EDITOR

Message from the Editor: Digitalization: An Ever-Expanding Frontier

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Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. This letter first appeared in the May 2023 Sustainable Heat Treat Technologies print edition.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment.

In order to create a more sustainable future for heat treaters, operators may be looking to “digitalization” as an immediate step for their heat treat systems. Digitalization is an amorphous term that can describe a few things.

One definition of digitalization curated for the heat treat industry is: the integration of advanced digital technologies (like cloud technologies, 3D visualization, simulation, analytics and collaboration tools, and even robotics) with heat treat equipment and all other aspects of production (order fulfillment, certifications, communication systems, etc.) to create a “digital twin” — that is, a holistic virtual representation of heat treat operations. By transitioning analog data and manual operations to a digital system, the end goal of creating a “digital twin” of all heat treat operations can be actualized, allowing heat treaters to monitor and analyze in real-time and create simulations and predictions about equipment performance.

This term tends to be broader than just “digitization” — the act of digitizing analog technologies to digital form — though the two terms are often used interchangeably.

An interest in digitalization makes a lot of sense. For one, updating manufacturing plants with digital practices is a huge draw for young people: “People want to work for a technologically advanced company that they can feel good about,” according to Josh Hale, managing recruiter at International Search Partners, when he spoke on Heat Treat Radio . Additionally, Covid-19 labor constraints accelerated adoption of IIoT (industrial internet of things) technologies — digitalization being just one of many. But there are also several intrinsic promises that digitalization has to offer manufacturers, for example:

  1. Efficiency: creating efficient operations that streamline business processes
  2. Accuracy: increasing accuracy by achieving precise control over temperature, atmosphere, and other process parameters
  3. Data and Analytics: real-time monitoring/data collection and rapid data analysis
  4. Safety: reduced need for manual interventions, thus avoiding accidents and improving operator safety

From a sustainability perspective, digitalization means heat treaters can monitor, analyze, predict, test, and adapt energy efficiencies in their operations. This magazine features a conversation with experts in heat treat with an eye for energy, and they’ve commented on this specific topic. “With higher computational capacity on the controllers on a per furnace basis,” John Clarke, technical director at Helios Electric Corporation notes, “we have the ability to start executing real-time analysis on the furnace and potentially implement a thermodynamic model of the furnace and how it’s operating.” Several representatives from Watlow illustrate this point: “Poor thermal uniformity can lead to scrap and rework of material, which both result in excess energy consumption.” Read the eight-page conversation with six international expert contributors on page 19.

But there are drawbacks to adopting this new technology, and in the midst of all of this “good,” I do wonder how difficult this transition has been — or can be — for some in-house heat treaters. Challenges when considering this technology include:

  1. Initial Investment. The initial investment in new technology is always present, and so is the question of who will “dish out the dough.” Will the furnace supplier try to absorb upgrading expenses? Or does it fall to the end-user buying the furnace or upgrade?
  2. Operational Complexity. However easy to operate a technology is now, it was not always the case. I once thought typing at a computer was the most difficult thing in the world. Now, I’m so familiar with a keyboard that I can look over at my husband texting on his phone and know (to a degree) the message he is typing, just by watching his thumb position. What skills does your team have to learn a new system? How much time will it take to train 50%–75% of them? How long until you feel confident in the process?
  3. Overdependence on Technology. We depend on digital technologies for many things (thank you, alarm clocks!), but is the level of dependence compromising something valuable? And to what degree? When it comes to cybersecurity threats, for example, what type of dependence on technology exposes you to more risk versus fortifying your internal systems?

The promises and challenges of digitalization will continue to face-off in offices and plant floors. While the boundary line of digital acceptance may shift, this new frontier towards creating “a holistic virtual representation of heat treat operations” means new technologies and processes that will be tested and adopted by heat treat pioneers, possibly you.

As with any frontier, there are known and unknown dangers. Let us know how your company is considering digitalization and what opportunities are golden nuggets or simply fool’s gold: editor@heattreattoday.com.

Special thanks to Mike Löpke (head of software & digitalization at Nitrex Metal) and Jeffrey Halonen (CEO of Steelhead Technologies) for their insights.

Bethany Leone, Managing Editor, Heat Treat Today

Contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

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Message from the Editor: The Hard and the Smart of Learning

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Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. This letter first appeared in the January/February 2024 Air & Atmosphere Heat Treat print edition.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment.

Bethany Leone, Managing Editor, Heat Treat Today

Ever try to learn something that nobody seems to explain in clear English? While this is sometimes the reality in industries chock-full of competitive information, it can also be rooted in simply not knowing the limits of one’s knowledge.

It reminds me of June 2020, when I was entering the heat treat industry as an editor. I had a background in research, teaching, and writing, but certainly not materials science, manufacturing, or any type of engineering. There was an information gap I was keen on closing.

As a millennial, I went about this by supplementing my work hours with videos of iron ore being poured, reading blogs about specific temperature ranges involved in different heat treat processes, and scanning latest news in the four major Heat Treat Today industries (automotive, aerospace, medical, and energy) to learn what to ask about. The long and short of it was that I decided to “work smarter” by absorbing quick information bites that I could use as context for my work. And, at least to this young blood, the smart way means doing the job efficiently and effectively. (Notice how effectively follows efficiently.)

Now, there was absolutely nothing wrong with working smarter! The problem was that I was not getting any smarter. In fact, I was running into one problem a er another. Often, this was in the form of, “Does this equipment piece really matter to our readers?” or, “I understand time and temperature are important, but how do I write about them in this instance?” While I had absorbed information about the subject material, I
had not reconciled myself with the reality that arduous work was needed to learn information in a usable way.

My idea of working smarter at this stage, while helpful to an extent, was costing me the time and energy needed that could have been used to dedicate myself to learning one thing at a time, accepting the arduous nature of the process. Since then, I have taken opportunities to learn more
about equipment, processes, and heat treat resources through lectures, books, and richer knowledge sources. Now, because I have a richer understanding of industry information, I have the discernment needed to work smarter to be more effective.

As an example, this February issue is dedicated to annealing in roller hearth furnace systems. In preparation for this focus, I:

  1. consulted Dan Herring’s chapter about air/atmosphere furnaces and furnace classifications to identify why this equipment has such a name and some of the equipment highlights,
  2. talked with experts with a history in the heat treat industry about the equipment highlights,
  3. reviewed Heat Treat Radio’s episode on pusher versus continuous systems to better see how a pusher system functions,
  4. located technical articles written on annealing, and
  5. watched short videos of the system in action.

For a B2B editor, this list is sufficient . . . for now. But for heat treat decision makers working for manufacturers with in-house heat treat, more is needed. That is why we have assembled this magazine for you: to be better informed and so make better decisions. There are three features in the pages that follow to help give you greater insight into this one area of heat treat — roller hearth systems (see pages 10, 18, and 26 for these articles). Whether you are a veteran when it comes to using roller hearth furnace systems or a skeptical observer from the sidelines, I hope these articles are resources as you work hard to better learn this topic so you can work smarter when the need arises.

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Message from the Editor: Winter

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Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares some reflections on the season of winter and the opportunity this season provides to ponder the stories that inspire us towards the coming spring.

This article first appeared in December 2023’s Medical and Energy Heat Treat print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Do you feel the cold of the coming winter?

Beneath the surface of earth is a realm of darkness and death, ruled by Hades. By his throne, the ever-youthful Persephone soon will join him for these winter months, as she has pledged to do each year.

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Perhaps you know this Greek myth: Hades, enraptured by the sweetness of Persephone, stole Persephone down to his kingdom of darkness to be his queen. While Persephone was confined below ground for what would be eternity, her mother, Demeter, went into great mourning. Side note: Persephone is a goddess. So, when we say her mother went into mourning, we mean the goddess of the harvest caused drought in the lands, weeping for her daughter.

Clearly, this could not go on. Zeus, the head god of all gods and master of the sky, intercedes on behalf of all humanity for Persephone to return to her mother. Hades agrees, after all, he’s not an evil guy; just selfish through and through, like all anthropomorphic gods. . . But before the Maiden leaves, he offers her seeds from a refreshing pomegranate, which she takes. One, two, three, perhaps six seeds she ate. She is reunited with Demeter, and all is well.

Wrong.

For in eating these seeds from the Underworld, Hades may now claim his bride to dwell with him for several months in the year.

So, each year, while Persephone is confined below ground, the Greek goddess of the harvest roams the earth in mourning, withholding grain from the land. We know that precious Persephone returns to her mother by the telltale signs of spring (yes, she is known as being the goddess of spring).

Persephone and Hades. Tondo of an Attic red-figured kylix, ca. 440-430 BC. Said to be from Vulci. (Source: ©Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons)

As winter descends, this tale often breaks through my mind. Why? As a student of history, I do not believe it is true, neither does the myth cohere perfectly with my religious beliefs. But this story of six unassuming pomegranate seeds, the power of a mother’s will, and the cruel edge of mourning carries me through cold winter with thoughts of spring.

The myth, though untrue, is truer because it is not true. (For more on this tongue-in-cheek insight, read G. K. Chesterton’s chapter, “The Ethics of Elfland,” in Orthodoxy).

I enjoy telling variations of this myth to myself and turning over and over these subtle implications about life, as well as the humanizing and “just-so” element of why we may have a winter to begin with . . . well, why many of us have a true winter.

But it does not take time-tested myths to inspire. At the recent ASM Heat Treat show, I met a man who shared his passions for the industry, for serving others, for volunteering, and for making the most of 16-hour car drives to make calls to his family. While the details are a blur, the story I left with was that the reason to live was to give. While sales were important — that was his job! — this was just a part of his life story of giving.

What stories inspire you? Perhaps a successful installation of a new vacuum oil quench furnace that you supported brings to mind challenges of logistics, cooperation with culturally different people, or memories of near disasters. Were there themes of endurance, commitment to doing the hard thing so you could get smart enough to do the smart thing?

Whatever the story, remember it so whenever a “winter” in work or life comes, the themes may encourage you of a coming spring.

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Message From the Editor: Daylight Savings

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This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares some thoughts on savings, delayed gratification, and how these concepts apply to the work of Heat Treat Today. 

This article first appeared in November 2023’s Vacuum Heat Treat  print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

I like having savings. Monetary and more: a fully secure retirement fund; my grandmother’s aunt’s antique bookcase; a bottle of well-aged Italian wine; and a stash of dark chocolate. But “savings” are funny animals. They are one of many things in life that are a blessing to enjoy, but the flip side of them always reveals a moment of saying no, and often multiple times since savings happen over time.

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It’s worth noting that this action of delaying gratification is not a universally appreciated principle. There are good reasons to be wary. Sometimes delaying gratification (or saying no) obscures the need to recognize a good, true decision that one should make in the moment; other times, it makes us focus on long-term goals to an inordinate degree that we fail to appreciate the fleeting joys life gives us in each day.

However, I see these reasons as the worst distortions of applying this principle: The whole purpose of delaying gratification is to live in a way that increases one’s ultimate ability to be fully grateful in the pursuits of this life — day to day, lifelong, and eternal. Daylight savings just ended in the U.S. on November 5, which means the one hour that we said no to using back in March we now cashed in on by sleeping in an extra hour! Well, that’s how I have been using this savings plan. Yet, my life norms (I work from home at a computer) aren’t benefited by the “daylight spending” that happened during the dark months. The fact is, saving that hour of sleep in March only guarantees that my sleep rhythms are thrown off drastically at least once a year (usually twice).

At the time of writing this editorial in September, I wondered, what if I “saved” differently this year. Rather than cash in on the hour this fall, could I save those extra 60 minutes every morning until March 2024, and use them for independent pursuits? This savings plan means saying no to that relished November day of sleeping in, but it means a half a year of an extra morning hour all to myself . . . and no thrown off sleep rhythms.

(Yes, I know there are readers out there who have cracked the system and may already — willingly or culturally — avoid daylight savings. Make room: I’m jumping on your bandwagon!) This realization — that (a) this daylight savings plan isn’t working for me, and (b) I could do something about it — was more profound than it should have been. Maybe it looks like optimizing my inbox by streamlining current e-newsletters and incorporating additional points of information so that I am effectively staying on top of trends.

Heat Treat Today’s media message is that people make better decisions when they are well informed, and our mission is to provide helpful, relevant information to ensure North American manufacturers with in-house heat treat are well informed every day. Whether you subscribe to just the Heat Treat Daily and receive the Heat Treat Today print publication or stay on top of your industry’s trending technical and news highlights with a monthly Heat Treat Today industry e-newsletter, you are saving resources that — we believe! — will give you an edge on the industry.

But just as with my realization of daylight savings, take a second to consider how you will be cashing out. Save what matters, not what appears to matter to everyone else.

 

 

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Message From the Editor: Your Words Are Not Everything

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This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares some thoughts on the power of words and most importantly, the power of voice behind the words. 

This article first appeared in September 2023's People of Heat Treat print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

This past year, I had the honor of digitally transcribing someone’s personal writings. A culmination of spontaneous recollections, the author sought to make copies to better share this memory diary with her family.

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The histories of cultural celebrations, professional successes, and childhood joy intermingled with stories of grief and personal poetry. Cursive writing enclosed each of these stories in the most beautiful gift wrapping for her loved ones.

However, the author — an accomplished writer in her own right — wanted the transcription to be edited. In keeping it a transcript (of a personal nature, no less) and following orders to clean up the original, I faced a dilemma: How does one preserve voice?

This may sound easy, and in many cases, the answer is simple. For unclear text, adjust punctuation. For spelling or grammar oversights, edit! And, of course confirm the timeline and the spelling of personal names or companies with the original author. These are all edits that ensure the correct information is preserved.

But so many times in editing the personal voice of this transcript, the decisions were gray; sometimes, the facts that were written could not even be confirmed.

So, what to do? Ultimately, only one option satisfied the need to balance edits for clarity against preservation of voice: I looked to the heart of the author behind her words. This intelligent, loving, storytelling, and sometimes still grieving woman needed to be heard through her words. Thus edit I did, but not everything.

Coming from an editor, the notion that “words are not everything” may be surprising, though I hope, comforting. When we hear the words of others, there is clarity and meaning in the articulation, and perhaps even some superficial qualities that come through — an accent, for example. Yet to truly understand the voice of an author or speaker — that is, the style, manner, and intention of their words — we must seek to hear the heart behind the words.

40 Under 40 Class of 2022 honorees with Heat Treat Today at Furnaces North America 2022

Looking to Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2023, we can begin to hear the heart of the people behind the words that they will speak as they rise into leadership positions across North America’s heat treat industry. You will see the acts of service, the care for the well-being of others, and the humility behind many of the winners when you turn to page 28 and meet this year’s class.

This year, we are also grateful to have the words of others in this magazine that encourage and inspire the next generation to use their voices wisely and effectively. Explore the Words of Encouragement from industry leaders, the personal stories in the “Women’s Roundtable: Leadership in Heat Treat," the forward-looking leadership and brain drain columns, and more for insightful messages.

In person, we get to connect even more and see the heart behind the words even more clearly. Heat Treat Today has a tradition of meeting new members of 40 Under 40 at the annual heat treat tradeshow. So, this year in Detroit, the current class and any available 40 Under 40 alums will gather at Heat Treat Today’s booth to receive a quick in-person recognition and send-off. If you are at the show, I hope to see you and, perhaps more importantly, hear your heart behind the words.

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Message from the Editor: Self-Healing Properties

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This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor of Heat Treat Today shares some reflections on self-healing across time. Looking at ancient structures and then progressing to modern-day applications, there is some room for wonder within the realm of science. Use the Reader Feedback button below to comment.

This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today's March Aerospace Heat Treating print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Let’s talk Ancient Roman engineering. Aqueducts (elevated bridges made of concrete) stretched for miles to convey water from hilltops down to citizens and industries in city centers. Scientific studies covered by the University of Utah Blog, Engineering and Technology, and National Geographic have shown many cases where these concrete structures and other 2,000-year-old concrete Roman piers submerged in water have not just survived but thrived; it’s an ancient technology that’s stronger than modern methods.

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Bethany Leone
Managing Editor Heat Treat Today / Heat Treat Radio Editor

Chemical reaction with the salty seawater is believed to be one reason for the lasting success of maritime concrete: seawater filters through the concrete, interlocking minerals grow within the structures, and the concrete ages with strength because of this added cohesion between the minerals and concrete. Additionally, assumptions for the ancient concrete’s strength pointed to pozzolanic materials as the strengthening composition.

But recently, researchers have identified “self-healing properties” of Roman concrete across applications — maritime piers, aqueducts, and roads, to name a few. The key component? Bright, white mineral fragments called “lime clasts” made of various calcium carbonate forms that were created under high heat. When cracks fractured into the concrete and broke across the lime clasts, water could enter and react with the material, creating a calcium-saturated solution. This solution can: recrystallize as calcium carbonate, thus filling the crack that allowed the water to enter in the first place, or react with pozzolanic materials, thus further strengthening the concrete.

"Aqueducts stretched for miles . . ."
Source: Adobe Stock/Kushnirov Avraham

Reading this research on ancient building methods, I remembered the “self-healing” that has recently been introduced to metallurgy by Rice University. Researchers developed a sulfur-selenium alloy that is corrosion-resistant and, when used as a coating for steel, could repair perforations when heat was applied (sometimes it even self-repaired without heat application). In moments like these, I look at my pinewood table and my ceramic mug and want to yell, “It’s alive!!”

Seeing these miraculous properties of material scientists and researchers does not lessen the amazing abilities that heat, water, and minerals continue to have after thousands of years. This excitement also does not stand alone but builds on the extensive knowledge of physics and chemistry as well as logic (no good engineer can do without that!) and creativity. Self-healing, while a trendy word, is not a tool that the engineer can use all on its own.

This liveliness in the world is ancient and present, integrated with other experiences, and also personal; as humans, we know the extent of “self-healing” and the interventions that are required to fully heal. There are points in life — perhaps childhood, apprenticeships, sports, or simply facing the daily grind — when it becomes necessary for someone to heal us, help us, and sometimes temper us. And, as an engineer or engineering-minded reader, you know that this is natural and good.

As we pull out another bar of chocolate to watch another video about how practical visionaries are developing technologies like self-healing materials for real-world solutions, we may see the heat treat industry under pressure to adapt old methods of processing parts to gain better results with new alloys. Especially in the open-mouth-gaping-at-new-technologies times we find ourselves in human history, we can still remember that however mind-blowing the discoveries — even in the face of something so crazy-sounding as “self-healing” — we can be like the Ancient Romans and (thoughtfully) embrace the miraculous material reality, too.

 

 

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Message from the Editor: Running the Baton to the Library

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This first message from Bethany Leone, managing editor of Heat Treat Today gives an introduction to who she is and some of her favorite reads. A lot can be learned about a person by knowing what is on their bookshelf, and Bethany's library snapshot gives readers an opportunity to know her better. She, and the rest of the Heat Treat Today team would love to hear what populates the bookshelves of our readers! Use the Reader Feedback button below to comment.

This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today's February Air & Atmosphere Furnace Systems print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

In December, Karen Gantzer dedicated this Message from the Editor column to reflect on “passing the baton” of managing print editorial content. So here we are, running with the baton while paging through the first edition of Heat Treat Today's 2023 print magazines.

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Bethany Leone
Managing Editor Heat Treat Today / Heat Treat Radio Editor

First things first, let me share a summary about myself. My name is Bethany Leone, lover of art, puns, bonfires, and books. I believe the sweetest things in life originate from my dear niece or a hint of cocoa. It is good to learn new things, but more important is learning the wisdom to do those things well. You can bump into me in Pittsburgh, PA, though it is unlikely that you will see me in crowds of people (unless you are out partner dancing, too).

Now, before I run the managing editor baton to the “heat treat industry library” (i.e., The Heat Treat Doctor® series of books), let me share a few books in my library that have shaped who I am to give you better understanding of Bethany Leone.

The Holy Bible

Although it is a collection of books — and there are a few books in here that I haven’t read more than once — the words from these pages have guided me many days of my life. Impossible passages, stunning creativity, wild histories, and a message of the Truth that inspires me daily.

Forests: The Shadow of Civilization

How do humans across civilizations through time perceive the looming darkness of the manifold trees? In reading Robert Pogue Harrison’s book about how humans respond and are shaped by their conception of the sacred or treacherous or exploitable wood, you may also be stunned by how closely we define and are defined by our relationships with the environment around us.

The Body Keeps the Score

A book about how trauma effects the biology and neurology of the body, I began reading this book to better appreciate the effects of suffering. Sometimes hidden, sometimes manageable, the collection of anecdotes about how trauma alters our minds and bodies is a humbling and worthwhile read for anyone seeking to love their neighbor better.

The Past and Future City: How Historic Preservation Is Reviving America’s Communities

Why buy historic homes? Apparently, there are many secondary benefits to the enjoyment of life in “older, smaller” neighborhoods. A walkable area where the old and young mingle as well as those from different income levels often means that people enjoy a better quality of life. The questions (and answers) on how to encourage and maintain this direction of civil values are explored in this reading by Stephanie Meeks.

The Singing Bowl: Collected poems by Malcolm Guite

Finally, this collection of poetry by Malcolm Guite is a treasure trove for searching hearts. For years, I was only captivated by the first poem, “The Singing Bowl.” But if you care to wander the pages of “What if…” and “Lapis Lazuli,” you won’t regret the 60 seconds of introspection that Guite offers.

So that’s it! A brief introduction of the new managing editor. I’ll never fill the shoes of Karen Gantzer, but I am thrilled to see Heat Treat Today continuing to inform the heat treat industry from this new perspective.

Now, if we ever meet in-person, skip the introduction and answer me this: What’s in your library?

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Message from the Editor: Passing the Baton

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Watching the calendar phase from one year to the next has us all thinking about change. Karen Gantzer, senior editor and associate publisher of Heat Treat Today, gives insight to a change happening within the Heat Treat Today team. The team is thankful for the work of both Karen Gantzer and Bethany Leone and look forward to the new year and their new roles!

This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today's December 2022 Medical and Energy print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Karen Gantzer
Senior Editor, Associate Publisher
Heat Treat Today

Transitions. How appropriate as we look at 2023 approaching without hesitation. We have no choice but to welcome this new year, preferably with joy and perhaps a child like anticipation of the new adventures to come.

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One of the transitions taking place now, albeit an intentionally slow and steady one, is the move of all the print responsibilities at Heat Treat Today from my plate to Bethany Leone’s as she continues to assume the managing editor role.

I’ve been leading the editorial team for the past several years as we’ve expanded to eight annual print magazines. I have loved helping to produce them each quarter, and honestly, it’s been difficult passing the baton of this responsibility. Not because I don’t think Bethany can do it — I know she will do a phenomenal job in leading the team. I’m seeing it now and am so stoked!

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor Heat Treat Today / Heat Treat Radio Editor

No, it’s because I kind of see the magazine as my “baby.” It’s hard to give it up! Can anyone relate? When you work on a project and see it grow, how exciting and rewarding. To build our team and watch them pivot when necessary and contribute creative and thoughtful ideas to help better serve has truly been energizing and exciting. I think it’s because I love experiencing the process and seeing that magazine in print.

However, the time has come for Bethany to receive the complete baton hand off. (If you ever ran on a relay team and practiced those hand offs, do you remember running with your hand outstretched behind you and adjusting your speed so that you could achieve the perfect transition of the baton from your teammate’s hand to yours without dropping the baton?!) Bethany has her hand in perfect position to receive the baton and I’m looking forward to passing it to her smoothly and completely so that she can run with confidence and vigor.

I’m not leaving Heat Treat Today, just transitioning into new responsibilities — that of associate publisher and senior editor. I’ll still be able to be part of the print publication from 20,000 feet, just not up close and personal (for which Bethany will be incredibly thankful)! I’m looking forward to working on special projects and learning other facets of the publishing world.

So, in February 2023’s Air and Atmosphere Heat Treat magazine, you’ll see Bethany’s picture on this page and enjoy her column in each issue, and you’ll know then that hand off went down without a hitch!

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Message from the Editor: The Life-Giving Encouragement of Connection

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The 2022 Furnaces North America event in Indianapolis was an unforgettable experience! Karen Gantzer, senior editor and associate publisher of Heat Treat Today, shares about the FNA show with the Heat Treat Today team. 

This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today's November 2022 vacuum print edition. Feel free to contact Karen Gantzer at karen@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Karen Gantzer
Senior Editor,
Associate Publisher
Heat Treat Today

Well, the Heat Treat Today team is still riding high from our time at Furnaces North America a few weeks ago in Indianapolis. If you’ve had the opportunity to meet, talk, or work with any of us, you know how passionate we are about the industry, our work in helping you become better informed, and most importantly all of you! We truly love people and building relationships.

Being with many of you and connecting in person is energizing for us! It sure was a full week, but we came home with overflowing emotional tanks because we not only experienced FNA as a team together, but we were also able to have meaningful conversations with you! So, I thought it would be fun for you to hear special FNA highlights from several of the Heat Treat Today team.

Bethany Leone, our managing editor shared: “Breaking bread with 40 Under 40 people in the concessions, sharing chocolate with attendees in the booth, and clinking glasses with the Heat Treat Today  family in the evening. It is the joining together and hearing the humanity of so many special people in our lives, whom I only email behind Calibri Light Font Type size 11. “FNA was more. More fun, more lively, more meaningful than I thought. As someone who enjoys anonymity, it was a surprising joy to meet more people face-to-face and strategize ways that the editorial team could help readers and authors. The work to be done beneath my feet was more than I imagined, so much so that I couldn’t leave our booth the first day, save for lunch! Those ‘more’ memories continue to flood my mind, even as I type ‘I’m so sorry I missed you’ to the many people I didn’t get to meet.”

A common theme amongst our team was walking the floor and visiting with you. Lauren Porter, production manager and first-time attendee said: “For me, the highlight of FNA was walking around the exhibit hall on Tuesday morning feeling the room fill with energy! Seeing so many people I had met — but never face to face — was really fun.”

l to r: Ben Bootsma and Wilder Porter

This year we gave away Heat Treat Kids shirts. They were a hit with both attendees and staff Alyssa Bootsma, social media editor/copy editor, expressed her favorite memories: “I LOVED handing out the Heat Treat Kids T-shirts. It brought so much joy to those parents and relatives. I also loved having lunch with some of the 40 Under 40 honorees. We had fun conversations, and it was great to meet them. Of course, I absolutely loved being with the Heat Treat Today team. You all are such a joy to be around. It was also great to be able to meet people on the show floor or catch up with people we met last year at the Heat Treat Show.”

The first lady of Heat Treat Today, Mary Glenn, said: “I loved having everyone together and hearing how our magazines are helping businesses grow!”

Administrator Ellen Porter shared: “Working with our Team, in person, is such a great feeling of community. That feeling only builds when you get to go to a show and see all the smiling faces of the people we email with regularly, in the greater Heat Treat World. It was great!”

Closing our reflections is our publisher and founder Doug Glenn whose sentiments are shared by us all: “Having (almost) the entire team in one place at one time was really fulfilling and enjoyable. Being a remote company, the opportunities we have for face-to-face interactions are very limited. The time at FNA was especially enjoyable because not only were we together, but we also shared a common mission: get to know our customers and prospects so that we can be better informed about how to help them. The dinner we had together (with a couple of spouses and two honored guests) was also a wonderful time.

“Another major highlight is the satisfaction of seeing the show so successful since this was the first time that Heat Treat Today was the official media sponsor. It seems that our audience showed up and was quite engaged. Getting to meet a handful of our 40 Under 40 honorees was also a super memory for me.”

Until the next time; thanks for the memories!

Main Photo Caption: Heat Treat Today Team: (back row): Michelle Ritenour, Ellen Porter, Sarah Maffet, Bethany Leone, Lauren Porter, Alyssa Bootsma; (Front row): Karen Gantzer, Doug Glenn, Mary Glenn

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Message from the Editor: Wonder

/ EDITOR, FEATURED NEWS

Seeing behind the scenes of everyday processes, seeing the previously unknown "how," can be an "Aha" moment. Karen Gantzer, senior editor and associate publisher of Heat Treat Today, shares about two such "Aha" experiences for the Heat Treat Today team. 

This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today's August 2022 Automotive print edition. Feel free to contact Karen Gantzer at karen@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Karen Gantzer
Senior Editor, Associate Publisher
Heat Treat Today

It was the summer between my junior and senior year at college. I had secured a sports internship at WLWT, a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The opportunity to experience many behind the scene and front of the camera exposures was invaluable and rewarding. One memory that has stuck with me all these years was the first time I saw the meteorologist’s segment from behind the camera while she was on the newscast. She was standing in front of a green screen with a monitor off to the side explaining weather fronts and forecasts. I stood there in wonder. It looked totally different from the station side of things and today, I can’t watch a weather segment without thinking of the blank green screen!

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Have you ever had that experience? Completely blown away by seeing a common or everyday product, process, or presentation whose behind the scenes production was, until the point you saw it, unknown to you. I suppose one could describe it as an “Aha” moment. Well, in early June, the Heat Treat Today team had one of those memory-making trips that we’ll not soon forget.

We had the privilege of visiting the fine folks at ThermTech in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Mary Springer and Chuck Hartwig along with their experienced team shared their expertise and insights as they led us on tours of their facility. How fun it was to see some of the industry vocabulary we put on paper come to life! To actually see everything from the fiery furnaces and the products being heat treated to the pre-furnace parts prep and huge baskets that are used, it was a moment that connected the industry words we work with to the actual processes. We will not forget the sights, smells, temperatures, kindness, and generosity of our time at ThermTech.

Heat Treat Today Team: Doug, Bethany, Lauren, Michelle G-P, Alyssa, Karen, Michelle R., Ellen

The next day, the Heat Treat Today team was graciously hosted by the Quad Graphics folks who print our eight annual magazines. Being divided into a few smaller groups, we each had our own

Quad expert who toured us through the vast and expansive printing facility. To see the incredible precision that it takes to get each magazine from our PDFs to the tangible copies you hold in your hands is truly a sight to behold. From the massive rolls of paper being stored wherever there is available floor space (and, yes, there is a paper shortage) to witnessing the inking, folding, and binding processes gave us all pause to: first recognize the importance for accuracy in our processes, and second to marvel at the many highly skilled individuals it takes to produce each issue. Truly “Aha” moments!

I’m thankful for the opportunity we had to experience these visits as a team and that we can still marvel and appreciate those once unknown processes.

When I view baskets when running errands that remind me of the ones at ThermTech, I’ll remember what and how they do what they do. And, it’s safe to say, when I look at any magazine on the rack, I will see all the machinations it went through from conception to publication. What a grand time to be alive!

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com

 

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