year of 2025. This would include heat treat sales and also other complimentary processes such as shotblasting, coatings and black oxide.
• Roughly 8 commercial heat treaters in North America have closed in the past 10 months
• All sales figures are in USD even for companies in Canada and Mexico.
• We are always asked where the information for our rankings comes from, a very fair question. The largest on our list, “Bodycote” is a publicly traded company and sales figure are freely available, this is also the case with the second largest on our list “Aalberts Surface Technologies”. “Solar Atmospheres”, #3 on our list, is very open and freely gave us their sales figures. Most of the other companies on this list did share sales figures with us on the basis that they not be repeated, a very reasonable request. Further verification came from knowing the number of locations, the physical size of each, number of employees and the processes each offers.
• The vast bulk of companies on this list are privately held which means exact sales figures can be difficult to find. So, while we are quite proud of our efforts and consider this list to be the most accurate available anywhere, we do not for a second claim that it is 100% correct. 
• Over the years some readers have pointed out that our rankings are not always in line with “MTI” figures (Metal Treating Institute is the largest organization of commercial heat treaters in North America and they rank their members in each geographic region). While there are several reasons for this, the main was is that not all commercial heat treaters belong to MTI. 
• We see a number of changes from our 2024.  For instance, the third largest commercial heat treater on our list in 2024 was family owned “Paulo”. It was announced at the end of 2024 that the firm would be acquired by “Aalberts Surface Technologies”, a transaction scheduled to take place shortly. For that reason, we have removed Paulo from our list. Another company on our list in 2024 was “Thermal Vac Technologies” of Orange, CA, USA this company was also acquired by another firm and has been removed from our list. 
• Very unfortunately “American Steel Treating” of Perrysburg, Ohio, USA has been removed from our list after announcing they were closing April 1 of this year. 
• We appreciate all the help and guidance everybody provided us with and we welcome your thoughts and comments.

The hottest topic in the world these days and by extension the hottest topic in the heat treat industry is tariffs. How are they affecting the industry-Mark Hemsath, President, Nitrex / UPC-Marathon / G-M Enterprises offers these thoughts; 

1. Increased Production Costs:
2. Supply Chain Disruptions:
3. Market Access Limitations: Retaliatory tariffs from other countries can restrict access to key markets

Strategic Advantages for us due to Tariffs:

1. Diversified Manufacturing Footprint: With facilities in Europe, the U.S., and China, we can adjust, but it takes time, money and lots of effort .
2. Supply Chain Flexibility: We buy from multiple sources in many countries
3. Proximity to Key Markets: We have always been close to our key markets with a global strategy.​

As the leader at Nitrex/UPC-Marathon, I will be losing more sleep trying to navigate all this and, to be honest, this will certainly hurt many in the short run. Mark Hemsath, President, Nitrex / UPC-Marathon / G-M Enterprises.”

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For years-22 to be exact Mr. Tony Schaut worked with commercial heat treater Bodycote in Upstate NY. The bulk of that time was with the Rochester NY facility; however he ended up as Senior General Manage overseeing both the Syracuse and Rochester locations-the Rochester location was eventually closed. Subsequent to that he parted ways with the company.

Founded in 1951 “AMAC Enterprises Inc.” is part of a very rare breed, a firm which offers heat treating, phosphating, packaging and electroplating of fasteners and stampings-all in one location. As a matter of fact it is such a rare breed that we know of only one other company in North America which has this ability. 

105,000 gallon quench tank. Julian & Philip Reese

Reese has 300 employees in 4 locations, the headquarters is in Bochum, Germany (which “The Monty” visited) with two facilities in eastern Germany largely involved in the auto industry and a fourth plant in southern Germany catering to the tool and die industry.

The centerpiece of the gear heat treatment department is a gas fired pit furnace with working dimensions of 5 meters in diameter and 5.5 meters deep (approximately 15’ X 16.5’ deep), working in conjunction with this system is a 400,000 litre quench tank 21’ in diameter and 21’ deep and pit temper units. Weight capacity is over 100,000 pounds. While this is the largest furnace Reese also has other pit furnaces capable of handling shafts up to 18’ long.

While the Bochum plant is best known for the size of their pit furnaces their induction heat treat is comparably impressive and able to handle shafts up to 11 meters (33’) in length. Currently the company is investing in a brand new Induction facility which will be located in a new adjacent building, when finished in 2 years this will be in total a 20 million Euro investment. Also in the works is a new induction facility in eastern Germany slated for January of 2025.

These photos don’t really do justice to the size of the pit carburizing facility but they at least give you an idea about how very large gears are heat treated.

Gord Montgomery, Julian & Philip Reese, Jordan Montgomery

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