Largest European Commercial Heat Treaters

From heat treat industry expert Thomas Wingens (whose profile can be viewed at the bottom of this page) we have this summary of the 10 largest commercial heat treaters in Europe based on annual sales volume. To this list we have added some comments of our own.

• Bodycote;It can be no surprise to anybody that the world’s largest commercial heat treater, Bodycote is the largest in Europe also with 123 locations. https://www.bodycote.com/

• Hauck;A division of Aalberts Industries based in the Netherlands Hauck is easily the second largest in Europe with 27 locations. https://hauckht.com/

• SHU;In Ulm, Germany SHU is the largest owner operated commercial heat treater in the country. What makes the company truly unique is the fact that is operates out of only 2 plants. http://www.shu-ulm.de/

• HEF;HEF Group based in France has a total of 28 locations and is best known for nitriding. https://www.hef.fr/

• Hanomag;Family owned Hanomag in Germany has over 650 employees and 7 locations and is easily one of the 10 largest commercial heat treaters in Europe. https://www.haertecenter.de/en/hanomag/about-us/about-hanomag/

• Härtha;Headquartered in Germany this company has locations in Germany, Italy and Romania. https://www.halex-group.de/V1/index.php/en/haerthahardeningindustries-en

• H-O-T;In Germany H-O-T has a total of 10 locations https://www.hot-online.de/

• Thermi Lyon;With 10 locations mainly around France but with a plant in China and one in Romania Thermi Lyon is possibly the largest commercial heat treater in France. http://www.groupe-thermi-lyon.com/

• Wallwork;In the UK Wallwork with 5 plants is one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the country. https://www.wallworkht.co.uk/

• Voestalpine;While based in Austria Voestalpine has locations all around the world and a number in Europe making them the 10th largest commercial in Europe. https://www.voestalpine.com/group/en/

“Thomas Wingens is the President of WINGENS LLC International Industry Consultancy in Pittsburgh, PA and Stuttgart, Germany. He has a graduated engineering degree (Dipl.Ing.) in material science from the University of Applied Science in Dortmund/Germany and holds a MBA from the University of Economy and Management in Stuttgart/Germany. Mr. Wingens started his professional career in 1987 as metallurgist and heat treater in the Thyssen Specialty Steel mill in Germany and has worked in Management and Executive positions with leading companies in the metal and heat treat industry, such as Bodycote, Ipsen, Tenova Group, Seco/Warwick, VTN (IHI Group) and executed research projects with ThyssenKrupp Germany, Volvo Corporate Research Sweden and Böhler Voestalpine Steel Austria. He is a member of ASM (American Society of Materials), AIST (American Iron and Steel Technology) in the US and their equivalent societies in Germany  (VDI Germany Engineering Society, VDEH – German Society of Iron and Steel, AWT – German heat treat society). In August 2016 he got elected as board member to the North American Heat Treat Society (HTS). Mr. Wingens has published several papers and held presentations at international conferences on general heat treating, nitriding and vacuum furnace processes. He lives with his wife Andrea and their two children In Sewickley, PA (Pittsburgh). Thomas can be reached at [email protected]