An integral quench furnace line was recently commissioned to a manufacturer of specialty nut and bolt assemblies in the eastern U.S. The furnace design will help the client increase their load size, allowing for higher throughput per load.
Gasbarre Thermal Furnace System's integral quench furnace system
The Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems furnace line includes an integral quench furnace, parts washer, temper, and associated material handling and load storage, and it is designed to process 24” wide x 24” long x 20” tall loads weighing up to 1,500 pounds. It includes custom designed material handing that will eliminate the need for cast base trays.
Looking for integral quench furnaces? See listings for products in the Heat Treat Buyers Guide
Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in Heat Treat Today'sNovember 2021 Vacuum Heat Treating print edition.
Doug Glenn Publisher and Founder Heat TreatToday
“Inflation” is in the news, and it could have a significant impact on the heat treat industry. What is it? Why is it suddenly a problem? How might it impact the heat treat industry? Below are simple answers in layman’s language, but if you want to dig deeper into inflation, let me STRONGLY recommend two books by the late Dr. Hans Sennholz (1922–2007): Age of Inflation (1979, paperbacks selling on Amazon for more than $600.00! – I guess I’m keeping my copy under lock and key!) and Money and Freedom (1985, available free in PDF format found here).
What Is Inflation?
Simply stated, it is an increase in the amount of money in the economy – period. When you “inflate” a balloon, you increase the amount of air inside the balloon. In the same way, monetary inflation is the increase in the amount of money inside the economy. Properly understood, inflation is NOT rising prices; however, rising prices CAN be, and often are, one effect of inflation. The media and much of the general public, including our governing officials, often use “inflation” and “rising prices” synonymously. They are NOT the same thing, and it helps to know the difference if you’re going to have an intelligent conversation with anyone about the topic. Short answer: Inflation is an increase in the amount of money in the economy – period.
Why Is It Suddenly a Problem?
The short answer to that question is also simple. Take a look at the chart which shows two different measures of the amount of money in the economy – M1 and M2. There is no need to define M1 and M2 for the purposes of this column, but suffice it to say that both measure the amount of money in the economy and that M1 is part of M2. Look at the far right-hand side of the chart. See anything unusual?
In 2020, the curves headed for the stars. Notice that the chart starts in 1959. We have NEVER seen this type of inflation (an increase in the money supply) since 1959 and, based on my knowledge, NEVER before in the history of this country. While a general rise in all prices is NOT inflation, one of the main effects of inflation is a general rise in all prices. Not all prices will rise at the same time or at the same rate, but if the money supply is increased (inflation) then there is more money per item to be purchased and over time, people will bid up the price of all goods and services.
Short answer: Rising prices (which is what the media mean when they say inflation”) are suddenly a problem because we are inflating the money supply at an enormous rate never seen in the history of this country; and since there is more money per item to be purchased, it is INEVITABLE that prices will rise.
This economic law is inexorable and unchangeable – much like the law of gravity. At the rate we’re inflating (increasing the money supply) we WILL have rising prices.
How Will Inflation Impact the Heat Treat Industry?
There’s nothing special about the heat treat industry when it comes to inflation (an increase in the money supply) and rising prices (one effect of inflation). Just like every other industry and every other household, manufacturers with their own in-house heat treat departments WILL be hit with increasing prices for nearly all goods and services. These rising prices are the result of the increase in the supply of money in our economy (inflation). There is no predicting how it will hit or how quickly prices will rise or when price increases will stabilize, if ever. But what we can say with certainty is that one cause for rising prices is inflation and we are inflating at rates never seen in the history of this country.
Hans Sennholz’s books, mentioned in the first paragraph of this column, are excellent resources for understanding inflation and the reasons why our rulers, both Republican and Democrat, do not have the courage to stop increasing the money supply. Our Founding Fathers warned us about what they called “fiat” money – paper money not backed by silver or gold. The U.S. Constitution clearly states that only gold and silver should be money, NOT paper (ref: Art.1, Sec. 10, Clause 1). Nonetheless, there have been supposedly “wiser” men who felt that paper money would be a better option. So here we are, inflating at unprecedented rates and bracing ourselves for what could be a very interesting ride.
A North American heat treater in aerospace manufacturing acquired a three-cell vacuum furnace for multi-purpose operation from a U.S.-based manufacturer of vacuum furnaces. The system will bring the heat treater's carburizing processing in-house and contribute to the facility's ability to maintain takt time.
ECM USA's director of sales, Bill Gornicki, announced the purchase of a NANO system vacuum furnace for use in the North American aerospace market. The system will provide low pressure carburizing, hardening, brazing, and annealing, automation capabilities, cryogenics, tempering, and pre-washing. Both alloy and CFC fixtures will be used in this installation.
Heat TreatRadiohost Doug Glenn has a timely discussion with Josh Hale of International Search Partners, North America’s only heat treat specific headhunter organization, about the exceptionally tight labor market and what captive and commercial heat treat shops can do to gain and maintain the valuable workers they’re in need of.
Below, you can either listen to the podcast by clicking on the audio play button, or you can read an edited transcript.
The following transcript has been edited for your reading enjoyment.
One of the canine "workers" at International Search Partners
Doug Glenn (DG): I don't think that we've had a non-technical issue that is as important as this one, and that is the labor shortage that is real and that most people believe is going to get only worse over the next several years. Here to discuss that with us is Josh Hale who is with International Search Partners. Josh, first off, welcome to Heat TreatRadio. If you don't mind, if you would give our listeners just a brief background about you, where you come from, and your role in helping people fill roles in the heat treat industry.
Josh Hale (JH): Yes, for sure. Thanks for having me, Doug. I've been recruiting since about 2004, and when I say recruiting, I mean helping different companies identify, hire and engage, and eventually bring on board employees at all various types of levels. We are International Search Partners. We are actually founded in 1998, so for over 20 years we've been working pretty exclusively in the heat treat space. I always kind of say we do about half our business with furnace and other manufacturers, about half with commercial heat treaters and then a mix of stuff tangential to the industry, whether that be forging companies or other kind of industrial manufacturing. Again, I've been recruiting in personnel, hiring, and job market space for a long time. I came and joined ISP and acquired the company about six or seven years ago now. ISP has a long history in heat treat, I've got a lot of history in recruiting, and here we are.
DG: You're in the right business at the right time, I can tell you, because it seems very interesting out there. I was looking at your website and I've got to deviate a little bit. So, it's not just you – apparently you've got at least one other person and two canines that are helpful to you, yes?
JH: Haha, yes! In fact, one of the canines is here in the room. If the computer wasn't mounted up I could show him off.
DG: So, you've got Jessica Maier as one of your helpers? A partner?
Jessica Maier Senior Recruiter International Search Partners
JH: Yes, exactly. Jessica works with us. She's based out of San Diego. I'm based out of Austin Texas. We both work remote, working from home. I've got the weekend vibes with the Hawaiian shirt today. I don't need to go into the office or anything. But yes, we work very consistently and tightly together. Then, there is Jim McNeal, who actually founded our company in 1998. We jokingly call him "President Emeritus," but with that emeritus status, he works with us on a few select clients here and there. Then, we've got a rotating group of consultants that we bring on board on more of an ad hoc basis, so we're prepared and able to scale, as necessary, for hot markets like this. But, the core is me and Jessica, and for smaller industries like heat treat, that works pretty well.
I would be remiss not to mention that we also have a new junior recruiter- Jessica just recently had a baby, so 2-month old Lincoln is practicing to be able to pick up the phone here pretty soon to help us out too.
DG: Well, at the time of this recording, since we're talking about babies, one of our staff members is actually in the hospital delivering.
JH: In about 25 years we'll be celebrating the new 40 Under 40 class between them.
DG: Right, exactly. And, you know, I should mention that Josh was a member of our 40 Under 40 Class in 2019.
Let's talk about this: Based on your business, you, probably more than anybody in the heat treat industry, have a good 30,000 foot view of the labor situation. Is it severe? How severe is it and what can we say about that at this point?
JH: I haven't seen anything like this in all my years of recruiting, in or outside of heat treat. I think it's affecting a lot of industries. Most of the data points I would reference on this are a little more empirical, but for example, I was in St. Louis for the ASM Heat Treat show a couple weeks ago. I was just kind of making my rounds and saying “hi” to people as I like to go to these shows to put a face behind a name with people I typically spend time on the phone with or emailing, and everybody was telling me, "Hey, we need help. Please help me find a candidate. We need candidates. Please send us resumes." That was the consistent theme. So, there is an empirical data point.
We tend to keep track of our open searches in a fluid way, if you will. Without getting into the weeds too much, what I mean by that is that we've got clients that come to us with, "Hey, we've got an empty seat, we need to fill it. Go out there and find somebody." We've got clients who come and retain our services for really urgent searches, but we actually do quite a lot of business in, what I call, “keeping our eyes open.” Like, you don't necessarily have an opening but you like to see a good talent when you come across it. Since I specialize in the industry, I can keep you in mind. We do a lot of work that way too which is less of an open position and more of a “keep your eyes open” situation.
With that, it's how we work. Typically, we may have anywhere between 20-30 real open positions and then maybe 50% more on this “keep your eyes open” thing. Right now, I have probably 50-55 actual open positions. This is twice as much as normal. Honestly, in this type of market, this is with me not doing any kind of real outbound efforts to generate new positions because I have too much to work on. Again, it's kind of empirical- it's not real data driven, but from my experience, I've never seen it like this.
DG: So, in essence, it is real; I don't think we have to convince anyone of that. From your perspective, it's pretty nearly doubled the number of open positions that you're actively looking for, and I'm sure there would be a lot of other people in that other category you mentioned about- if you find somebody, let me know.
JH: And, certainly, there is an opportunity for a lot more open positions if I were to chase after it. I'm just in a situation where there is so much business right now for existing clients that getting a new client would be difficult.
DG: Well, after this airs, you might have to hire a third and fourth partner to get things going, because, I can tell you, there's a lot of people looking.
Just anecdotally from our side, myself and my wife just got back from attending the Metal Treating Institute fall meeting this year down in your neck of the woods, down in San Antonio. To a man, to a company, to a person, everybody was looking for people to work. It could be in key, higher level management areas as well as shop floor- I need a guy that knows how to load a furnace.
In your company, specifically, very briefly: Are you guys dealing with furnace operator type people or do you tend to deal with more of the engineer/management type folks?
JH: More of the engineer/management type folks is where we really specialize. We placed a furnace operator or two in the last couple of years, but it's very rare for us. But, from talking to customers/clients/people, those hourly production type positions are definitely a situation where companies are struggling. It's kind of a long way to answer your question but historically we haven't really done a lot of work in that space because at that hourly production level you can hire somebody off the street and train them. You're not going to necessarily pay my fee to go out there and find that type of person, while in this market, more and more companies are telling me they're willing to pay a fee if we can find somebody, so it's coming up more and more.
DG: And that is the operative word – if you can find someone, which is not easy. Obviously, a lot of those jobs tend to be more regional – you can hire people locally, but it is difficult.
I want to delve into causation a bit. We know we've got a very, very tight labor market, and there are a lot of theories around about why that is. I'm curious, from your perspective, Josh, what's causing it? What's the issue here?
JH: There is a lot of theorization out there. I could spend hours going down the rabbit hole. There are some really interesting theories. In fact, did you listen to the guy speak the keynote at MTI? He talked a little bit about this idea of men not coming back to the workforce. I've listened to some of his talks and one thing that he mentions that I really buy into is this idea that the boomer generation had dual incomes, they were working and they really generated a lot of wealth and that wealth now about to get inherited by younger generations. These younger generations see that and aren't necessarily motivated to work as much.
People are moving towards the “YOLO Economy”
This is the kind of theory that I would buy into because one of the other aspects that I'm seeing a lot of in the market (and I've heard people pine on in some of the editorials out there) is this idea they call the "YOLO Economy." The YOLO Economy is, basically, the idea that you only live once. Now people are coming at this, especially coming out of COVID, like, "I don't want to go back to that job. I want to try to get the band back together. I want to go write a novel. I want to do crafts and they start a little Etsy business and sell those on-line. I can travel more." They maybe want to work part-time and travel, especially if they've got some foundation from an inheritance, I see that as a real factor here.
For someone like me, a hardworking, nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy, this is so hard to put my mindset around, but I hear it come up a lot. It's like, "Hey, I'm done going into the office 40 hours a week."
DG: Very, very interesting. First off, YOLO is great; I hadn't heard that before, so that's helpful. But, you know, it is interesting the change in psychology, if you will. It's something only a first world nation, first world economy, which is a lot of the western hemisphere is these days, where there is enough wealth out there that they don't really need to worry about working. I'm a boomer, right? I'm on the tail end of the boomers, so yes, double income or whatever, the kids wouldn't necessarily need to worry about working and, if you don't need to work, you don't. That is the nature of man.
JH: Another factor that I think has come into play here, speaking of not working (especially COVID affected this): people are retiring earlier. If you were going to retire in three or four years and then COVID hits, "I might as well do it now," that kind of thing is coming up. That affects heat treat, especially, as it's kind of an older industry in terms of the core workforce. We're seeing a lot of that too. So, people retiring, people not wanting to go back to work- all those factors definitely affect it. There is a confluence of things. Like I said, we could go hours going down this rabbit hole – it's really interesting.
DG: Even things as political as immigration policy are certainly having an effect on the labor market.
Let's move on to this: What kind of advice would you give, Josh, to companies nowadays who are looking to fill a position, which is, essentially, as we said, pretty much everybody? From your perspective, what are some of the fundamentals they ought to be thinking about?
JH: The analogy I like to use, when people talk about recruiting or hiring, is the sports team: If you were trying to build out the world's greatest basketball team – just like you're trying to build out the world's greatest heat treat or the world's greatest furnace OEM – if you're going to try to do that, you want the best people to try out for your team.
If you take this analogy down further, when you're trying to build the world's best basketball team, you're not going to hope that LeBron James applies to join your team. You're going to go out there and tap him on the shoulder and say, "Hey, my team's really good. Come and join us. We're a championship squad." You need to take that proactive recruiting approach. That's part of the services that obviously our company offers; we specialize in this, we're in this day in and day out, and we're building up this bench of people to go out there and proactively recruit, again, not coming in and applying to a job.
But you can do that if you have your own company too. I would advise anybody who owns a business or is managing a business to have a good pipeline of people at the ready all the time. It's easy to get comfortable – I've got my team, I've got my department set up. It's not going to be like that a lot. Somebody like me might go in there and pull somebody away.
"The 'LeBron James' style of recruiting is proactive and necessary."-Josh Hale
DG: You're not doing yourself any favors with that, Josh.
JH: Well, you know, if it happens, I always tell people, you can either be a client or you can be a source, one or the other. But yes, somebody might retire, somebody might take that YOLO philosophy and leave. So, you should always have that bench going, always continually be networking. I tell people, too, you don't want to be afraid to “top-grade”: If you do have the opportunity to bring somebody in who's maybe better than the existing person, that can help you and your team and can build up the morale and the overall core a little bit better.
DG: What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting you replace a person with whom you are currently happy with somebody who’s better, or just hire them in addition to that person?
JH: If you can hire in addition to is the best solution because it widens your bench a little bit, to use the sports team analogy, if you can replace your starter, put your starter on the bench, and have a great guy who can come in and pinch hit or whatever, that helps a lot.
So just have that kind of philosophy. It's kind of a forward thinking philosophy, it's a proactive-type philosophy. I think that's the biggest thing. You can't wait until someone gives notice and leaves, now you've got an empty seat and now you’re struggling and your hair is on fire. You really need to do this constantly. That's my biggest piece of advice.
The other bullet point that comes up when I think about this, (and there are people out there that don't want to hear it), but you really need to kind of loosen your requirements a little bit. People come to me saying, "Hey, I've got an opening. We need to have XYZ on the resume and everything else." And I say, "Look, that person you're looking for just doesn't exist." You've got to be a little more realistic in your requirements and hopefully that will help attract the right people.
DG: Once they've got that person in house, one of the other big concerns here is they can gain the right people, but how do you maintain them? What type of advice would you give companies for keeping good workers?
JH: Again, it goes back to the idea of trying to be a little more forward thinking. I think COVID shifted a lot of things. I've seen a lot of stats. More and more people are allowing people to work from home. That's not always possible in the heat treat or commercial manufacturing type environment, but if it is possible to spend a day at home doing some CAD drawings, let them do that. That engages them more and makes them feel more at home.
Being creative with some of the compensation. More and more companies are paying more and more. I think wages are going to generally increase. But, at the end of the day, the market is the market, so I don't expect anybody to overpay just to hire somebody. There are other creative ways of compensation. Vacation is a big one, some work-life balance. . . There are types of benefits. Those kinds of things go a long way.
Offer autonomy, purpose, and mastery in your workplace to maintain workers.
And then, too, trying to have good morale. Morale is kind of a cliche word, but I think it carries a lot of weight. It gives you a reputation in the market as a place that you want to work for. I've heard it said that people like to work for, basically, three things: autonomy, purpose, and mastery. Get somebody in there and give them those things. Give them some opportunity to work and 'do their thing' with that autonomous nature, not being micromanaged. Give them some ability to be trained to grow and develop to create that mastery. And, if you can get them on there for a bigger purpose, that really helps a lot too. People don't want to be just a cog in the system. If they know they're contributing to, whatever it is, growth or more market share or new R&D development, these kinds of things. If they're contributing to something bigger, that's going to keep them on board and it's going to keep them passionate about it and it's going to probably help them maybe think they want to bring their friends into the fold. That's another great way to hire- the internal referral program.
DG: Have you seen, over the time you've been doing this, the motivation for people who want to work change? I know the guys you were talking about, the fellow who gave the presentation at the most recent MTI meeting, they talked about the differences in the generations- the boomers, the X, the Y, the millennials, whatever. Have you seen tangible evidence of a shift in the motivation of what really does engage the different age groups?
JH: I'm going to answer that a couple different ways. At the end of the day, nobody is working for free. Salary is a consistent hot bun for anybody looking to make a move. But I have seen, and a lot of people tell me, that one of their reasons they are looking to leave their company is stagnation. So, I talk about that kind of overall purpose. A lot of people I talk to are saying, "The company I'm with has been doing the same thing in the same way for 50 years and I'm interested in making some upgrades." I can't tell you how many times I've placed a candidate. I ask everybody I work with, "Why are looking to make a move? Why would you consider leaving your current company?" One of the consistent answers I get is, "Well, you know, I made a suggestion for an improvement and my boss told me that we're not going to do that. I know it's going to make an impact and they're not letting me." Having that, again, forward thinking, engaged employees, try their ideas out, be willing to invest in new technology. If you've still got microfiche in your company, you're doing something wrong.
DG: For those of you who don't know what that is, you better Google that one: microfiche.
JH: But I am serious. Move on to the touchscreen computers or the iPads. People are still doing stuff in triplicate in field service reports and things like this. People want to work for technologically advanced company that they can feel good about.
People want to work for technologically advanced companies that they can feel good about.
DG: I'm going to see if you know this one: I was telling somebody the other day, I said, "I still remember when I was in school using a mimeograph machine." I don't know if you know what that one is.
JH: I don't think I've heard of that!
DG: That was the way before Xerox machines. When you did hard copies, you put this thing on a drum and you basically turn it and it would crank out copies in blue. Anyhow, it's an old time one.
Let's move from the company’s perspective of advice to help a company who's looking to hire someone to just talking to the individual who might be in a position that you just talked about or maybe some other motivation like, "You know what? It's time for me to move." They need to make a move for whatever the reason might be. Is there any advice you can give those people for entering a labor market? Obviously, it's a job seeker's market, right?
JH: I'd say a couple things: One, my first piece of advice is, as you said, it is a job seeker's market. But it's now. This is not a job seeker's market forever.
Strike while the iron is hot. If you have any potential idea or any inkling that maybe there is something better out there for you, I'm of the opinion, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I use the idea of big mistake, small mistake. It would be a big mistake to pass on the opportunity to land your dream job, but the small mistake to spend 30 minutes on a phone interview with a company. I would encourage somebody to talk to anybody, to put those feelers out there, have those initial phone interviews.
Now, when you get down the process of an interview, if you decide you don't want to work for the company, you don't want to waste people's time, but for an initial phone interview, sending a resume off, it is truly nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's a big mistake to miss an opportunity but a little mistake to not even try. I would definitely encourage that.
Also, if people are really looking out for their career, if at all possible, opening up the geography helps a lot. I know for some people that's just not possible, but if you could be just a little bit more bold in looking at some potential different regions/areas, that definitely opens up the door for a lot more potential.
People ask for my advice that are looking for the next step. People have in their mind this idea that their career progression is going to be on a linear upgrade. I tell people it's not always going to be like that. If you think of it more like a step up, across, up, across – with that visual – I think it sometimes helps people. What you're going to want to do is leverage your current skills to get to that next company that can then catapult you up a bit. But it's not necessarily going to be going from engineer to engineering manager; it might be going from engineer to senior engineer with opportunity to move to engineering manager.
Be realistic in some of those expectations and not being afraid to utilize your skill set and leverage that to a new company. I hear a lot of times people saying, "Well, I've been an engineer for 10 years. I'm kind of bored with it. I don't want to do CAD drawings anymore." And I say, "But you're really good at that and that's in demand right now. Maybe get with a company where you can do 80% CAD instead of 100% CAD and spend 20% of your time on projects you like." You kind of step up instead of just going linear with the growth.
DG: What do you say to those people, (some might call them naysayers, others might call them very pragmatic people), who say, "Well the grass is always greener." What do you say to those folks who are kind of discouraging employees from looking at something else because, "You're going to go over to that company and it's not going to be what you thought it was.”
JH: There is certainly some validity to that. But, also, like I said, it's kind of a nothing ventured, nothing gained situation. I think that people who have really successful careers are bold, and they take some of these risks. Also, you've got to look at it on a case by case basis. There has been many a time when I've talked to somebody who's had a jumpy work history and maybe has had that "grass is greener" mentality a little too often. I've told them, "Look, you should probably get a couple years under your belt before you talk to me."
Find the happy medium between being too jumpy and being too stable in your career.
There are cases where that makes sense, but I think especially in heat treat, I've seen a lot of people that have been stable, they stay at their company a long time. If you've been with your company, especially going on the 10 year mark, it's kind of time to think about it. I'd say between 7-12 years, you've got to start thinking, "Are you going to retire at the company you are at now or are you going to start to make a move?" There is the opposite of being too jumpy and that's being too stable. Sometimes people look at someone like, "You've been with only one company for 30 years? You're not going to learn our ways."
There is kind of a happy medium there. Like I said, I'd tell people, look, be bold. Don't be afraid to take risks. This is a good market, and your skills are in demand. If you land with the wrong company, you'll find something else. It's not that big of a risk. But, when you're going through the interview process, ask a lot of questions. The candidate is interviewing the company as much as the company is interviewing the candidate.
DG: It's a scary thing to change jobs. I've heard statistics say that the one thing that frightens people more than public speaking is losing their job.
Now you mentioned, one of your first pieces of advice for potential job seekers was strike while the iron is hot. This is the time. You mentioned it's not going to last forever. How long do you think this tight labor market is going to be around? What's you prognostication here?
JH: For my business, I hope forever. But, seriously, I don't think so. These things are cyclical. I would say that we've probably got at least another 2-3 years that it's going to be like this. And then we'll probably see the broader economy start to shift at that time. I think, too, it's going to depend a little bit on how our industry is affected, specifically. There are some political implications. I think COVID helped quite a bit in bringing some of the manufacturing on shore, which I've read about in Heat TreatToday a couple of times. There are some things in our industry that might make it even tighter for longer.
I think, too, and maybe you have some comments on this, Doug, from the MTI meeting [in October 2021], but there seems to be a little bit of resistance in heat treat to get with some technology that can bring in some robotics and things of this nature, that would probably help with the labor market, but I think in our industry and specifics, it doesn't go that way as fast as some other industries.
DG: I think that's true. I was listening to those conversations when they were talking about the introduction of robotics. To me, my initial thought was, "Well that's easy. Robotics are easy if you've got high volume, low variable production." In other words, you're running a lot of the same part. Especially with commercial heat treating, which is not necessarily a large portion of the audience that we have, a lot of what we have are the captive heat treater, but, especially in the commercial heat treat world, you're dealing with basically a job shop which is very hard to automate.
But, with our more typical listener/reader with the captive heat treat shops, there is the opportunity for that and those things could, definitely, make a difference in the labor market. Yes, it's important. I think those people will move in that direction. I think we all will, the more comfortable we become with automation and artificial intelligence and things like that, the more we'll move in that direction.
Strike while the iron is hot.
This has been good. Is there anything else? I always like to ask the question just in case there is anything that has popped to your mind that you think would be helpful to our listeners. Anything else you would want to add?
JH: It's a really interesting time right now. I don't know that I'd add anything than what we've talked about. There is a lot of speculation out there. There are a lot of interesting analyses about what's happening. Like I said, it could be a rabbit hole we spend a lot of time going down. But, for sure, if there is anybody thinking there is even a potential opportunity, I'd strike now while the iron's hot. And, for companies looking to hire, I would get creative and try to be proactive and reach out to people and try to have that bench of candidates and try to think about how you can loosen your requirements, whether it be in-house training or maybe have somebody who hits 8 out or 10 bullet points you want instead of 10 out 10, that helps a lot.
Heat Treat Today would like to thank and celebrate all the veterans who have served and helped to make the United States a place of freedom and liberty. Thank you for your service and for your sacrifice.
United States Air Force personnel stationed at Royal Air Force (RAF) Base Mildenhall in the United Kingdom recently commissioned and received full training on the use and maintenance of a heat treating furnace for aerospace parts. The furnace will help maintain KC-135, CV-22, C-130 aircraft, and F-15 fighter jets assigned to RAF Mildenhall or nearby RAF Lakenheath air stations. The installation was interrupted by an impromptu visit from the U.S. President.
Richard Conway Chief Technology Officer Delta H Technologies
The DELTA H® TECHNOLOGIES dual chamber heat treating furnace for aerospace (DCAHT®) was designed by the supplier to rapidly heat treat all common aviation grade metals and alloys necessary for aircraft maintenance and is fully compliant with USAF/NAVAIR Tech Order 1-1A-9 and SAE-AMS2750F. The training received by the USAF airmen at RAF Mildenhall included essential instructions in heat treating, as well as furnace calibration practices like temperature uniformity surveys (TUS) and system accuracy tests (SAT) and culminated with each airman receiving Certificates of Training.
The specialized furnace features an upper chamber convection system, 18" wide x 12" high x 48" deep, capable of Class 1 (+/-5°F) from 200°F to 1200°F and a lower chamber radiant heat system, 12" wide x 12" high x 36" deep, capable of Class 3 (+/-15°F) from 1000°F to 2000°F with air or argon atmosphere. A roll-away quench tank features dual baths for water and oil quenchant. The controls and data acquisition provide detailed batch records of heat treated parts, including quench delay, as well as automatic tracking of thermocouple usage and calibration intervals.
Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall
The training was interrupted by an unexpected visitor to RAF Mildenhall. The hangar next to the Metals Tech Shop, where the furnace was being commissioned and the training was being conducted, was the epicenter for the arrival of a top-secret VIP. When the Air Force Band began practicing "Hail to the Chief," it became obvious that U.S. President Joe Biden would be making an unexpected visit to the base. While the President’s visit was not related to the furnace commissioning, Richard Conway, DELTA H® founder and chief technology officer, and wife Mary Conway, witnessed this presidential visit and got a few candid photographs of Air Force One (see above).
On this Technical Tuesday, dive deep into this article to learn Industry 4.0 heat treating solutions to enduring problems. As author and captive heat treater Joseph Mitchell, director of Operations & Technology for The Miller Company, says, "These solutions have the capability to mitigate incessant (and costly) problems in our thermal and metal processing industry." Let's take a closer look at Industry 4.0 solutions to the problem of coil wraps "sticking" during batch annealing.
Joseph Mitchell Director of Operations & Technology The Miller Company
As US manufacturing recovers from the ill effects of a seemingly unremitting pandemic and corollary supply chain challenges, the advance of Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) necessitates manufacturing industries reevaluate their business practices. For maximum profitability, business "as usual" simply will no longer suffice. Jason Ryska, global chief engineer at Ford Motor Company, suggests even production behemoths overlook the obvious:
In many production processes, data analytics provides the agility to keep up with market trends and technology advancements. An exception to this trend is automotive production, a multi-billion-dollar industry that is underutilizing data collection and underestimating the potential improvement that may come from understanding the data being collected.
This quote is from a technical article written by Ryska in which he discusses current state and offers a glimpse of future state that is gained by a manufacturer investigating potential new solutions for old process problems by applying Industry 4.0 technologies.1
Metal industry leaders may ask, to the quote above, could we replace "automotive production" with "heat treating?" I believe there is a strong argument against such an exchange of words; however, in-depth examination at the plant level indicates deficiencies exist for the heat treating industry related to acceptance of IIOT technology and application of data analytics. Where do we observe the shortcomings? Perhaps, as suggested by Ryska, in our day-to-day comfort zone: "over reliance on employee experience and interpretation vs. physical measurements."
This keen insight into the current state of automotive manufacturing can be equally applied to different manufacturing landscapes throughout U.S. industry. Reviewing a familiar heat treating problem will help to illustrate the need for and applicability of digital monitoring and data collection for decision making and future development of advanced analytics like machine learning and AI. These solutions have the capability to mitigate incessant (and costly) problems in our thermal and metal processing industry.
Yellow brass finished width coils; alloy C26800
Heat Treat Industry
In manufacturing, the same problems often occur again and again. In the metals industry, casting and thermal processing, in conjunction with continuing operations, present daily challenges to product quality. Troublesome and costly conundrums – like residual stress, distortion, cracking/poor forming in downstream operations, and poor surface quality/coating adhesion – occur regularly, causing waste, rework, late delivery, and lost profit.
Metallurgists, engineers, and technologists all understand the frustration of untold hours devoted to researching solutions to material processing problems. Some already have well known solutions while others may randomly appear seem, after causing much angst, to disappear (sometimes not as quickly as would be preferred). Regardless of that type of problem, the time, effort, and resources put into finding the solution cannot be redeemed.
The advance of Industry 4.0 and, more specifically, IIOT into modern manufacturing can provide our metal production sector the ultimate tools for unraveling costly and recurring quality issues. We understand this progression will be gradual and very slow.
Nonetheless, implementation of digital technologies is critical for our heat treating/materials processing industry. The fact CQI-9 4th ed. requires all instrumentation and process controls be digital by June 2023 supports the emphasis placed on eliminating analog based instruments and reengineering manufacturing processes for implementation of digital data collection and, thereby, steering heat treaters (automotive suppliers and, hopefully, non-automotive industrial heat treaters) toward eventual adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.
In this article, we review a specific quandary typically encountered during batch annealing and examine why application of digital monitoring and data collection, and eventual integration of Industry 4.0 technologies, would facilitate understanding and assist in resolving the problem.
Typical gas fired bell annealing furnace; inner cover on base
Gas fired annealing furnace; heating bell being lowered into place
The Problem (Define)
A report, written in 1940 by T.J. Daniels, titled "The Prevention of Sticking in Bright Annealing Sheet Steel" is interesting for many reasons, and, for purpose of this article, provides an example of an early 20th century heat treating headache which, unfortunately, is still with us in the present century.2
The report consists of two parts:
Part I - Investigation of Factors Influencing Sticking
Pressure
Annealing temperature
Length of time at temperature
Part II - Prevention of Sticking
Multiple varieties of trial suspensions tested
Temperature, pressure, and time held constant for each test
Trials performed 2x each
Trials performed 3x for promising suspensions
Despite the efforts and subsequent process improvements in heat treating and manufacturing processes as discussed in Daniels' report, we find the following, equally interesting 21st century report, addressing the same subject in Hot and Cold Rolling Processes, Sticking and Scratching Problems After Batch Annealing, Including Coil Compression Stress Effects, by J.J. Bertrandie, L. Bordignon, P.D. Putz, and G. Volger.3
This 2006 report discusses the same sticking phenomenon (coil wraps adhering together after batch annealing) and expands its research into an accompanying quality problem that may occur in conjunction with or subsequent to batch annealing: material scratching. The report documents field trials and laboratory investigations.
The amount of investigative work described in this second report is noteworthy and the results provide data-backed conclusions. However, the problem addressed, potential causes studied, and solutions prescribed did not eliminate the phenomenon of sticking following batch anneal of ferrous and nonferrous coils. Fast-forward fifteen years to 2021 and the sticking phenomenon remains a topic of discussion (and source of grief) for heat treaters across continents.
My experience with a heat treater located in the Midwest, who occasionally encountered coil wraps sticking together during batch anneal of sheet steel, resulted in experiments with anti-sticking agents applied using a spray system, as well as studies for improved control of cooling the furnace charge. The cooling temperature gradient influences contraction of outer wraps which, if pressure is excessive, may result in wrap adhesion (cementation): growth of crystals across material wraps.
Although sporadic, costs were significant when sticking occurred. Unfortunately, the success of our experiments was limited due to time constraints and production requirements (nothing new here). As we know, a hit-or-miss success rate is not good for business; consequently, continuous improvement (CI) must be built into the system. Fortunately, technology is allowing this CI business approach by way of Industry 4.0.
Per CQI-9 rev. 4, analog process monitoring is coming to an end
Descriptive Analytics (Measure)
I first will acknowledge many industrial processing plants operate using, shall we say, not exactly new or sufficiently updated equipment. Also acknowledged is the necessity of skilled and experienced personnel for monitoring and performing critical tasks. Nonetheless, with all else being equal, the fact this quality defect persists suggests industrial heat treaters need new solution for this old and burdensome problem. In short, transformation to digital technologies must occur in the metals processing industry for improved understanding and resolution of regularly occurring problems coming from complex manufacturing/processing systems.
At minimum, for study and resolution of our sticking problem, I recommend a supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA). Management should have "eyes" on the process at all times. SCADA allows digital process monitoring (real-time), process alarms (out-of-spec parameters), and automatic control (process adjustment) that will help improve process control at site location or via remote access. Likewise, data acquisition for historical review is critical for answering the question, "what happened and when?"
Digital collection and transfer of data (cloud-based or in-house server) and use of statistical analysis (data analytics) will help a company improve production through the development of predictive maintenance models, building understanding of equipment capability for effective and efficient processing, and defining key process parameters for best quality.
SCADA may be incrementally introduced into a manufacturing system (e.g., a single bell/box annealing furnace) and scaled accordingly. Another strategy is investment in IIOT technology software/apps/system. My experience includes investigation of IIOT as a service with MindSphere. This technology is scalable and can be integrated with legacy equipment for eventual connection with both old and new machines/processes. This is a more practical option considering few small-to-midsize heat treaters have cash for an all-at-once approach.
During initial installation stages, be sure to capture key process variables and the need for strategic placement of data gathering sensors based upon best opportunities for process impact like:
furnace atmosphere / time / temperature
material cleanliness / required microstructure / coil tension
strip thickness / strip width / process routing / pre & post processing
Data input from locations other than annealing furnace are of equal concern:
As noted earlier, I understand use of equipment that is in disrepair or outdated is a reality for some heat treaters; fortunately, use of SCADA system would provide necessary data to justify purchasing new equipment and/or upgrading old equipment. A data driven proposal presented in unbiased digital format is an advantage for showing upper-management current state-of-affairs and possible return on investment (ROI) if funding is provided and investments are made.
Digital monitoring of process variables: easy access of data for historical review and troubleshooting
Diagnostic Analytics (Analyze)
At this point, we have a SCADA (or similar) system in place, either for a given furnace/machine, work-cell, or eventually for an entire manufacturing/processing system. In our case, the process parameters associated with sticking, and therefore the ones which need to be monitored, include temperature, time, pressure, surface condition, and reactivity.4 The stage for descriptive analytics is set; data is collected/summarized, but no direct decisions/predictions develop from this digital data stream. We learn "what happened” and proceed with the question, "why" did "X" happen? Thereby, we enter the world of diagnostic analytics in the quest for root causes, seeking to understand unusual events: why did no sticking occur when we processed alloy "A" last week, but this week alloy "A" exhibits sticking?
Following our statistical study used in descriptive and diagnostic analysis that was performed using data analysis software, we continue applying statistical methods for our investigation. The objective is discovery and confirmation of relationships and/or trends, which may relate to, or show causes for, sticking (coil wraps adhering together).
Predictive Analytics (Improve)
Rarely in a heat treating/material processing dilemma is the root cause readily disclosed; my experience in heat treating is that "bad" phenomenon often occur and disappear with impunity, leaving root cause analysis a moot point. We breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the quiet before the next storm.
In the past, this unfortunate scenario likely resulted from one of two things: first, the inability to measure multiple variables simultaneously; and second, if a system is in place identifying and monitoring key variables, then management's inability of correlating (note: correlation may not ≠ causation) effects of multiple process variables. This inability leads to dependency and/or relationships preventing meaningful and/or accurate interpretation of data. At best, this does no more harm than allow the continued ill-effects of current problem, but at worst, it leads to incorrect conclusions, possible worsening of the problem at hand, and new problems.
Here is where management of forward-thinking companies -- focused on developing optimal manufacturing efficiencies, equipment effectiveness, increased profit, and competitive advantage --differentiate themselves by advocating application of digital technologies. In this case, it means moving toward artificial intelligence (AI); smart machines/machine learning.
Many options related to machine learning software and machine connectiveness are available (e.g., Siemens, GE Digital, Samsara, etc.). Your SCADA system provider is a great place for beginning investigation into predictive/prescriptive software solutions using machine learning tools.
Another example of a systems approach for digital transformation is Smart Prod ACTIVE. Profiled in Foundry Trade Journal last winter, this information and communication technology (ICT) platform, designed for optimizing foundry production, illustrates the growing possibilities for increased competitive advantage and profit growth based upon implementation of digital technologies, such as EnginSoft - smart ProdACTIVE.5
Prescriptive Analytics (Control)
Heat treating consists of many interrelated processes and/or systems. Prescriptive analytics, by way of simulation software/modeling tools, leads to applicable solutions; as Luigi Vanfretti, an associate professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, states, "You need to have a way to understand the interaction of the systems, and, in an integrated way, you need to optimize them together."6
Digital data collection and advanced analytics open the door for data-driven decisions and improved understanding of a process. When we are able to investigate cause-effect relationship(s) and our modeling tools suggest appropriate/optimal adjustment for non-normal process variation, we can achieve standardization of a given heat treating process, possibly even aimed at specific equipment in a manufacturing system.
In other words, the optimization factors of bell furnace "A" may not be optimal for bell furnace "B." The parameters for various aspects of the manufacturing system may need adjustment based on equipment performance/condition or other factors (e.g., coil mass, time at soak temperature, surface roughness (rolls), incoming strip cleanliness, etc.).
In this manner, continuous improvement throughout the manufacturing system becomes a part of our day-to-day business.
Chart recording; still valid, but not user friendly for data retrieval and statistical analysis
Digital Integration/Transformation
We examined a 21st century approach for resolving a 20th century problem: coil wraps sticking together post-anneal. This material processing phenomenon typically encountered when batch annealing ferrous or nonferrous materials may result from many interrelated process variables; that is, one or more sources of non-normal variation within a thermal processing system and/or manufacturing process.
The heat treating system, as well as the manufacturing system which is comprised of numerous material processes both upstream and downstream, requires continuous monitoring. As supported by CQI-9 (4th ed.), digital instrumentation is deemed necessary (for automotive suppliers) for surveillance and documentation of thermal processing parameters. Acquisition of digital data (e.g., SCADA) facilitates advanced analytics for predicting process outcomes and thereby prescribing optimal solutions which lead to process improvements.
Thus, application of digital monitoring/data collection, advanced analytics, and integration of Industry 4.0 technologies will enhance understanding, provide heretofore unknown process correlations/relationships, and thereby lead to problem mitigation.
As we close this article, some may ask, is digital transformation essential in our heat treating industry? Is IIOT and the all-encompassing Industry 4.0 a necessity for industrial heat treaters and others involved in material processing?
Perhaps a well-worn quote from W. Edwards Deming provides our answer: "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."
About the Author: Joseph Mitchell is director of Operations & Technology for The Miller Company, a service slitting center which supplies bronze and specialty copper alloy precision metal strip. With a BS in Industrial Management and MBA from Lawrence Technological University, his interests include metallurgy and practical application of Industry 4.0 concepts/digital technologies for developing business strategy that provide optimal use of assets, energy, and process controls within the metals and automotive industry.
References
1 J. Ryska, Industry 4.0 Meets the Stamping Line - Ford Motor Company's stamping division looks to leap into Industry 4.0 the same way Henry Ford led the transformation from Industry 1.0 to 2.0, Advanced Materials and Processes, Feb/Mar 2020, Vol 178, NO 2, p 25-28.
2 T. Daniels, "The Prevention of Sticking in Bright Annealing Sheet Steel,” Thesis; submitted for degree requirements, MS Chemical Engineering, Georgia School of Technology.
Heat treating any aerospace projects? Then you know titanium is up there when it comes to VIP alloys in the industry. This best of the web is pulled from an aerospace magazine in which Michael Johnson of Solar Atmospheres answers five questions about creep flattening titanium:
Typical temperatures for creep flattening titanium parts
Whether of not creep flattening can only be done in a vacuum
Best fixturing for creep flattening titanium parts
Can creep flattening minimize movement
Will reheating titanium over 1,000°F affect certification
An excerpt:
"Give your heat treater your material certifications. Many mills will certify to aerospace material specification AMS 2801, AMS 4905, AMS 4911, AMS-H-81200, etc. The material often can be re-annealed while simultaneously creep flattening." - Michael Johnson, Director of Sales, Solar Atmospheres
A European machinery group will receive a vacuum furnace for hardening and tempering processes, and its design has been customized in order to meet the group’s need to harden aviation steel used as landing gear. The heat treatment solution will improve the process economy in European plants and is characterized, in part, by low energy consumption.
Maciej Korecki Vice President of Business for the Vacuum Furnace Segment SECO/WARWICK
To meet this particular application, SECO/WARWICK engineers fitted the Vector® vacuum furnace with a non-standard system for subquenching with liquid nitrogen that enables the required quick cooling down of landing gear components. The solution has also been expanded with a vacuum system designed with a diffusion pump and is equipped with a directional cooling option and convection heating system with a specially designed fan.
“This is already the fourth purchase order for a furnace from this product segment from this customer,” commented Maciej Korecki, VP of Business Segment for Vacuum Heat Treatment Furnaces at SECO/WARWICK, the sister company to North American heat treat supplier SECO/VACUUM. He also added that “The product solves the customer’s problem with the hardening of special aviation steel, significantly increases the capacity of the existing production line of this component, and also improves process parameters, since the current devices used by the customer are not fitted with a subquenching system using liquid nitrogen. It will certainly be one of the unique solutions completed this year.”
Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in Heat Treat Today'sAugust 2021 Automotive print edition.
Doug Glenn Publisher and Founder Heat TreatToday
For those who might not know, AISTech is the annual conference produced by AIST, the Association of Iron & Steel Technology (www.aist.org), under the executive directorship of Ronald Ashburn and his capable staff, most of whom work out of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh and less than one hour from where I live (Go Steelers!). AISTech was not held in 2020 due to the response to COVID-19, but it was held this year in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 29 through July 1.
Here’s what I learned at AISTech this year:
(1)The steel industry is a rugged lot. Unsurprisingly, the men and women of the North American steel industry are not easily daunted. COVID hit many industries hard, and steel is no exception, but the folks in this industry are still up and swinging. Granted, the governors of most states deemed the steel industry as “essential” for COVID purposes (with the concept of governments identifying some industries as essential and others not being a topic for another day!) thus, most of the steel industry stayed active throughout 2020.
The fact is, the steel industry is a resilient and innovative lot, even in the midst of oppressive government restrictions on pretty much the entire economy. No where was that more evident than in Nashville. According to official numbers, roughly half of the usual 8,000ish attendees to AISTech were in Nashville. A pretty decent turnout considering that AISTech was one of the first significant face-to-face events to return to Nashville. Nashville was certainly happy to host the event and many from the steel industry showed up in person, without many masks or much social distancing, to enjoy a return to relative normal.
(2) The U.S. steel industry is one of the most innovative and aggressive in the world. The keynote speaker and this year’s recipient of the Steelmaker of the Year award, chairman, president, and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, Lourenco Goncalves, who has a column in this issue of Heat Treat Today (see page 8), explained that when it comes to steelmaking, no country on the planet holds a candle to the United States, especially when it comes to the amount of CO2 produced for each ton of steel created.
(3) During the press conference which followed the President’s Award Breakfast on June 30th, I asked Mr. Goncalves to comment on the use of hydrogen combustion. He took me to school (in a very gracious way) on the fact that hydrogen combustion, while not an emerging technology to be ignored, was not something commercially viable in the North American steelmaking industry and probably won’t be for many years.
In Europe, where the abundance of natural gas is not so great, hydrogen might be a more viable option in the near future, but that’s not likely to be the case here in North America where natural gas is abundant and relatively cheap. He also pointed out that a large constituent of natural gas is hydrogen, so in one sense, the North American steelmaking industry is already heavily invested in hydrogen, just not 100% hydrogen.
(4) Finally, I learned that (sorry aluminum fans) it is steel’s “game to lose” when it comes to which material will be used most heavily in the future of the North American automotive industry. While aluminum body panels have been popular of late, the fact is that steel “owns” the vast majority of automobile manufacturing and will continue to do so for two reasons: 1) the development of high-strength steels, and 2) the fact that it takes exceedingly less energy and the creation of vastly less CO2 to produce a ton of steel vs. a ton of aluminum. If you’re truly “green,” steel is the (unlikely) way to go.
I leave you with this. The July 2021 Investors Presentation which is publicly available on Cleveland-Cliffs’ website has a lot of very, very interesting information not only about the company, but about the North American steel industry as it compares to other countries and how steel compares to other materials such as aluminum, composites, etc. I recommend it for those who have more than a casual interest in steel. View the report here.
An integral quench furnace line was recently commissioned to a manufacturer of specialty nut and bolt assemblies in the eastern U.S. The furnace design will help the client increase their load size, allowing for higher throughput per load.
Looking for integral quench furnaces? See listings for products in the Heat Treat Buyers Guide
