Most Popular Heat Treat News Item Week of October 21

According to our readers the most read heat treatment news items on “The Monty Heat Treat News” for the week starting October 21, 2024 include an item about a new Heat Treatment facility in Tenesses, USA, a LPC installation in Germany and a profile about commercial heat treater Parker Trutec in Springfield, Ohio;
 
Fastener Manufacturer “Simpson Strong Tie” Investing in New Heat Treat Department; Simpson Strong Tie, is a global supplier of fastening systems for the building industry-this is how they describe themselves;  “Simpson Strong-Tie is the world leader in structural solutions — products and technology that help people design and build safer, stronger homes, buildings, and communities. As a pioneer in the building industry, we have an unmatched passion for problem solving through skillful engineering and thoughtful innovation. Our structural systems research and rigorous testing enable us to design code-listed, value-engineered solutions for a multitude of applications in wood, steel, and concrete structures. Our dedication to pursuing ever-better construction products and technology and to surrounding our customers with exceptional service and support has been core to our mission since 1956.” 
 
Back in late 2023 the company announced a major investment at a facility in Tennessee, USA and it appears that this includes a new, in-house heat treatment facility. “The Monty” has been led to believe that this will include two brand new batch IQ lines and 2 mesh belt furnace lines with the orders placed recently. If this is true it would mean that production in the heat treat department would commence roughly 1 year from now.
 
European Gear Manufacturer Installs LPC System; Kordel Antriebstechnik GmbH based in Dülmen, Germany is a manufacturer of “high end” gear and drive systems and a company which believes in keeping all parts of the manufacturing process in house from gear blank to a finished gearbox. This includes heat treating which brings us to this news item.
 
Traditionally the company has heat treated their products in “standard” atmosphere furnaces, however it would appear that this is changing and the company recently added a Low Pressure Vacuum Carburizing system provided by IHI Machinery & Furnace Company. For many of you, especially North Americans the IHI name is probably a new one which deserves some more details. IHI is a Japanese furnace builder who has systems in Europe and many parts of the world with the exception of North America-as far as we know the firm has no installs in North America and does not appear to be actively marketing their products here. The system (which is shown in this photo) is a fully automated “lights out” installation with 4 carburizing cells.
 
Parker Trutec-One of the Largest Commercial Heat Treaters in North America; For many years “The Monty Heat Treat News” has been publishing an industry exclusive- a list of the “50 Largest Commercial Heat Treaters in North America” . And for a number of years included on that list has been Parker Trutec which led to a visit by Gord and Jordan Montgomery of “The Monty” last week at Parkers’ Corporate office in Springfield, Ohio, USA.
Our host for the tour was Mr. Shannon Ricciardo, Vice President, Sales and Marketing for the company. Shannon brings a wealth of knowledge to the position having worked on the production side of the of the business for over 20 years before moving into a sales role. Shannon shared with us the history of the company, information about their various North American locations and a very in depth plant tour-this is what we learned;
 
In 1928 parent company Nihon Parkerizing was established in Tokyo, Japan, this eventually resulted in Nihon Parkerizing establishing “Trutec, Inc.” in Urbana, Ohio, a facility which exists to this day and which offers surface treatment. This investment in turn resulted in Nihon Parkerizing setting up their first North American heat treat facility under the name “Trutec, Inc.” located in Springfield, Ohio. In 2003 the name was changed to “Parker Trutec, Inc.”, and through an acquisition the company added plants in Arkansas, and Tennessee.
 
The end result is that “Parker Trutec” now has 6 locations throughout North America including Springfield, Ohio, Urbana, Ohio, Sevierville, Tennessee, Kodak Tennessee and Paragould, Arkansas.  Under the Nihon Parkerizing group company Parker Trutec Mexicana are locations in Irapuato, Mexico and Aguascalientes, Mexico. To some extent each facility has some of the same capabilities as the other plants but this is certainly not universal. For instance, Gas Carburizing, Gas Soft Nitriding, Carbonitriding and neutral hardening are exclusive to the Springfield and Mexico locations while Ferritic Nitrocarburizing and Isonite QPQ are offered in Springfield, Ohio, Sevierville, Tennessee, Paragould, Arkansas and Mexico.
 
It is certainly no surprise that “Parker Trutec’s” core business is centered on the automotive industry but it would be incorrect to assume that it largely serves Japanese automakers. In actual fact only 60% of their business is for Japanese firms with the remainder for North American and European companies. Our visit to the Springfield plant revealed almost exactly what we expected to see, a large, clean, modern facility much larger than the average commercial heat treat which is borne out by the fact that it has over 150 employees. In terms of equipment this is what we saw;
  • Salt Bath Nitriding Furnaces (FNC) processing our Isonite process to AMS 2755 (High Cyanide Salt).
  • Salt Bath Nitriding Furnaces (FNC) processing our Isonite QPQ process to AMS 2753 (Low Cyanide Salt).
  • Salt Bath Nitriding Furnaces (FNC) processing our Isonite LiFe process.
  • Gas Ferritic Carburizing Furnaces (FNC) processing to AMS 2757.
  • Batch Carburizing with Dowa, Surface Combustion and AFC-Holcroft Furnaces.
  • Carburizing, Carbonitriding, Neutral Hardening (Quench & Temper), Normalizing.
  • Continuous Roller-Hearth Carburizing Furnaces (Dowa).
  • Vacuum Degreasing Systems for pre- and post-carburizing.
  • Hanging and barrel shotblasters.
  • Vibratory polishing equipment.
And does Parker Trutec deserve to be on our list of the 50 Largest Commercial Heat Treaters in North America? With heat treat sales of roughly $45 million USD and total sales of approximately $56 million USD the answer is an unqualified YES.