“Gord Montgomery” of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the opportunity just yesterday, March 18th, 2025 to see a really impressive captive/commercial heat treating facility in Dravogradu, Slovenia.
 
Let’s start at the beginning of our story;
 
Family owned “Miheu d.o.o.” located in the town of Dravogradu, Slovenia was founded in 1974 as small, humble commercial heat treater featuring “pit carburizing” furnaces. A big step in the evolution of the company occurred in 2008 when the firm acquired an automated carburizing line from Switzerland based “Codere”, a line which is still in service-since that time the company has added many more furnaces and has never looked back.
 

Overview of the “Miheu” Facility Featuring “SECO/WARWICK” Vacuum Hardening Furnaces

Over the years the firm has expanded from commercial heat treating only into one which offers heat treating and also manufacturers high precision shredder blades and distance rings used in industrial shredders for recycling of various materials-hence the fact that Miheu is both a captive and commercial heat treater.
 
As of this printing the company’s revenue is 50% commercial heat treating and 50% new machined products which translates into roughly 8 million Euro in total sales for 2025-mumber of employees is now 45.
 
As our focus is on the heat-treating side of the business, we will mention that over the past 10 years Miheu has invested over 10 million euros (roughly the same in USD) in the heat treat department and it shows, meaning it is a very clean, modern heat treat facility.
 
Heat treating is housed in its own brand new (since 2022), 2,000 square meter facility located just a few kilometers from the main office. Current business conditions mean that it is processing over 4,000 tons of steel per year.
 
Except for Induction hardening and salt quenching there are virtually no heat treating processes which the company does not offer, LPC (Low Pressure Carburizing), Carburizing, Gas Nitriding, Plasma Nitriding, Nitrocarburizing-the company offers every single one of these heat treat processes.
 

“KGO” Model “SON 12-20E” Pit Gas Nitrider Built 2020

Our visit was hosted by “Mr. Ales Prikerznik”, Director of the company and joining us was “Mr. Harald Roth” of German furnace builder “KGO” . KGO provided a pit nitriding furnace to the company which entered production in 2021-Harald, Ales and the furnace can be seen in two of the pictures below.
 
“Miheu d.o.o.” has featured prominently in several press releases issued by furnace builder “SECO/WARWICK” over the years and we can see why, “Miheu” has a number of quite new furnaces from the company including a “LPC” (low pressure carburizing) system which entered production in 2022-this is in addition to several “SECO” vacuum hardening systems which can be seen in at least two of these photos.
 
We thank “Mr. Ales Prikerznik” of “Miheu”, besides the fact that he is a very knowledgeable heat treater he is also a tremendous host. “Gord Montgomery”, “The Monty Heat Treat News”
“Gord Montgomery” and the “Miheu” Heat Treat Team
“Harald Roth” KGO, “Ales Prikerznik” Director, “Miheu d.o.o.”
 

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From time to time “The Monty Heat Treat News” plays the “What’s It Worth” game where we give our readers an honest and unbiased idea about what used heat treat furnaces are selling for these days.

It is a very tired cliche to say that we live in troubled times and that the future is uncertain-we doubt that there has ever been a generation in history that did not say this.  However we can say that we are seeing some very odd things happening in used furnace pricing these days.

Items which have long been in high demand are a glut on the market and others that were once very popular now languish on the market. However there are a number of items which still remain in high demand and one of the best examples are good condition name brand vacuum furnaces-let us give you an example.

Last year a VFS (Vacuum Furnace Systems) Model HL 66 X 72 EQ2 Vacuum Furnace entered the used market in North America-the complete description said this;

“This is a horizontal loading vacuum furnace manufactured by VFS  6/1997. Well maintained furnace with original hot zone. The furnace water system was on a closed loop system with rust preventative and heat exchanger / water tower open loop side.”

Asking price for the furnace was $200,000 USD and sale price was $200,000 USD. While the furnace did not sell overnight it sold within just a few months and in our opinion the sale price was fair for both buyer and seller based on brand, condition, age and capabilities.
 
Stay tune for more “What’s it Worth” episodes.
 
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Each week “The Monty Heat Treat News” looks back on our previous weeks heat treatment news stories to see which were the most popular-this is based upon feedback from our readers, traffic on our website and social media views.
 
What makes this interesting is that even after almost 30 years of publishing “The Monty” it is still hard to predict which items will attract the most attention. Items which we feel will be of enormous interest to our readers receive 1,000 views or less-others which we feel are less “interesting” will attract almost 10,000 views and comments. 
 
With this preamble out of the ways these are the 3 news items published by “The Monty” during the week starting March 10, 2025 which most interested our readers; 
 
“Vacuum Furnace Builder Receives Their 1,000th New Furnace Order; Furnace builder TAV just yesterday received orders for two new vacuum furnaces which means the company can now claim to have sold just over 1,000 new vacuum furnaces over the years-1,001 to be exact.
 
The news was received by Gord Montgomery of during a visit to the Italian furnace builder early yesterday-these orders cement the fact that the company is one of the largest vacuum furnace builders in the world.
 
During the visit we learned a great deal about the company including; size, sales figures, reach and its capabilities, all of which we will be sharing. In the meantime, we have these photos which show part of the R & D lab as well as two from the assembly area showing a vertical furnace almost ready to ship to an aerospace customer and a large horizontal furnace destined for a US customer.”
 
“Vacuum Heat Treater Finds Business to Be Strong; Founded in the 1970’s commercial heat treater “Vacuum S.P.A.” in Verdello, Italy has survived recessions, foreign wars and the ups and downs that effect all businesses and at the end of the day has continued to grow and prosper.
 
In 2023 the company was acquired by Germany based “Haertha Hardening Industries” and under their ownership the company has continued to grow.
 
Yesterday Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the chance to visit the company and this is what we learned;
 
This location is one of four that “Haertha” has in Italy and total sales for the four locations is roughly 18 million Euros making them one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the country (more about the relative size of Italian commercial heat treaters later). Editors Note; As a side note to this story “Haertha” with 13 locations around Europe, 500 employees and annual sales of roughly 70 million Euros is probably the third largest commercial heat treater in Europe.
 
Our host for this visit “Mr. Fabiano Peli”, Managing Director and 40 year veteran of commercial heat treating in Italy was an incredible host who showed us his 6 TAV vacuum furnaces (4 hardening and 2 tempering) and 5 plasma nitriding furnaces, one of which was added just a few short months ago-most of the furnaces and Plasma Nitriding furnaces can be seen in these pictures.
 
The firm has 35 employees, NADCAP certification and almost equally services the aerospace, defense, automotive and “general industry” fields. It brings joy to our hearts that this location works 3 shifts a day, 6 days a week with the 7th day reserved for “overflow” as required. Few commercial heat treaters around the world can boast of this these days, hence our headline.
 
We should also mention “Giuseppe Bonvegna”, Production Manager who is quite obviously very proud of the company.
 
Also included in these photos you can see “Mr. Jan Massholder” and “Mr. Marco Baretti” of “TAV” who organized this tour.
 
This location is a fine example of commercial heat treating and we will follow this up tomorrow with a very good example of a gear manufacturer who spared no expense when it came to bringing their heat treating needs in house.”
 
“Cambridge Heat Treating 1982-2025; For 43 years commercial heat treater Cambridge Heat Treating in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada has been a mainstay of the Canadian heat treat industry and one of the larger players in the Canadian market. Founded by Bob Robbins in 1982, the company has thrived and prospered over the years but alas the world keeps changing and 2025 marks the final year for the company. While the company continues to operate, most of the equipment has been sold and the firm is slowly winding down.
 
3 generations of “The Monty” have worked closely with the Robbins family and we will truly miss this rock of the industry.
 
The summary below printed by “The Monty” summarizes the history of the company at their 40th anniversary in 2021.
 
Cambridge Heat Treating Celebrates 40th Anniversary; Our good friends at Cambridge Heat Treating in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada just celebrated their 40th anniversary of being in business-a significant milestone for any company. Founded by Bob Robbins, the company has remained a very viable, healthy business under the guidance of Peter Robbins and his sister Cheryl Mortimer who are shown in this picture along with the matriarch of the family. For more details about Cambridge Heat Treating you can see a news item we did earlier this year where “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited Cambridge to do a company profile.
 
We at “The Monty Heat Treat News” have always found it fascinating to see the start up of a commercial heat treater and how it grows, changes and evolves over the years, this is the story of a fairly typical North American commercial heat treat, Cambridge Heat Treating. We say typical because like many in the industry it is family owned and run and in terms of sales it would be considered average or slightly above average by North American standards. The original founder was Bob Robbins and over the years his sons Don, Peter and daughter Cheryl have all had a role in the business. This is the timeline of the business combined with photos showing the history.
  • Cambridge Heat Treating founded in 1982 by Bob Robbins, in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
  • Small space (part time, days only)
  • Two son’s help-Don works full time, Peter runs afternoon shift after school
  • Out grow rented space, purchase 1 acre and build new plant on Cowansview Road
  • Upgrade to vacuum furnaces (8 in total)
  • Install lab & micro hardness equipment
  • Upgrade from pack carburize to gas (nitrogen/Methanol)
  • Upgrade to pit furnace carb & oil quench & also nitriding up to 12’ long
  • Upgrade to 3 batch IQ furnaces
  • Add plasma nitriding
  • Add shot blast & paint 5,000 square feet-2 wheelabrator table blast, 1 blast booth & 2 cabinet blasters
  • Switch from Nitrogen/Methanol to Endothermic generator
  • 1992 Buy out competitor (Preston Heat Treat) which includes 6 acres of land
  • Refurbish Preston HT which means a 40’ shot blast room, 40’ paint room, 12,000 square foot addition and a 9th vacuum furnace with new cooling tower. Also included in these ambitions plans were 7 batch IQ furnaces, a very large batch for gears, 2 endo generators, 2 more car bottom furnaces and additional shot blast room.
  • 2007 amalgamate 2 facilities into 1 on 6 acres of land.   Over the next few years changes include upgrading all of the vacuum furnaces, adding an 8’ diameter Wheelabrator, adding a 9,000 square foot two story office to the building, adding a dual base Rubig plasma nitriding system and a zero flow gas nitriding system from SECO/WARWICK
  • 2021 Upgrades and additions continue to this day

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The globe’s largest commercial heat treater”, UK based “Bodycote” has released their financial results for 2024, the complete results can be found at “Bodycote Results” and a brief summary from “London East Side” can be found below.
 
We are always fascinated by “Bodycote’s” financial results as it perfectly reflects the health of heat treating around the world. We have little to add to their statement beyond the fact that the company mentions “costs”-we at “The Monty”are well aware that the firm has closed some locations in the US and Europe that were not as profitable as they should have been. 
 
“(Sharecast News) – Heat treatment and thermal processing services firm Bodycote delivered a cautious outlook on Friday as it presented its full-year results, with end markets remaining mixed after a “challenging” 2024, in which reported profits dropped sharply due to one-off impairment charges.
 
Adjusted operating profits were up just 1.1% at £129m over the 12 months to 31 December, as an adjusted revenue decline of 5.7% to £757.1m was slightly outweighed by a 120-basis point improvement in the adjusted operating margin to 17.9%.
 
Statutory operating profits, however, totaled just £37.9m, down 68.2% on 2023, due to £78.3m of previously announced one-off charges.
 
These comprised a £28.4m impairment charge from the cessation of its ERP tech upgrade, a £31.9m restructuring charge from its Optimise programme, and a £18m goodwill write-down relating to automotive and industrial activities in North America (which the company said carried a high level of associated goodwill from historical acquisitions).
 
“We delivered a resilient performance in 2024, with our core business growing organically pre-surcharges and good margin improvement despite challenging conditions in many of our end markets,” said chief executive Jim Fairbairn.
 
“This was driven by Specialist Technologies where we saw good growth and strong margin improvement, as well as decisive cost control actions taken in our Automotive and Industrial Precision Heat Treatment businesses.”
 
Looking ahead, the company said that the current run-rate profit performance is at similar levels to the second half, with challenging conditions in automotive and industrial markets combined with strong demand in aerospace and defence.”
 
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“Cieffe Thermal Systems” of Colle Umerto, Italy is one of the best-known brands in Europe for thermal processing systems. Recently Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the chance to spend some time with the company and this included visits to some of the firm’s customers with one visit in particular being very memorable-let us elaborate;
 
Recently “Cieffe Thermal Systems” entered into a co-operation with a company by the name of “Curti Costruzioni Meccaniche” to supply a turnkey thermal processing system to a recycling company by the name of “Gruppo HERA”, this occurred after years of development which started with a test batch system.
 
“Gruppo HERA” amongst their many capabilities is one of the first companies in the world to recycle carbon fiber-carbon fiber is of course used in a number of different items including auto bodies and aerospace components for companies such as Leonardo (we have to add that carbon fiber is also used in furnace fixturing which means in theory that CFC fixtures can be recycled). This particular location is in Imola, Italy.
 
What you see in these pictures is one of the first thermal processing systems in the world for recycling carbon fiber. It was installed in 2024 by “Cieffe” and entered production early this year.
 
The system is a combination “chain drive” and “roller heath” furnace operating at 500C under an inert, nitrogen atmosphere. Scrap carbon fiber material is loaded into stainless steel baskets with 15 baskets at a time in the system with the entire process taking 2-3 hours per basket.
 
Currently this is the only system of its kind in Italy and quite possibly the world. Currently plans are in place for other similar systems.
 
We have to thank our very kind host, Mr. Angelo Scipione, Head of Sales & PM of “Cieffe Thermal Systems” for arranging this visit, Angelo is a long time veteran of the heat treat industry.
 
This visit took place March 12th.
 
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Gord Montgomery, “The Monty Heat Treat News”, Angelo Scipione, Head of Sales & PM, “Cieffe Thermal Systems”, Maria Masiello 
Finished Product
It is always really “cool” to see manufacturers treat heat treating with the respect it deserves as a crucial part of the manufacturing process-let us introduce you to I.M.G. S.p.A. (INDUSTRIA MECCANICA GIRARDELLO) in Italy, a company which believes in the value of quality heat treating.
 
IMG supplies “under carriage” components to heavy equipment manufacturers such as “Caterpillar”-undercarriage refers to items such as chain and rollers buried in the chassis of equipment such as heavy earth moving equipment.
 
IMG has always believed in “in house heat treating” and when a very substantial customer ramped up production the company invested in a new “state of the art” heat treat system to meet the increased demand.
 
The new heat treat system consists of 3 high heat carburizing furnaces, gas fired with working dimensions of 900mm X 1200mm X 900mm (36″ X 48″ X 36″) each with a capacity of 2,000KG (over 4,000 pounds), all using a Nitrogen/Methanol atmosphere.
 
Combined with the high heat furnaces are 3 tempers, a charge car and a washer all controlled by a PLC system which allows for complete automation.
 
The entire system was provided by furnace builder “Meapforni”of Fontanafredda, Italy and was installed in 2024 with the entire system recently entering production.
 
As always this very successful installation was a team effort but we do have to mention that Mr. Paolo Faoro, of IMG was very instrumental in making this such a success-he is shown in the one photo along with the “Meapforni” team and Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News”. 
 
(This visit by “The Monty” and the resulting story occurred Thursday, March 12th)
 
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Left to Right; Francesco Pieropan, Meapforni, Vlad Kulbitski, Meapforni, Paolo Faoro, IMG, Gord Montgomery 
“NUTEC Bickley has just manufactured and installed an annealing oven, custom designed for processing reel-mounted compact aluminum cable. The client for this contract operates numerous plants across North, Central and South America and has a portfolio of products supplied to organizations involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.
 
Arturo Arechavaleta, NUTEC Bickley’s VP, Metal Furnaces, said: “Our customer is a leading producer of electrical cable, supplying thousands of users in a very demanding market. This is a highly specialized annealing process, and NUTEC Bickley has successfully addressed key design factors such as effective air circulation, temperature uniformity, and custom loading and unloading of heavy spools.”
 
Using a load area of 2.45m wide x 3.73m long x 2.45m high, this oven operates with a single car per cycle and can accommodate a maximum of 8,620kg (total, including the cable, spool and rack). The operating temperature is 345°C. For aluminum cable, the heat ramps up from room temperature to 345°C in a minimum of one hour. There is a variable soaking time, depending on the exact nature of each product batch to be treated.
 
This natural gas oven features two high-performance package burners. Each burner is equipped with a 310 stainless steel flame protector tube (to avoid flame deformation and high direct flame radiation), individual ignition, a flame failure relay, a flame detector, an ignition transformer, and a locking solenoid valve. There are two temperature control zones, designed to allow a combination of flow patterns in order to generate rapid heating and excellent temperature uniformity. Each zone has a baffle system to help direct the flow of hot air directly to the aluminum cable reels and to return this heated air back to the burners.
 
Effective convection heating is achieved via centrifugal recirculation fans that deliver high-volume, controlled air circulation around a horizontal flow pattern, i.e. from the walls towards the center of the oven. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was conducted to aid design of the air handling system, resulting in good uniformity. During comprehensive pre-delivery testing – carried out at the NUTEC Bickley facility – the oven’s temperature uniformity was measured at well within ±5°C.
 
To further maximize the thermal efficiency of this modern annealing oven, an advanced insulation system has been provided. The oven ceiling, walls and door are fully lined to a depth of 15cm with 190kg/m3 density ceramic fiber, fitted as a modular lining system. The ceramic fiber insulation offers low thermal conductivity, low heat storage and loss, thermal shock resistance, and a lightweight, easy to install construction. There is a high temperature limiter, separate from the control equipment, that protects the product from overheating.
 
Car movement is based on a system featuring a gear motor with chain transmission, with a guide configuration for the drag chain and car. This makes for much easier loading and unloading.
 
The heavy cable spool is rolled into the car, meaning single-point loading or concentrated loading on a single point is possible. The car’s construction is sturdy enough to withstand this. The oven’s vertical lift doors lower and seal automatically once the car with its spool load is in position in the oven, and the same in reverse when the cycle is complete.”
 
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Founded in the 1970’s commercial heat treater “Vacuum S.P.A.” in Verdello, Italy has survived recessions, foreign wars and the ups and downs that effect all businesses and at the end of the day has continued to grow and prosper.
 
In 2023 the company was acquired by Germany based “Haertha Hardening Industries” and under their ownership the company has continued to grow.
 
Yesterday Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the chance to visit the company and this is what we learned;
 
This location is one of four that “Haertha” has in Italy and total sales for the four locations is roughly 18 million Euros making them one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the country (more about the relative size of Italian commercial heat treaters later). Editors Note; As a side note to this story “Haertha” with 13 locations around Europe, 500 employees and annual sales of roughly 70 million Euros is probably the third largest commercial heat treater in Europe.
 
Our host for this visit “Mr. Fabiano Peli”, Managing Director and 40 year veteran of commercial heat treating in Italy was an incredible host who showed us his 6 TAV vacuum furnaces (4 hardening and 2 tempering) and 5 plasma nitriding furnaces, one of which was added just a few short months ago-most of the furnaces and Plasma Nitriding furnaces can be seen in these pictures.
 
The firm has 35 employees, NADCAP certification and almost equally services the aerospace, defense, automotive and “general industry” fields. It brings joy to our hearts that this location works 3 shifts a day, 6 days a week with the 7th day reserved for “overflow” as required. Few commercial heat treaters around the world can boast of this these days, hence our headline.
 
We should also mention “Giuseppe Bonvegna”, Production Manager who is quite obviously very proud of the company.
 
Also included in these photos you can see “Mr. Jan Massholder” and “Mr. Marco Baretti” of “TAV” who organized this tour.
 
This location is a fine example of commercial heat treating and we will follow this up tomorrow with a very good example of a gear manufacturer who spared no expense when it came to bringing their heat treating needs in house.
From Left; Jan Massholder, TAV, Fabiano Peli, Managing Director, Vacuum SPA, Giuseppe Bonvegna, Production Manager, Vacuum SPA,  Marco Baretti, TAV, Gord Montgomery
Fabiano (Fabio) Peli, Managing Director, Vacuum SPA, Gord Montgomery (The Monty Heat Treat News)
 
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Furnace builder TAV just yesterday received orders for two new vacuum furnaces which means the company can now claim to have sold just over 1,000 new vacuum furnaces over the years-1,001 to be exact.
 
The news was received by Gord Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News”during a visit to the Italian furnace builder early yesterday-these orders cement the fact that the company is one of the largest vacuum furnace builders in the world.
 
During the visit we learned a great deal about the company including; size, sales figures, reach and its capabilities, all of which we will be sharing. In the meantime, we have these photos which show part of the R & D lab as well as two from the assembly area showing a vertical furnace almost ready to ship to an aerospace customer and a large horizontal furnace destined for a US customer.
 
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For 43 years commercial heat treater Cambridge Heat Treating in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada has been a mainstay of the Canadian heat treat industry and one of the larger players in the Canadian market. Founded by Bob Robbins in 1982, the company has thrived and prospered over the years but alas the world keeps changing and 2025 marks the final year for the company. While the company continues to operate, most of the equipment has been sold and the firm is slowly winding down.
 
3 generations of “The Monty” have worked closely with the Robbins family and we will truly miss this rock of the industry.
 
The summary below printed by “The Monty” summarizes the history of the company at their 40th anniversary in 2021.
 
Cambridge Heat Treating Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Our good friends at Cambridge Heat Treating in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada just celebrated their 40th anniversary of being in business-a significant milestone for any company. Founded by Bob Robbins, the company has remained a very viable, healthy business under the guidance of Peter Robbins and his sister Cheryl Mortimer who are shown in this picture along with the matriarch of the family. For more details about Cambridge Heat Treating you can see a news item we did earlier this year where “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited Cambridge to do a company profile.

We at “The Monty Heat Treat News” have always found it fascinating to see the start up of a commercial heat treater and how it grows, changes and evolves over the years, this is the story of a fairly typical North American commercial heat treat, Cambridge Heat Treating. We say typical because like many in the industry it is family owned and run and in terms of sales it would be considered average or slightly above average by North American standards. The original founder was Bob Robbins and over the years his sons Don, Peter and daughter Cheryl have all had a role in the business. This is the timeline of the business combined with photos showing the history.

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