Medical Supplier Backtracks on In House Heat Treatment. John Hammil Company in Maumee, Ohio appears to be a very well-respected supplier to the medical industry. The firm originally planned on adding heat treating to their many capabilities which lead to investment in a vacuum furnace. After the furnace was largely installed the decision was made that this was not a road the company wanted to go down. As a result the furnace was sold to a USA west coast heat treater.
Italian Furnace Builders Completes Impressive Install. Recently “Gord Montgomery” of “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited Italian furnace builder “Meapforni” in Fontanafredda, Italy. Amongst the many things we learned during our visit was that the company recently installed a mesh belt furnace line capable of 750 Kg per hour (roughly 2,000 pounds per hour) at “Colombo Special Fasteners” in Cisano Bergamasco, Italy. “Colombo” is a family owned supplier of various types of fasteners-these photos show the installed line.
Ontario Commercial Heat Treater Poised for Another Acquisition? Rumor has it that a commercial heat treater based in Ontario, Canada who has made two acquisitions recently is poised to make another one next week. We will keep you posted.
As it turns out the rumors were correct and we can now provide some details. Roughly 20 years ago the Cuban government realized that they needed heat treatment capacity to support some government “initiatives”-they turned to Italian furnace builder CIEFFE, one of the largest furnace builders in Italy for assistance.
The end result was that the company provided a complete and varied heat treat department which consists of a small batch IQ line with working dimensions of 24″ x 36″ x 24″, a nitriding system and a vacuum furnace. All of the furnaces continue to be in operation and CIEFFE provides support as required.
So in answer to the trivia question “Is there any heat treating in Cuba”? The answer is yes, a grand total of one captive heat treat installation.
The one photo included here shows a typical CIEFFE batch IQ installation although certainly larger in size than the Cuba installation.
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Furnace controls company SSi of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA has always strongly believed in the value of hosting small, one day technical seminars all around North America-hence our term “Travelling Road Show”. These seminars typically attract from 20 to 60 attendees from both captive and commercial heat treaters and the topics covered include; atmosphere troubleshooting, NADCAP certification, CQI-9 requirements, and the various technologies available to control heat treatment furnaces.
The most recent seminar was held in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Wednesday April 9th and as usual it attracted a real mixture of individuals involved in the heat treatment industry.
In this photo you see part of the group, in the forefront you see Mr. Steve Duban of SSi speaking during the presentation.
The information presented was concise and informative but the best thing? A group of heat treat professionals gathering for a relaxed get together- priceless.
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Today we go to Brazil for a news item about a commercial heat treater adding a new vacuum furnace-read on;
“Isoflama is expanding its hardening plant and has ordered a new and modern Vector vacuum furnace, which will be connected to the superior production system, significantly streamlining the cycle and improving the Brazilian Partner’s logistics.
The furnace on order by the commercial heat treater – Isoflama solves the customer’s problem with implementing the plan to introduce an innovative heat treatment strategy to process large dies for the automotive industry presses hardening processes in its production. The Vector vacuum furnace is equipped with an efficient cooling system and a large working zone with increased load support beam capacity. This construction enables Isoflama to carry out processes on very large and heavy dies.
About Isoflama; Isoflama has been operating on the Brazilian market since 2006. The first furnace to operate in the modern hall was a vacuum solution with a maximum cooling pressure of 12 bar from SECO/WARWICK. Over the course of ten years, Isoflama has expanded, acquiring new solutions for metal heat treatment. Today, Isoflama has a large machine park which makes it one of the most efficient and versatile commercial heat treaters in Brazil.”
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A recent tour of heat treats in Italy and Slovenia revealed another difference that we had never noticed before-automated storing and loading of “fixtured loads” (by fixtured loads we mean a base tray, fixturing and parts ready for loading into either a continuous furnace or batch furnace).
In Europe it is quite common to see racks capable of holding several hundred complete fixtured loads-these racks can be 20′ high and 100′ long. They are generally completely fenced in with access only allowed with a key and all handling of the loads is with an automated loader. It is fascinating to see how apparently seamlessly the system works.
In these photos you see 3 examples, one at commercial heat treater “SHU” in Ulm, Germany (the largest single location commercial heat treater in the world), one at captive heat treater “SIAP Gears” in Italy and a third at commercial heat treater “Gruppo HERA” again in Italy which is in line with two roller hearth furnace lines.
Again these systems are very impressive-we can only assume that pricing for these systems reflects this.
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“voestalpine Fastening Systems” a supplier to the railway industry, is adding hardening capacity of steel parts with a technological line consisting of multiple furnaces and washers. The process will be carried out in a protected nitrogen atmosphere with temperatures up to 1742°F (950°C) on parts to be used in railway rolling stock.
The line on order from SECO/WARWICK consists of two “CaseMaster” furnaces, three tempering furnaces, and two washers. In addition, the railway supplier will have an electric chamber, a cooling station, and an endothermic atmosphere generator delivered.
The technological line will include a loader operating in automatic mode, a set of roller tables, and a closed-loop water system. The number of the supplied technological line units is selected to ensure the quality of manufactured components. The whole process will be supervised by a master system, which is used to continuously monitor the heat treatment equipment operation and provides advanced data analysis for the production processes.
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Since 1999 “The Monty Heat Treat News”has been publishing annually a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America based upon yearly sales, last year’s list can be found at “50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treaters 2024”
Before we introduce our 2025 list in 2 weeks we will make a few points;
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Total commercial heat treat sales for 2025 are expected to be approximately $3 Billion USD
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There are approximately 550 commercial heat treat plants in North America
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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.
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Roughly 8 commercial heat treaters in North America have closed in the past 10 months
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All sales figures are in USD even for companies in Canada and Mexico.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
“Hi Gord, in answer to your question on how global furnace suppliers are dealing with the chaotic tariff situation, I would offer that it is not easy! We have had an internal analysis from each division looking into the situation. As a recap, Nitrex manufactures in Poland, USA and China. This gives us tremendous flexibility. However, tariffs being introduced can be very problematic, for instance we have a furnace in ocean shipment and will it see expanded tariffs when it lands in the USA (20% of $1 million is a lot of money!)? As a global manufacturer we also buy globally and strategically. We can and we will make adjustments to service our customers in North America, Europe and China and the rest of the world, but boy is it a challenge. Let’s recap:
Tariff Challenges for Global Equipment Suppliers:
- Increased Production Costs:
- Supply Chain Disruptions:
- Market Access Limitations: Retaliatory tariffs from other countries can restrict access to key markets
Strategic Advantages for us due to Tariffs:
- Diversified Manufacturing Footprint: With facilities in Europe, the U.S., and China, we can adjust, but it takes time, money and lots of effort .
- Supply Chain Flexibility: We buy from multiple sources in many countries
- 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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However as we all know, nobody ever leaves the heat treat industry and as it turns out Tony is now working with Peters Heat Treat in Meadville, PA in a sales position.
“As the first outside sales representative for a growing family-owned commercial heat-treating operation, I focus on optimizing under-utilized equipment and leveraging our extensive quality certifications to secure new business opportunities. Additionally, I am dedicated to developing new trucking routes to expand the daily reach of our two facilities. My experience and knowledge enable me to drive improvements in Peters’ Heat Treating, Inc. overall revenues, profitability, and the diversity of industries we serve.”
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This family-owned firm has always concentrated on very high-volume work largely for the automotive industry-unfortunately as we all know the auto industry is in a state of flux these days due to the confusion over electric vs; gas and US tariffs.
The result is that AMAC plans to at least temporarily stop or slow down production starting April 15th of this year. This will affect both the plating and packaging side of the company as well as the heat treat department which consists of several continuous furnace lines. We will keep you updated.
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