The Vector® vacuum furnace will process materials using an additional argon hydrogen partial pressure system, providing heating at a high level: 2192˚F (1200˚C). This is SECO/WARWICK‘s second collaboration with the company, one of the largest manufacturers offering metal injection molding technology with manufacturing capabilities including vertical integration of finishing technologies such as nickel and trivalent chromium electroplating, vacuum heat treatment and seal hardening, as well as precision grinding and CNC machining with micron tolerances.
“This partner is a global brand which has shown their trust in us for the second time by ordering a vacuum furnace, which we will now be able to service locally and more comprehensively,” said Sławomir Woźniak, president of the management board, SECO/WARWICK Group.
The furnace’s pumping system enables vacuum processes to be carried out in medium and high ranges, thanks to the use of a very good pumping system, and incorporates three process gases: argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen.”
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In a relatively strong economy, it is a puzzler to the team at “The Monty Heat Treat News” why so many North American commercial heat treaters are closing their doors. At last count 2 in Canada have closed recently with at least 4 in Ohio having recently announced planned closings with 2 more to come-one in Michigan and one more in Ohio. The most recent closing, “Weiss Industries” in Mansfield, Ohio is mentioned below. As you will read Weiss decided to close their commercial heat-treating division in favor of their more profitable stamping division.
“Weiss Industries has been honored to provide metal stamping and heat treating services since 1948. Due to a marked increase in our stamping operations, including winning multiple long term contracts, stamping production will double in 2025 and beyond.
Weiss is thrilled to leverage our resources and efforts toward this burgeoning part of our operation. With this increased volume and after careful consideration, Weiss Industries has made the strategic decision to close our heat treating division.
The growth potential for Weiss Industries is tremendous, and this decision aligns with our mission to pursue that growth. We sincerely appreciate the trust and loyalty that our heat treat customers have shown us over the years.
While this marks the end of one chapter, it also signals the beginning of an exciting new era defined by growth, innovation, and success. We are committed and positioned to make the next 75 years of Weiss Industries even brighter than the last.”
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For a number of years “The Monty Heat Treat News” has offered a heat treatment industry exclusive-a list of the “15 Largest Single Location Captive Heat Treats in North America”, it now appears that one of the locations on the list will be receiving a very substantial investment.
Located in Greenville, South Carolina, USA “GE Vernova Inc.”, is a supplier of gas turbines for power generation and in 2024 it was ranked as the 14th largest single location captive heat treater in North America by “The Monty”. At that point in time the facility had 16 horizontal vacuum furnaces provided by several different furnace builders. At this point in time, we are unable to confirm whether this substantial investment will include expanding the location’s heat-treating capabilities.
“GREENVILLE, SC (January 29, 2025) – With global energy needs forecasted to double, GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV), America’s leading energy manufacturing company, announced plans today to invest more than $160 million and hire more than 650 new employees at its Greenville facility.
The substantial investments – the largest since the company’s spinoff in April – will help meet soaring customer demand, strengthen domestic supply chains, and continue developing cutting-edge American technology that helps power the world. The investments will also help enable U.S. energy affordability, security, resilience, and competitiveness while enabling the American manufacturing footprint to support global exports.
“These investments will have a significant impact on the Upstate today and for years to come,” said Shane Long, Supply Chain Leader, GE Vernova’s Gas Power business. “Beyond the immediate jobs additions and capacity expansion, this investment will allow Greenville to maintain and strengthen its position as the world’s center of gas turbine manufacturing.”
The investments in Greenville are part of a larger nearly $600 million planned investment across the U.S. the company announced earlier today and are the first part of a larger $9 billion cumulative global capital and R&D investment plan through 2028 across the company’s facilities in the U.S.
Currently GE Vernova has more than 2,500 workers in the state. This includes manufacturing, engineering and many other specialties. The factory has produced gas turbines for markets across the U.S. and globally since 1968.
Last year, Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova, announced plans to increase global capacity of heavy-duty gas turbines more than 25% to meet robust demand. Today’s announcement is in addition to the $35 million the company invested in the facility last year.”
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April 5th, 2025 “The Monty Heat Treat News” will be offering our updated list of the “50 largest North American Commercial Heat Treaters” (the 2024 List can be found “Here”).
This list prompts the obvious question-how big is the North America commercial heat treat pie? In other words what is the total value of commercial heat treating in North America? We will start out by saying that “The Monty Team” has seen a number of different reports over the years and the variations between each can be reasonably large-making it quite difficult to come up with a definitive number. A large part of this variation is because it is so difficult to define what exactly heat treating is.
We have come to believe that the total heat-treating market in the USA is approximately $24 Billion USD per year-this number encompasses both captive and commercial heat treating. At this point we need to mention that our list of the 50 largest commercial heat treaters is for North America which includes Canada and Mexico. While the Canadian heat treat market is quite small at an estimated 4% of the US market and falling, Mexico represents a substantially larger portion although still small compared to the USA.
Therefore, we will start with the USA number of $24 billion and extrapolate from there to arrive at the value of commercial heat treating. It is generally assumed that commercial heat treating represents anywhere from 10-15% of the total market so if we take an average of 12.5% we arrive at an estimate of a little over $3 Billion USD for the commercial heat treat market in North America.
Is this number accurate? We have piled assumption on top of generalization and thrown in a healthy dose of educated guesses so of course this number is not dead on the money,. However, we also believe it is as good a number as any others you will see out there.
Each week the “Monty Heat Treat News” looks back at our heat treatment stories from the week before and comes up with a list of the 3 most popular based upon reader feedback, website visits and social media posts. For the week starting February 17th, 2025 it would appear that heat treating of brake rotors is what excited our readers the most. These are the top 3 from most to least popular;
It would appear that “Nitrex” has come up with a different approach, one that will be in production in the very near future. The furnace system you are seeing in these photos is in the final stages of testing at the Nitrex facility in Poland. The furnace is designed for around 600,000 rotors per year based upon 46 weeks/year, 5 days a week/24 hours a day with a “charge” every 2 hours. The furnace will be the first of two destined to be installed in Northwestern Europe. This system has exceeded all design criteria from heating rate, cooling rate and layer thickness/uniformity.
As mentioned the system with be doing Ferritic Nitrocarburizing with consistent oxide layer and color. More on this story to come.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., police received multiple 911 calls of an explosion at SPS Technologies industrial complex on Highland Avenue, in Jenkintown, Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy said at a Tuesday morning news conference. When first responders arrived, they were met with multiple explosions at the complex, he said.
Firefighters from 68 fire companies responded to battle the blaze, Molloy said, and many were still on scene Tuesday morning trying to put the fire fully under control. As of Tuesday morning, no injuries were reported, he said.
Due to concerns over air quality and water contamination, a shelter-in-place was activated for residents within a one-mile radius of the scene, Molloy said. Hazmat teams are still monitoring air quality and water runoff from the scene, but have not detected any threats to the public, he said.
SPS Technologies manufactures fasteners and other small metal equipment for the aerospace and other industries, said Abington Fire Marshal Chris Platz. Fire officials were initially concerned that if some of the heat treating chemicals used at the facility mixed, they could form arsenic, said Abington Fire Chief Mike Jones.
The company was founded more than a century ago as Standard Pressed Steel Company. The Abington complex is described as 560,000 square feet and is a source for parts throughout the aerospace industry. The site is within a few hundred feet of the nearest homes and an athletic field with several baseball diamonds.”
Ipsen USA Announces Management Changes in Customer Service Team; Ipsen is pleased to announce the promotion of Evan Hundley to Retrofits Manager and the appointment of Lu Chouraki as Field Service Manager.
BTP
“We are excited for Evan and Lu to take on new roles. These two leaders have already made significant contributions to Ipsen’s success,” said John Dykstra, Ipsen’s Chief Service Officer. “Their experience and dedication to improving our operations and customer support will be key as we continue to innovate and enhance our service offerings.” Ipsen is confident that under Hundley and Chouraki’s leadership, the company will continue to drive success and further enhance customer support and service operations.
The vacuum furnace achieves a maximum cooling gas pressure of 10 bar, which is controlled by a frequency converter, which allows the process parameters to be precisely adjusted. “The AICHELIN solution impresses with its excellent cooling speed and energy efficiency,” says Philippe Prince, Senior Vice President Technical Services at Bodycote. Initial practical tests have confirmed the performance and high energy efficiency of the new vacuum furnace.
The on-time installation and commissioning of the furnace in Finland represents an important milestone in the cooperation between AICHELIN and Bodycote. Bodycote has selected AICHELIN as a supplier of equipment that matches its vision of advanced and sustainable vacuum technology for industrial heat treatment.
With this project, AICHELIN strengthens its position in the European market and expands its portfolio of turnkey supplies in Northern Europe with sustainable technologies that meet the growing demands of the industry.
About AICHELIN Group; The AICHELIN Group, which is part of Berndorf AG and is headquartered in Mödling near Vienna, is one of the world’s leading providers of heat treatment solutions. These include industrial furnaces, industrial heating systems, control and automation systems, Industry 4.0 solutions and services. The company’s roots go back to 1868. In addition to the traditional brand AICHELIN, AFC-Holcroft, SAFED, BOSIO and NOXMAT belong to the group, which has more than 1,000 employees worldwide. AICHELIN is represented by subsidiaries in Austria, Germany, Slovenia, France, Turkey as well as in China, India and the USA. The Group’s global presence also includes a sales network in a further 22 countries. www.aichelin.com“
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Captive/Commercial heat treater RAMADA ACOS in Ovar, Portugal has been mentioned by “The Monty Heat Treat News” several times over the years, including this summary of the company in 2021;
“NOVEMBER 2021; Ramada ACOS is a captive/commercial heat treater located in the northern part of Portugal in the city of Ovar. The firm is another example of a company which offers some of the most “state of the art” heat treatment processes available anywhere in the world. Ramada has been in business for more than 75 years both as a heat treater and a distributor of steel for Uddeholm. The company has 13 vacuum hardening and vacuum nitriding furnaces all from French furnace builder BMI along with 8 sealed quench furnaces with oil quenching https://www.ramada.pt/pt/servicos/acos-ligas/tratamentos-termicos.html, Interestingly enough at least some of the sealed quench furnaces are from a Brazillian furnace manufacturer by the name of Brasimet which caught our attention-as it turns out because of the historical connection between Portugal and Brazil this is a not uncommon occurrence.
Since that time the company has invested in a new, automated Carburizing Line which according to this press release is now in full production;
“RAMADA AÇOS INVESTS IN NEW AUTOMATIC CARBURIZING LINE; This investment reduces delivery times and strengthens the capacity of the Iberian market to compete for larger projects.
RAMADA AÇOS is launching a new line of automatic heat treatment with controlled atmosphere and oil cooling – carburizing, carbonitriding, quenching, among others. With over 70 years of experience, the Heat Treatment unit in Ovar, Portugal is increasing its production capacity to a maximum of 9,000kg/day, with the possibility of treating parts up to 1300 mm in length and 1,500 kg.
This new heat treatment line is the result of a partnership with the supplier IPSEN, a global reference in this type of equipment. The state-of-the-art technology enables the automation and digitization of heat treatment processes, making the production unit safer, more efficient and sustainable, while also ensuring automated quality control.
RAMADA AÇOS thus strengthens its position in the Iberian market as a true partner for industries such as metalworking, moulds and others. The company combines greater production capacity with close customer support and a specialised team capable of finding the best technical solutions, focusing on quality and speed of service, competitiveness and trust.”
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Ipsen is pleased to announce the promotion of Evan Hundley to Retrofits Manager and the appointment of Lu Chouraki as Field Service Manager.
Chouraki rejoined Ipsen in June 2022 as Manager of Business Development and has been instrumental in launching Ipsen’s HUB service model, expanding it across six U.S. regions. He first joined Ipsen in 2015 as a Field Service Engineer before being promoted to Regional Service Manager in 2018. His extensive experience within Ipsen’s service operations, combined with his industry knowledge, makes him uniquely qualified to lead the Field Service Team. As Field Service Manager, Chouraki will oversee all Regional Service Managers and Field Service Engineers, focusing on streamlining processes, improving response times, and enhancing customer support. He will also drive the continued expansion of Ipsen’s HUBs and develop his team into subject matter experts, supporting Ipsen’s commitment to outstanding service delivery and customer satisfaction.
“We are excited for Evan and Lu to take on new roles. These two leaders have already made significant contributions to Ipsen’s success,” said John Dykstra, Ipsen’s Chief Service Officer. “Their experience and dedication to improving our operations and customer support will be key as we continue to innovate and enhance our service offerings.” Ipsen is confident that under Hundley and Chouraki’s leadership, the company will continue to drive success and further enhance customer support and service operations.
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Since 1997 “The Monty Heat Treat News” has been publishing a list of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America, a list which has grown from the 10 Largest to the 50 Largest- the 2024 list can be found here; “The Monty’s” 50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treaters 2024″.
April 5th, 2025 we will be offering our 2025 list of the 50 largest, a list which see more changes than at any other time in the past almost 30 years. For instance;
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“Paulo” has always been in our #2 or #3 position-with their acquisition by “Aalberts Surface Technologies” late in 2024 (an acquisition which is still waiting for final approval) they disappear from our list.
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For the first time ever a manufacturer by the name of “Tube Bending Technology” will enter our list of the 50 Largest.
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3 Facilities which have made our list for the past number of years will disappear to be replaced by 3 new entries which will certainly catch our readers attention.
In short our upcoming list will be substantially different than what our readers are used to seeing. Stay tuned.
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Yesterday “The Monty Heat Treat News” had a news item about a Devastating Fireat SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, PA, USA. We mentioned this because the facility has always included a reasonably large in house heat treatment department and the fact that initial reports referred to “Heat Treat Chemicals” being the cause which could mean just about anything. No surprise that the cause of the fire is as yet unknown. “The Monty” has visited this plant over the years and the heat treat department included a variety of furnaces inlcuding batch IQ and vacuum furnaces.
In related news it is being reported that some of the products produced by this facility are sole sourced from the US military. https://www.inquirer.com/news/sps-technologies-fire-abington-manufactured-specialty-parts-20250219.html
“ABINGTON TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — A Disaster Emergency has been declared in Abington Township after a massive industrial fire at SPS Technologies in Montgomery County. There continues to be an active scene as investigators work to figure out what caused the blaze. The shelter-in-place and voluntary evacuations were lifted at 11 a.m., officials said during a press conference on Wednesday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has conducted samplings of the Tookany Creek. They said there are low levels of chemicals in the water but that there are no drinking water intakes in that creek. There are no chemicals in the Delaware River, and officials say drinking water is safe.
They also said the air quality tests have not detected any chemicals in the air. Officials say people should feel safe going back to their homes. However, they did note that just because the orders are being lifted, does not mean they cannot be established again if the scene redevelops.
Now, two days later, smoke is still rising and much of the rubble is coated in a layer of ice from nonstop spraying. “When you look at the size of this building, some 500 thousand square feet and multilayers the difficulty to access our firefighters out in that weather and with equipment, it’s very difficult for them to completely extinguish this fire,” said Patrick Molloy, Chief of Abington Township Police.
The fire, which rose to four alarms at the height of it, prompted a shelter-in-place, voluntary evacuations and school closures. Roughly 700 people were asked to voluntarily evacuate late Tuesday afternoon “while conditions permit” because of concerns over air quality, which environmental officials are continuing to monitor.
No injuries have been reported, although officials said there are concerns that first responders could have been exposed to the hazardous materials. Sixty employees were also evacuated from the building. As of now, officials say no hazardous materials have been detected. But the EPA and the DEP continue to conduct air quality tests inside the perimeter where the fire happened and also in the neighborhood.
“We do know that they use very harsh chemicals in the aeronautical engineering process of making bolts and fasteners. So out of an abundance of caution, we made that decision to self-evacuate,” Molloy said. “It could be week before you see the effect of this type of an exposure,” said Dr. Jamie Garfield, a Temple Health pulmonologist. “And everyone is at risk, just to be clear.” The thick plumes of smoke and raging fire could be seen for miles on Monday and Tuesday as it destroying the facility, which makes fasteners for aerospace equipment.” https://6abc.com/post/sps-technologies-fire-factory-fallout-massive-blaze-industrial-complex-abington-twp-pa/15931185/
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