Monday Morning Briefing

We are going to start off in Indiana, USA. It comes from Ben Crawford who has made a real name for himself in the North American heat treating industry, most recently as CEO of Contour Hardening. It’s a rather unusual press release in that we don’t see any obvious connection with the heat treating industry however we have been assured that with time everything will become clear; “ETI, an OEM manufacturing company that for over 50 years specializes in designing and manufacturing products for effectively managing the environment, announced today that they have completed the acquisition of assets from a global manufacturing company headquartered in Indiana. The acquisition is a carve out of the metal fabrication and machining division located in Indianapolis, Indiana. ETI FAB, Inc is the newly formed entity and has completed the build out of a 30,000 square foot building and is completing the installation of the assets located in Westfield, IN. ETI FAB was able to retain the highly skilled employees and will remain as a leading contract manufacturer of metal and aluminum parts that will serve a variety of industries on a global scale. The facility will manufacture parts to customer designed drawings and produce parts for ETI improving speed in the support of its products. ETI FAB’s services include metal fabrication by laser cutting, forming, bending, stamping, welding and machining.

“Acquiring capability to metal fabricate allows the ETI network to be more insular. This acquisition is our first step in creating our future picture” stated Ben Crawford, President and CEO of the ETI companies. Crawford further stated, “In working closely with the company that the assets were acquired from, we’re particularly excited about retaining employees that have been operating this equipment for many years. I’m truly grateful for the support and collaboration that has provided a smooth transition to ETI. Their guidance supporting employees and customers is very much admired”. ETI FAB has begun fulfilling customer orders and will be in full production in June. “The team that has been assembled is a high-performing team that I’m thrilled to lead” stated “Jeff Frazee, Plant Manager of ETI FAB. Frazee further commented “Our commitment to safety, quality, employees and customers is our guiding precept”.

McLaughlin Furnace Group is excited to announce we will be partnering with Larry Hindle of Summit Controls. Larry will be assisting McLaughlin Furnace Group in Controls, PLC Programming and Electrical Panels. We are excited about the experience that Larry brings to McLaughlin Furnace Group and we believe that he will help our company continue to expand and change the industry. Picture order: L-R: Damon Butler, Ryan McLaughlin, Jeff McLaughlin,Larry Hindle, and Ben Tackett.

This news item caught our eye because we have some knowledge of the heat treating department at Diamond Chain. For years it included rotary retort furnaces and perhaps still does however we do know that they were considering a switch to mesh belt lines;“The Timken Company acquired Diamond Chain Company, a supplier of high-performance roller chains for industrial markets, from Amsted Industries. Indianapolis, Ind.-based Diamond Chain has manufacturing operations in the U.S. and China and employs approximately 370 people. The company uses enhanced heat-treatment processes that help pins maintain rigidity in the most challenging environments. Diamond Chain also utilizes laser fabrication to drastically cut manufacturing times for custom-made chain attachments. The acquisition increases Timken’s presence in the global roller-chain market by adding a product line used in a range of applications. It also gives Timken additional opportunities to deliver more value for customers in the industrial distribution, material-handling, agriculture and construction industries.” 

Furnace manufacturer ALD in Hanau, Germany is finding business to be pretty darn good which has led to an expansion of their facility something we mentioned a few months back. We now have a photo of the construction and include also a photo of the inside of the plant which we took the last time we visited the company.

From Western Canada we have this heat treating news from commercial heat treater Thermex; “The Thermex Team is very excited for the first flame startup of our newest, and largest, internal quench furnace, a “Super 36” that significantly increases our carburizing and through hardening capacity.  This furnace features automated process monitoring and control (times, temperatures, atmosphere, quench) for consistency and quality load to load.  Next week is for temp uniformity surveys and test loads, with coupons to be assessed in our in-house metallurgical lab.  The week after – customer parts!”

We all know that commercial heat treating is a family dominated industry which makes this item the norm rather than the exception. In Tonawanda, NY we find family owned commercial heat treat B&W Heat Treating Company (by the way there are not many commercial heat treaters left in Upstate, New York). The company concentrates on stress relieving, tempering and sand blasting and for years it has been run by Cliff Calvello. Time marches on and Cliff’s son Kevin is buying the business from his father and assuming the title of President with Cliff moving to Chairman of the Board. As a third generation family owned business we wish them the best of luck.

From Alloy Engineering, an alloy fabricating company in Berea, Ohio, USA (whose banner ad can be found on this page) we have this tidbit; “Alloy Engineering, founded in 1943 in a Rocky River home, fabricates alloy parts for high-temperature and corrosive-resistant industrial applications. It also boasts Ohio’s first Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, established in 1974. The plan is recognized as the first for an Ohio company by the Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC). At 45 years old, it’s also the long- est-running ESOP in the state. “Today, the company is 100% owned by 100% of eligible employees,” said Lee Watson, Alloy’s president and CEO. “Every employee is eligible to be in the plan after one year of service; they’re vested fully after three years of employment.”Rather than resting on its laurels, the 75-year-old company, with annual revenue between $25 million and $30 million, is taking old-school values and an old-school work ethic to new heights by further concentrating on the well-being of its almost 100 employees.”