Bidding is now open for an auction being held in Vienna, Austria at Opel Gear Manufacturing. The now closed facility manufactured components for automotive transmissions and amongst the items for auction is a large amount of heat treatment equipment. This includes ECM 6-Chamber ICBP vacuum carburizing systems built in 2003, Aichelin Endothermic generators and LOI furnaces. It is very hard to gauge how much interest these items will generate. Certainly ECM, Aichelin and LOI are very respected names in the heat treatment industry, but on the other side of the coin the automotive heat treatment industry in Germany is slow these days and we would assume this will have a very detrimental effect on bidding. We will keep you updated.
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Allied Locke in Dixon, Illinois, USA is one of the premier chain manufacturers in North America and one who firmly believes that heat treating is an integral part of the manufacturing process. Over the course of the past 2 years “The Monty” has mentioned several times about investments the firm is making in their heat-treating department, these investments include new controls and datalogging capabilities provided by SSI, another mesh belt furnace line originally built by Can Eng, more induction capability along with additional batch IQ furnaces. https://www.alliedlocke.com/
The company continues to invest with the most recent plans including two new gas fired, 36″ X 48″ X 36″ batch temper furnaces with nitrogen addition capable of 1400F. The tempers will be provided by McLaughlin Furnace Group of Avilla, Indiana and are scheduled to be installed and running 4th quarter of 2024. Jeff McLaughlin, founder and owner of the company had this to say;
“We starting speaking with the folks at Allied Locke earlier this year and we have found them a pleasure to work with. They are one of those rare manufacturers who fully understand that heat treating is a very important part of their manufacturing process and have invested accordingly. It is obvious that they are proud of their in-house heat-treating department and everybody from upper management through their metallurgist and heat-treating team goes the “extra mile” to make sure the department is clean, well-organized and up to date. I can’t say enough good things about everybody that we have worked with at Allied Locke.” https://www.mclaughlinsvc.com/
These photos show a typical McLaughlin temper furnace along with some photos of the Allied Locke heat treat department and lab.
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DUAP AG a supplier of fuel injection nozzles in Switzerland has just added pit nitriding capacity. The company operates both as a manufacturer and as a commercial heat treater. The 2 Rohde supplied furnaces have working dimensions of 1500mm x 2000mm with a weight capacity of 3000 kg and a second unit 700mm x 1000mm with an 800 kg capacity. Operating temperature is 750C and both will capable of Nitriding, nitrocarburizing, post-oxidation, stress-relieving and annealing using nitrogen, ammonia and propane.
In addition to the new furnaces DUAP also updated their crane and washing systems. Both furnaces entered production very recently.
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Earlier this year a supplier of aluminum automotive parts completed the installation of a large Roller Hearth furnace line for a facility in Germany. The line was provided by Italian furnace builder IVR, who offers several solutions for heat treating of aluminum alloy products. In this case the furnace will be used for T-4, T-5 and T-6 heat treatment. The furnace has now been in production for several months.
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On a regular basis “The Monty Heat Treat News” keeps you up to date on personnel changes in the global heat treatment industry-here is this week’s update;
Glenn Ottinger, Vitesse Systems; Glenn Ottinger has just been appointed General Manager, USA West Coast at Vitesse Systems. Glenn spent 16 years with ThermoFusion in Hayward, CA, a commercial vacuum brazing firm and we mentioned his name recently when he left the company. “Vitesse Systems is the leading supplier of complex antenna and thermal management solutions critical to the advancement of next-generation Radar, Electronic Warfare and C4I systems.” The Vitesse portfolio includes California Brazing in Newark, CA and Nevada Heat Treat in Carson City, Nevada which is rather interesting.
Scott Calardo, Bodycote;Scott worked with commercial heat-treating giant Bodycote for many years, most recently as Vice President, Capital Projects for the AGI Division. However, things change and he recently parted ways with the company.
Christopher Feisley, Surface Combustion; Christopher has worked for furnace builder Surface Combustion of Maumee, Ohio, USA for a number of years now in different positions, recently he was appointed Product Line Manager, Batch Equipment, Engineered Products. Surface Combustion is ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News” as one of the 10 largest furnace builders in North America-find out where at https://themonty.com/articles/10-largest-north-american-heat-treat-furnace-builders/
Ramiro Canales, Can-Eng Furnaces International; Ramiro was recently appointed Mechanical Project Leader at Can-Eng Furnaces International of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Ramiro has worked with Can-Eng several times in the past, proving once again that few people ever leave the heat treatment industry after getting a taste of it. Can-Eng is another company ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News” as one of the 10 largest furnace builders in North America. https://themonty.com/articles/10-largest-north-american-heat-treat-furnace-builders/
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In observance of Labor Day, WG Montgomery Ltd./”The Monty Heat Treat News” will be closed on Monday, September 2. We salute and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all workers. Normal operations will resume on Tuesday, September 3.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!
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“Volkan Steels Powders Metal San. Tic ve Ltd. Şti. (V’Steels), a leading Turkish tool steels supplier based in Istanbul, has boosted its production capabilities with the installation of a new Nitrex nitriding/nitrocarburizing system. This addition aligns with V’Steels’ commitment to expanding its value-added heat treatment services, ensuring top-quality tool and stainless steels for customers seeking to enhance the performance and durability of their tooling.
The new Nitrex turnkey system, model NX-1015, features a 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) capacity, enabling V’Steels to perform advanced nitriding, nitrocarburizing, and post-oxidation treatments using Nitreg®, Nitreg®-C, and ONC® technologies. These advanced processes are essential for improving the wear resistance, fatigue strength, and overall durability of various tooling, including aluminum extrusion dies, die-casting dies, forging dies, and plastic injection molding dies, across diverse industries such as energy, petrochemistry, defense, and maritime.
As a first-time Nitrex customer, V’Steels selected the large-capacity batch furnace, NX series, for its proven performance and the expertise of Nitrex’s metallurgical and engineering teams. The NX-1015 not only matches V’Steels’ current production capacity but also offers room for future expansion, enabling the company to efficiently meet growing demands and enhance its service offerings. The system’s accelerated cooling feature reduces process times, leading to faster turnaround, increased productivity, and consistent, high-quality results.
“The decision to integrate a Nitrex system was influenced by the expertise of the V’Steels team, several members of whom have prior experience with Nitrex from their previous roles. Our strong relationship and the team’s deep understanding of Nitreg® technologies made this an easy choice,” said Utku Inan of BDI Metal, Nitrex Sales Representative in Türkiye. “We managed the installation and startup seamlessly, ensuring optimal performance from the start. V’Steels’ positive feedback underscores their satisfaction with both the Nitrex system and our comprehensive support.”
Marcin Stoklosa, Technical Sales Manager – EMEA region at Nitrex, added, “The integration of the Nitrex system will significantly enhance the performance and reliability of tool steels, resulting in longer-lasting and more efficient tooling for V’Steels’ customers. By utilizing Nitreg® technologies, V’Steels is set to offer finished tooling that endures longer under operational stress, translating into increased throughput and reduced downtime for their clients. This advanced treatment not only boosts tool durability but also improves operational value, giving V’Steels’ customer a competitive edge through superior tool steel quality and consistency.”
“Our heat treatment services, which began in 2023, have been strengthened by our recent investment in a Nitrex furnace. This enhancement allows us to comprehensively meet the heat treatment needs of our long-standing business partners in the tool steel industry, enabling them to achieve higher performance. We are grateful to the Nitrex team and BDI Metal for their support at every stage throughout this process,” said Belgin Mert, General Manager of V’Steels. The order for the NX-1015 system was placed in October 2023, and production commenced in April 2024.”
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As “The Monty Team” pointed out, the most difficult part about coming up with an accurate summary of the heat treatment market is determining what actually constitutes heat treating. Luckily for us Mr. Mark VanAlstine of General Motors in Michigan very kindly provided us with this summary, a summary based upon industry standard CQI-9. Thank you Mark.
“I distinguish heat treatment from “thermal processing” which is any process which uses temperature, including casting, forging, welding, intermediate thermal treating, etc.
For my purposes, I define heat treatment as ‘any application of heat which impacts the final part characteristics’. Basically, if CQI-9 should apply, its heat treatment. In that way, something like annealing in a mill would only count as heat treatment if the finished part is still in the same thermal condition. – This is tricky since the final use is not necessarily visible to the person doing the thermal processing. If its an anneal for cold formability that goes through additional heat treatment, the 1st process isn’t ‘heat treatment’ for my purposes. This is really driven by a focus on what is delivered to the customer and ensuring adequate quality controls.
I also consider all sintering to be “sinter hardening” and therefore the process table applies for all sintering, not just sintering with a quench – After all, the consolidated part has much higher hardness than the green part. Baking of an electroless plating would also be HT, since the plating hardness relies on this operation.”
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Over the years “The Monty Heat Treat News” has had the opportunity to visit automotive transmission supplier and in house heat treater “Tremec” several times, the most recent being in April of this year (details of the company and their heat-treating department can be found below).
Their name comes up today as the company is now offering commercial heat treating at their facility in Queretaro, Mexico which prompts the question-“Do Manufacturers Make Good Commercial Heat Treaters”? Over the years we have seen several examples of manufacturing firms with open heat-treating capacity enter the commercial heat-treating market-two other examples include a Canadian firm “Burloak Technologies” and “Kern Liebers” a Germany company and their stories can also be found in today’s news section.
Overall, from what “The Monty” has seen there is a very checkered history of manufacturers entering the commercial heat-treating market, with every success story being balanced out against an abject failure. An abject failure would include the old “Magna Powertrain” facility in Syracuse, NY (now in Mexico)which took in tremendous volumes of outside work in an effort to fill up their pusher furnaces, it turned out that every single pound produced represented a loss and the entire experiment was abandoned after a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. On the other side of the coin “Gleason Works” in Rochester, NY had had excellent results running outside product, mainly because their press quenching capabilities are unmatched by any commercial heat treater in the world.
In the case of “Tremec” the company certainly has the equipment, knowledge and certifications to compete with anybody in the world, the question is whether the company is structured in such a way to compete in the commercial heat treatment industry. Time will tell and we certainly wish them the best of luck.
“APRIL 2, 2024; Heat Treatment of Auto Transmissions-Tremec, Queretaro, Mexico; During a recent tour of some of the largest captive heat treats in Mexico, Gord and Jordan Montgomery of “The Monty Heat Treat News” had the opportunity to visit “Tremec” a global supplier of automotive transmissions;
About Tremec; “Welcome to TREMEC, a leading manufacturer of torque transfer solutions. From high performance vehicles to rugged-duty agricultural, vocational and line haul vehicles, TREMEC is a well-respected brand for world-class transmission assemblies and components. TREMEC torque transfer solutions include manual rear-wheel drive transmissions, dual clutch transmissions, hybrid & EV transmissions, gears, shafts, clutches, shift controllers, synchronizers, and mechatronic systems with integrated clutch systems and control software
TREMEC’s products solve key challenges faced by the powertrain industry, including mandates for increased fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, lower weight, and compact size. Its technology addresses the industry’s stringent requirements for reliability, cost, and quality – while providing fun-to-drive characteristics. Founded in 1964, TREMEC serves its global client base with over 1,450 employees and operations in North America and Europe. TREMEC is a wholly-owned business unit of Grupo KUO, S.A.B. de C.V., a diversified manufacturer of automotive, chemical and food products. Grupo KUO markets its products to over 70 countries and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.” https://www.tremec.com/menu/about-us/
During our visit we had the chance to speak with Mr. Hector Simental, Plant Manager at the Queretaro location and his team who shared with us some very interesting information about their heat treatment department and its’ challenges. The in house heat treatment department is a combination of continuous furnaces (7 in total) and batch IQ units (4), volumes determine which parts will be run in the continuous and batch furnaces. The firm has always felt strongly that heat treating is a “core competency and will remain in house-in the words of Hector “this allows us to control our own destiny”.
As is the case in many areas, CO2 emissions are a constant concern and in this case Tremec is being mandated by the Mexican government to reduce emissions which has lead to many discussions about gas heating vs; electric and induction heat treating as opposed to atmosphere heat treating-we would imagine that these issues will not be resolved for some time. Along the same lines the debate about electric vehicles compared to internal combustion vehicles has played havoc with production predictions, just as it has around the world. (incidentally the furnaces are gas heated).
This is a world class facility and the heat treat department is absolutely immaculate as you can see in one of these pictures. Hector can be seen in the center of the photo taken outside the facility. We thank the entire “Tremec” team for their time and their top notch hospitality.”
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THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A MANUFACTURER OFFERING COMMERCIAL HEAT TREATING AND TIES IN WITH OUR STORY ABOUT TRANSMISSION SUPPLIER TREMEC OFFERING COMMERCIAL HEAT TREATING
Over the years “The Monty Heat Treat News” has had the privilege of visiting two locations of Captive/Commercial heat treater Kern Liebers Schramberg, Germany and Queretaro, Mexico-visits which resulted in an article in 2018 entitled “Do Manufacturers Make Good Commercial Heat Treaters”. The original article is further down in its entirety but to quickly sum up Kern Liebers is a German manufacturer who heat treat their own products in house but who also offers commercial heat treating at 6 of their global locations, a combination which is reasonably rare and even rarer is the fact that they seem to make money from it.
In addition to the notes below “The Monty Heat Treat News” has also mentioned the company when they installed a new vacuum nitriding system from German furnace builder Rohde, a picture of which can be found here.
The company makes our news section today for the fact that they continue to flourish and a result is this brand new addition to the Queretaro, Mexico plant. What you see here is an IVA Schmetz, high pressure nitrogen quenching furnace with working dimensions of 36” X 36” X 72” which just arrived last week. This furnace will join 2 vacuum nitriders, a large pit furnace and several other styles of furnaces all dedicated to both captive and commercial heat treating.
“MAY 13/2019 QUERETARO, MEXICO; Kern Liebers is a company which intrigues us as they seem to be that very rare of breeds, a company which successfully combines manufacturing with captive and commercial heat treating. Recently they have been promoting themselves with press releases such as this combined with a photo of the plant in Mexico. “We present the two plants KERN-LIEBERS MEXICO in the state of Queretaro. One of them is dedicated to the production of stampings, stampings and heat treatments, while the other is focused on springs. More than 540 employees work in these facilities of 22.400 square meters of extension, where we offer amenities such as a gym for the exclusive use of employees and their families, among others.” To go with this news item we include our original news item from a few months ago along with a photo of part of their heat treating department.
“OCTOBER 2018 PRESS RELEASE; Do Manufacturers Make Good Commercial Heat Treaters? Kern Liebers; Generally our opinion is that manufacturers who have in house heat treating capacity make poor commercial heat treaters for a wide variety of reasons. However having said that we very recently visited a manufacturer who for years now has been offering commercial heat treating from their in house heat treating departments and has been very successful at it. KERN-LIEBERS is a medium-sized family owned company based in southwest Germany who specializes in the production of highly complex strip and wire parts and assemblies. The KERN-LIEBERS group of companies develops and manufactures precision products at over 50 locations around the world and currently 6 of these locations have in house heat treating capacity which offer commercial heat treating.
Two weeks ago we visited the Schramberg, Germany location which has the ability to offer Gas Nitriding, Nitrocarburizing – also of stainless steels, case hardening, carburizing, austempering and vacuum hardening. One look at the equipment tells us why the company is successful at commercial heat treating, it is new and varied In addition as Kern Liebers services a number of different industries they have a wide variety of certifications including IATF 16949 and CQI9 to name a few. While a majority of the heat treat capacity is dedicated to their own products by sales volume, the commercial heat treating side of the business is substantial and contributes a significant part on it. It is important to note that while the company probably did not set out to be a commercial heat treater they certainly treat it as an independent profit center with worldwide heat treatment .
Mrs. Li Haas [email protected] is working for the sales department in Germany, who is connected to all the heat treatment teams of the other locations. Other locations offering commercial heat treating include China – Taicang near Shanghai and Tianjin near Beijing, India – Tumkur near Bangalore, Czech Republic – Budweis, and Mexico – Querétaro . While many of the processes are duplicated in the various locations some such as Plasma Nitriding is only available in one location (Taicang/Tianjin, China) or Induction Hardening which is only available in India and the Czech Republic. As we speak the company is making major investments in many of their plants, including two new pit furnaces from Rohde Furnaces in Germany-one for the Mexico location and another for the Czech Republic. Rohde is also in the process of installing 2 new vacuum nitriding furnaces in Mexico. Rohde has already equipped all worldwide Kern Liebers plants with either pit or chamber furnaces. Other planned additions include more of an emphasis on nitriding capacity especially in China and especially as it relates to heat treating of stainless steels. So while we feel that most captive heat treaters do not make a good commercial heat treater we can point to Kern Liebers and say; “here is a company that manufactures a very good product and is also a darn good commercial heat treater.”
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THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A MANUFACTURER OFFERING COMMERCIAL HEAT TREATING AND TIES IN WITH OUR STORY ABOUT TRANSMISSION SUPPLIER TREMEC OFFERING COMMERCIAL HEAT TREATING
