Chemical Coaters Association International

20 Quick Heat Treat News Chatter Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

Heat Treat Today offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry.

Personnel & Company Chatter

  • Tim Merryweather has joined U.K.-based heat treater, the Wallwork Group, as vacuum brazing technical sales engineer.
  • A manufacturer of monolithic refractories and precast refractory shapes has opened its second manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China. The newly constructed, 210,972 sq ft Allied Mineral Products plant will resolve production space needs as well as expand workspace.
  • In partnership with a manufacturer of robotics and automation equipment for the construction industry, a refractory supplier recently introduced a device that provides workers in the refractory industry with on the jobsite safety and productivity benefits. HarbisonWalker International (HWI) joined forces with Construction Robotics in production of the MULE-R (Material Unit Lift Enhancer – Refractory).
  • A new hot isostatic pressing (HIP) system was revealed at an open house in Cleveland, Ohio,  hosted by Paulo to unveil the company’s new HIP capabilities, available via its Quintus model QIH-122 Hot Isostatic Press, which can combine HIP with heat treating.
  • Gasbarre Products, Inc. has announced that at the end of 2019 all thermal processing systems will be manufactured in its 50,000 sq. ft. facility located in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania. In 2011 Gasbarre acquired the JL Becker brand of industrial furnace equipment, and over the last eight years, Gasbarre has run parallel manufacturing facilities in Michigan and Pennsylvania for its furnace equipment. Consolidating the manufacturing of its common product lines allow for the most efficient use of its floor space, equipment, and manufacturing processes. Gasbarre will maintain its presence in the Detroit area with a sales, engineering and service facility.  Ben Gasbarre will maintain his leadership role within the Plymouth, Michigan location.  The sales and technical team will drive Gasbarre’s furnace systems into the future.  Gasbarre has plans to not only design and service its equipment but to eventually establish a technical center for process testing and demonstration purposes.  Ben Gasbarre stated, “The move will allow us to better utilize our highly-skilled personnel to accelerate advancements to our products, technology and services.”
  • In a move to realize approximately $6 million to $8 million of annual savings, TimkenSteel Corp., Canton, Ohio, announced plans to close its TimkenSteel Material Services facility in Houston, Texas, in the first quarter of 2020. The 100,000-square-foot operation currently employs approximately 100 people who provide precision value-added and finishing services, primarily to customers that service the energy market.
  • A supplier of nitrogen generators and related products to utilities, petrochemical producers, manufacturers, and energy providers announced a move into an existing 66,000-sq.-ft. building as part of an enhanced growth strategy that includes additional hiring and new products. South-Tek Systems LLC will remain in the Wilmington, North Carolina, area.
  • A global stainless steel manufacturer with headquarters in Spain has reached an agreement for the acquisition of VDM Metals Holding GmbH. Acerinox, S.A. purchased the Germany-based leader producer of specialty alloys from Lindsay Goldberg Vogel GmbH and Falcon Metals BV.
  • An aluminum giant recently broke ground on a $36 million investment to expand and upgrade the company’s capabilities in automotive closed-loop recycling, a process to take aluminum scrap created during stamping. Novelis Inc’s investment in new vehicle production at the Greensboro, Georgia, facility includes adding state-of-the-art equipment for aluminum scrap recycling, a new baghouse for improved dust mitigation and enhanced designs for safer and more efficient traffic flow.

Equipment Chatter

  • A manufacturer of excavating equipment purchased a high-temperature car bottom furnace with an operating temperature of 1000°F (538°C) to 2282°F (1250°C) for stress relieving, normalizing, and other high-temperature processes. Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems was commissioned to design and manufacture the system to meet customer’s strict NOx and CO requirements as well as AMS 2750 temperature uniformity requirements across a wide temperature operating range.
  • A company requiring annealing or normalizing process recently purchased No. 1049, a 1050°F (566°C) cabinet oven with two drawers from Grieve. In addition, a customer has received shipment of No. 1039, a 2,000°F (1,093°C) inert atmosphere, heavy-duty furnace used for heat treating turbine components.
  • A manufacturer in the technology industry has received shipment of an indirect gas-fired heavy-duty walk-in series oven from Wisconsin Oven Corporation. The walk-in oven will be used for heat treating materials used in the production of vehicle batteries.
  • A world-leading international supplier of parts to the automotive industry acquired a Sinac stationary induction heating system from EFD Induction to be used for preheating in a series production of steel pump housing.
  • A Vietnamese steel producer has issued the final acceptance certificate for the latest state-of-the-art acid regeneration plant (ARP) at their new plant in Binh Dinh, Vietnam, which will operate in accordance with stringent European environmental regulatory standards. Hoa Sen Group issued the
    certificate to Tenova.
  • German steel distributor Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (SZFG) has awarded the contract to build a 2.2 megawatt PEM electrolysis plant (PEM = proton exchange membrane) to Siemens Gas and Power, which will cover SZFG’s entire current demand for hydrogen. The necessary electrical power will be generated by seven wind turbines with a capacity of 30 megawatt.
  • A customer in the secondary smelting industry purchased a gas-fired aluminum stack melting and holding furnace from Lindberg/MPH. This stack-type central melting furnace will be utilized to produce aluminum ingot and sows. The furnace has a melt rate of 4,500 pounds per hour.
  • A world-leading steel producer has been commissioned to be the main supplier of steel plate to the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier built in more than 35 years. Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding contracted with ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor for the steel supply to build the carrier, which likely will help haul raw materials to the mill after its launch.
  • An aerospace company recently ordered four TITAN® H6 2 bar vacuum furnaces that will be used for heat treating additively manufactured parts in full-scale production. Ipsen USA shipped two of the furnaces in November and will ship the remaining two in January.

Kudos Chatter

  • The Women in Finishing FORUM announces registration is open for the second annual program to be held at the Embassy Suites South Bend, Indiana, at Notre Dame from May 6-8, 2020. The FORUM features a variety of professional and personal development sessions, team-building exercises, and networking events geared towards women in industrial finishing. Women in Finishing is sponsored by the Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI).
  • Muhammed Odeh, the General Motors (GM) supplier quality engineer, visited ALD Thermal Treatment Inc. (Port Huron, MI, USA) plant to officially present the GM Supplier Quality Excellence Award for 2018.  This is ALD’s 5th consecutive year for this prestigious award since 2014. In addition, ALD was again recognized as a Supplier of the Year for providing heat treatment services.

Heat Treat Today is pleased to join in the announcements of growth and achievement throughout the industry by highlighting them here on our News Chatter page. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to manufacturers with in-house heat treat departments especially in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors to editor@heattreattoday.com

20 Quick Heat Treat News Chatter Items to Keep You Current Read More »

A Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

A Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

Heat Treat Today offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry.

Personnel and Company Chatter

  • Patrick J. DeCourcy, who has served as Allegheny Technologies Incorporated’s Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer since 2013, recently announced plans to retire. To ensure a smooth leadership transition, he will remain in his current role until his successor is appointed and will retire from ATI on March 31, 2020.
  • A leading manufacturer of products used in the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water in North America, Mueller Water Products, recently announced plans to build a new, state-of-the-art foundry in Decatur, Illinois. According to Mueller, this facility is expected to be one of the largest finished goods brass foundries in the world.
  • Jerry Bunch has recently joined Pelican Wire as a Design Engineer II, and Larry Brindise has been hired as IT Development Leader. Bunch will be reviewing production processes, ensuring technical oversight to manufacturing steps and working to support the company-wide ‘continuous improvement’ program. Brindise comes to Pelican Wire with some knowledge of the company, as he has previously served Pelican Wire as a professional software consultant. He comes on-board full-time to lead an ongoing ERP project and will continue to develop and implement software solutions to improve the entire customer lifecycle process.
  • It has been announced that Opti-Tech Scientific, a leading Canadian supplier of scientific equipment, will represent Buehler, an ITW Company, in Canada. Opti-Tech Scientific specializes in optical/digital microscopy, metallography, and hardness testing.
  • Allegheny Technologies Incorporated announced it completed the sale of its Cast Products business unit to Consolidated Precision Products Corp. (CPP) of Cleveland, OH.
  • A partnership has been launched between leading Enterprise Artificial Intelligence® provider Noodle.ai and SMS group, which digitalizes plant and equipment used in steel and nonferrous-metals production and processing, to jointly further optimize the world’s first learning steel mill for Arkansas-based Big River Steel. To help Big River Steel conserve resources and control energy output, the joint solution was created by implementing Noodle.ai’s learning algorithms into SMS group’s X-Pact® MES 4.0. Noodle.ai was able to seamlessly leverage the fact that SMS group’s X-Pact® MES 4.0 was engrained into the steel mill’s IT environment and into their SaaS (Software as a Service) applications. The new end solutions digitize applications throughout every stage of the steelmaking process – starting at the liquid phase all the way to strip finishing.

Equipment Chatter

  • Centorr Vacuum Industries announced it has shipped its new Sintervac AM™ furnace for the debind and sintering of additively manufactured parts for a leading 3D/Additive Manufacturing company.
  • A customer needed the lower sidewalls of its forge furnace shotcreted with 90,000 lbs of material. Onex Inc posted a video of the job on Twitter.
  • The Slovakian company U.S. Steel Košice – one of the largest integrated steel producers in Central Europe – placed a major order for the supply of an annealing and coating line (ACL) for dynamo steel strips to Tenova LOI Thermprocess, a worldwide leader in heat treatment lines and furnaces located in Essen, Germany.

Kudos Chatter

  • The Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI) recently announced the second annual Women in Finishing FORUM will be held at the Embassy Suites South Bend at Notre Dame from May 6-8, 2020.
  • Metal heat treater Exactatherm, based in Mississaugua, Ontario, has been awarded Nadcap Merit status for heat treatment.
  • The International Titanium Association (ITA), Denver, Colo., announces that metallurgist George L. Durfee has been named the recipient of the ITA’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award. A member of ASM International, Mr. Durfee is a metallurgist who built his career around pioneering applied research projects for the titanium industry at forging company Wyman-Gordon Co.

Heat Treat Today is pleased to join in the announcements of growth and achievement throughout the industry by highlighting them here on our News Chatter page. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to manufacturers with in-house heat treat departments especially in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors to the editor at editor@heattreattoday.com

A Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current Read More »

A Baker’s Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

A Baker’s Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

Heat Treat Today offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry.

Personnel and Company Chatter

  • Peters’ Heat Treating, Inc. recently announces that Andrew S. Wilkosz has been named president of the company. Wilkosz, who has been with Peters’ Heat Treating, Inc. for nearly four years, was previously acting as the Vice President of Operations, overseeing the day to day operations of the company across all three facilities. Wilkosz is also a principal in Laser Hard, Inc., specializing in robotic laser heat treating and cladding. He is also a Heat Treat Today 2018 40 Under 40 recipient.
  • Geoffrey Somary has been appointed to CEO of Ipsen Group worldwide, taking over the position after former CEO Thorsten Kruger moved to the Advisory Board of the company.
  • Jake Verdoux has recently been promoted to the position of Manufacturing Manager for Plymouth, Michigan-based, Gasbarre Industrial Furnace Systems (IFS) (formerly known as J.L. Becker).
  • A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the completion and opening of a 15,000-square foot building expansion at the corporate headquarters of Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), located in Waterloo, Iowa.
  • Braidy Industries has alerted potential investors that the aluminum mill it plans to build in northeast Kentucky will open in 2021, not in 2020 as previously projected, a change due to a “minor adjustment to the construction schedule.”
  • Multiple industries have recently purchased and installed equipment in SECO/WARWICK’s Vector® vacuum furnace line, including an international electric motor producer, an emissions control device manufacturer, a forging company, a defense contractor, an automotive manufacturer, and an aircraft components manufacturer.
  • Kandil Steel, headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, recently commissioned bell annealer technology from EBNER. Kandil, which is celebrating its 150 anniversary, is expanding the EBNER HICON/H2® bell annealer located at Galva Metal by four work bases to a total of fourteen. The facility is scheduled to start production in 2020.
  • A 2000°F (1093°C), inert atmosphere, heavy-duty furnace, No. 1039, was recently purchased for heat treating turbine components at a customer’s facility. The workspace dimensions of the Grieve Corporation furnace measure 36” W x 60” D x 36” H. 73.
  • A medical device company recently acquired the assets of Options Medical LLC, a Florida-based medical device distributor. Orthofix Medical Inc., which manufactures musculoskeletal products and therapies, is purchasing the distributor of bone growth therapies devices.
  • A U.S.-based orthopedic and spinal medical device manufacturer and developer recently agreed to sell major assets related to its artificial joint, trauma and spinal product businesses to Kyocera International Inc., based in San Diego, Calif.  The assets of Renovis Surgical Technologies Inc. will be transferred into a new California-based company, wholly owned by Kyocera International Inc., to be named Kyocera Medical Technologies Inc.

  • Buehler, an ITW Company, and ASM International are celebrating 75 of continuous partnership in 2019. The pinnacle of this relationship is Buehler’s continuous support of the ASM World Training Center in Novelty, Ohio, through its innovations for metallography and hardness testing, solutions for the newest materials and participation in ASM International activities.
  • APMI International has named Joseph Tunick Strauss and John L. Johnson. as the organization’s 2019 Fellows. APMI International’s most prestigious award recognizes APMI members for their significant contributions to the goals, purpose, and mission of the organization as well as for a high level of expertise in the technology, practice, or business of the industry.
  • Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI) recently announced its first Women in Finishing FORUM which will be held at the Embassy Suites South Bend at Notre Dame from May 9-11, 2019. CCAI began its Women in Finishing initiative with a networking reception at FABTECH 2017 in Chicago. The response exceeded expectations, leading to the official establishment of Women in Finishing (WiF) under CCAI. 2019 will feature the expansion of WiF programming, including the Women in Finishing FORUM.

Heat Treat Today is pleased to join in the announcements of growth and achievement throughout the industry by highlighting them here on our News Chatter page. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to manufacturers with in-house heat treat departments especially in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors to the editor at editor@heattreattoday.com.

A Baker’s Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current Read More »

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