Nearly 100 attendees gather at the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis for a three-day event to discuss industrial decarbonization and sustainable technologies. Targeting users and suppliers of industrial heating processes, the Industrial Decarbonization Summit is organized by the Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA).
IHEA designed the SUMMIT to help everyone using heat technologies understand and overcome these important concerns and challenges.
Emceed by Jeff Rafter, vice president of sales and marketing, Selas Heat Technology Co. LLC, the event began yesterday (Tuesday, October 29th) with a keynote presentation by Dr. Avi Shultz, of the United States Department of Energy, Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (US DOE IEDO), who spoke on “Understanding the US DOE Industrial Decarbonization Initiatives.” Other speakers and topics covered during the 2-day event include:
Mr. Tim Hill from Nucor and Mr. Jeff Kaman from John Deere talking about the implementation of their companies’ decarbonization plans.
Mr. Perry Stephens from EPRI, Mr. Brian Kelly from Honeywell, and Mr. Erik Anderson from Ambient Fuels discussing alternatives to fossil fuel combustion.
Mr. Sandeep Alavandi of GTI Energy addressing how companies can get to net zero by reducing, converting, and trading.
Mr. Bryan Stern from Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems addressing economic and business concerns related to industrial adoption of decarbonization technologies.
Dr. Avi Shultz Director U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) The Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO)Jeff Rafter Vice President of Sales and Marketing Selas Heat Technology Company, LLC Tim Hill General Manager Sustainability Solutions NucorJeff Kaman Manager, Energy Supply and Sustainability John DeerePerry Stephens Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)Brian Kelly Honeywell Thermal SolutionsErik Anderson Vice President, Origination Ambient FuelsSandeep Alavandi Program Manager GTI EnergyBryan Stern Product Development Manager Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems
Summit attendees come from a wide cross section of industries including companies such as Daido Steel, Whirlpool, Detroit Stoker Co, Wenger Mfg, Trane, Nucor Steel, Timken, John Deere, Oak Ridge National Lab, Siemens Energy, Dowa THT America, and many more.
The content of the Summit is targeted at company thought leaders who are attempting to learn how to navigate the decarbonization roadway. Click on the video below to view some of Jeff Rafter’s opening remarks.
Heat TreatToday offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry. Enjoy these 18 news items.
Equipment
Saarstahl expands its production with an alternate current-electric arc furnace (AC-EAF) supplied by SMS group.
A Class A safety oven equipped with a solvent monitor and roll-in rack, meeting the stringent safety requirements of industries working with volatile materials, was recently shipped by industrial and laboratory ovens manufacturer Blue M.
A manufacturer in the defense industry has received shipment of a gas-fired walk-in batch oven from Wisconsin Oven Corporation, to be used for curing filament wound composite materials.
The Saarstahl team announces AC-EAF agreement with SMS Class A safety oven equipped to process volatile materialsGas-fired walk-in batch oven delivered to defense industry
Company & Personnel
Sean Patrick Murphy has been named product manager for laboratory and R&D furnaces at Centorr Vacuum Industries. He will be responsible for representing over 30 different vacuum furnace product lines to national laboratories, universities, and industrial sectors.
Charles (Charlie) Caldwell joins the team at Solar Atmospheres of Michigan Inc. as the quality manager for its new facility in Chesterfield.
Steel Goode Products LLC (SGP), a thermal spray specialist, has recently been acquired by Aalberts N.V., a provider of thermal spray coating and finishing services. The acquisition includes two operating facilities in Texas and one in Ohio.
The Wirco, Inc, team recently announced Chris Robbins as the new director of business development and Chad Kumfer to the position of director of sales.
Daniel Sonnenberg joins Nitrex Heat Treating Services as the new business development lead for North America. Daniel will focus on identifying and cultivating relationships with potential customers. His goal is to foster trust and drive growth by building enduring partnerships that deliver sustained value over time.
Dave Deiwart has begun a new position as president at Tracer Gas Technologies, based in Yorktown, Indiana. This follows a brief retirement after 35 years of providing leak detection and vacuum application support and training. Dave’s new focus will be on providing training and consulting.
Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, a fully owned subsidiary of Nel ASA, has been awarded a grant from the EU Innovation Fund of up to EUR 135 million (over $145.4M USD) for industrialization of its next-generation pressurized alkaline technology. The technology is currently being prototyped, and the potential industrialization is planned at Herøya, Norway.
OTTO JUNKER GmbH, system providers for metallurgic processes and metal refinement, recently announced that the new business division OTTO JUNKER Solutions, which was established in late 2023, will be further expanded. The company’s focus will be on the development and implementation of green technologies. The new division is headed by R&D expert Tobias Mertens.
Sean Patrick Murphy Product Manager of Laboratory and R&D Furnaces Centorr Vacuum IndustriesCharles (Charlie) Caldwell Quality Manager – Chesterfield Solar Atmospheres of Michigan Inc.Chris Robbins Director of Business Development Wirco, Inc.Chad Kumfer Director of Sales Wirco, Inc.Daniel Sonnenberg Business Development Lead – America Nitrex Heat Treating ServicesTobias Mertens General Manager OTTO JUNKER SOLUTIONS GmbH
Kudos
Constellium SE has received the Supplier of the Year Award from Stellantis, recognized for its overall best-in-class performance as a long-time partner.
Gary Sharp, founder of Advanced Heat Treat Corp, has been honored with the Legends of Manufacturing Award at the Iowa Manufacturing Conference.
Global Thermal Systems (GTS) Mexico’s pyrometry laboratories recently completed the reaccreditation process in the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.
Rex Heat Treat has achieved its fourth consecutive merit-status Nadcap certification under the leadership of Conner Popo, quality assurance manager, and Vindon Griffin, technical services manager.
Aalberts surface technologies Dzierżoniów recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Through acquisition and expansion, the company has grown from 16 employees in 2014 to a current team of over 90 employees, serving the automotive, aerospace, power, fasteners, agriculture, and mining sectors.
The Metal Treating Institute (MTI) recently celebrated its 2024 YES Management Training Program graduates at the final reception of Furnaces North America (FNA) 2024.
Bennett Heat Treating & Brazing Co. received the 2024 Master Craftsman Award, also known as the Heat Treater of the Year Award, at the Metal Treating Institute’s Final Night Dinner & Awards Ceremony following FNA 2024. The award was announced by Doug Glenn, publisher of Heat TreatToday along with a scholarship check for the heat treater to bestow upon a deserving young student going into heat treat.
Ingrid Joerg, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Constellium, and Maxime Picat, Chief Global Purchasing & Supply Chain Officer, Greater Paris Metropolitan Region, at StellantisGary Sharp, founder of Advanced Heat Treat Corp, honored with the Legends of Manufacturing Award The Global Thermal Systems (GTS) Mexico’s pyrometry laboratories team completes ISO/IEC 17025 standard reaccreditation process
MIHEU, a commercial heat treater for the steel processing industry, recently expanded its vacuum furnace line for processing large dies at its hardening plant with a single-chamber vacuum furnace.
The SECO/WARWICK furnace will allow MIHEU to increase processing capacity while maintaining precision, joining three other vacuum furnaces purchased from the supplier. The vacuum furnace with high pressure gas quenching includes large load capacity and workspace with an option to make adjustments for an oversized load.
Jędrzej Malinowski Sales Manager SECO/WARWICK Group Source: LinkedIn
“The Vector vacuum furnace will solve the challenge of hardening large dies, because it uses a large working space,” said Jędrzej Malinowski, sales manager of SECO/WARWICK. “The furnace is equipped with convection heating — a system which improves the heat transfer efficiency when heating at lower temperatures, as well as directional cooling, which allows for cooling problematic shape elements in various ways.”
“We wanted a solution which would shorten the heat treatment cycle time,” commented Aleš Prikeržnik, managing director at MIHEU Slovenia. “By expanding our machine park with a new vacuum furnace, we will significantly shorten the waiting times for customer orders. . . . We already have three such solutions and we are very pleased with their operation.”
MIHEU is a Slovenian commercial heat treating center with a range of additional services, including traditional hardening and tempering in oil in pit furnaces, carburizing, carbonitriding, nitrocarburizing, hardening in vacuum furnaces, and all types of nitriding, gas and plasma nitriding processes.
The press release is available in its original form here.
The final day of Furnaces North America (FNA) began for Heat TreatToday with the presentation of a plaque to Timothy Joseph Wright (T.J. Wright), who served as a Major General in the U.S. Army, as well as a critical player in the history of heat treating, specifically as a past president of Wirco.
Two of his sons, Matthew Wright, vice president of marketing at pyrometry software company C3 Data, and Nathan Wright, CEO of C3 Data, joined T.J. at their booth for the presentation, as did his nephew, Chad Wright, current president of Wirco.
Heat TreatToday wishes to thank T. J., for his life of service to the country and to others and to the whole Wright family for their kindness and partnerships with us.
The day ended with the Metal Treating Institute’s (MTI) final event where MTI Yes Management Training graduates were recognized, awards were given to individuals and companies who have uniquely served the industry and MTI, and the 2025 MTI officers and board of trustees were announced.
Look for upcoming articles highlighting MTI news from the event!
Main image (left to right): Matthew Wright, T.J. Wright, Nathan Wright, Chad Wright
Furnaces North America(FNA) 2024 begins Monday, October 14, and runs through Wednesday, October 16. If you haven’t registered yet, you can still do so onsite, and one look at the technical sessions planned over the two days of training says all you need to know about the caliber of instruction at the event.
All of the sessions will be worth your time! Presenters are highly qualified to speak on the topics, which range from processes and equipment to technology to security:
Emerging Technologies
Furnace Maintenance & Equipment
Heat Treat Business & Digital Transformation
Energy & Gases
Operational Efficiencies
Quality, Compliance & Materials
Process Advancements
If you want to do a little prereading to prepare for the sessions, Heat TreatToday is pleased to direct your attention to technical session presenters who have contributed to our radio, print, and digital resources during this year:
On Tuesday at 8:50 a.m., Bryan Stern, product development manager at Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems, will be speaking on “The Impact of Oil Quenching – A Look at the Carbon Footprint and Cost of Vacuum vs. Atmosphere Processing.” On June 20, 2024, Bryan was our guest on Heat TreatRadio, episode #110, “Isolated Heat, the Future of Vacuum Furnaces,” which you can listen to here.
Later that morning, at 9:40, Peter Sherwin, global business development manager of Heat Treatmentat Watlow, will focus on “Smart Heat Treatment: Industry 4.0 Innovations for Environmental & Energy Efficiency.” Peter co-authored “Thermal Loop Solutions: A Path to a Sustainable Future in Heat Treatment,” a two-part series published in both the magazine and on our website. You can read the first part here and the second part here.
During that same time slot, Brian Turner, sales application engineer at RoMan Manufacturing, is scheduled to speak on “Efficient Furnace Power Solutions”. Brian joined fellow RoMan employees who have contributed technical content to an ongoing series on controls. You can read that article, “Basic Definitions: Power Pathways in Vacuum Furnaces,” originally published July 16, 2024, here.
On Wednesday at 8 a.m., Sefi Grossman, founder and CEO of CombustionOS, is scheduled to present a session on “Maximizing Heat Treat Operational Efficiency: Digitize Your Data for Automation.” Sefi wrote a piece for our August Automotive print edition on “A New Era: Tracking Quality Digitally,” which was later republished at the website. You can read the digital version here.
At 8:50, Joe Coleman, cybersecurity officer at Bluestreak Compliance, will address “CMMC’s Impending Impact On The Metal Treating Industry.” Just last month, he joined Heat TreatRadio in an interview about “NIST and CMMC: What Heat Treaters Need To Know,” which you can listen to here.
Chad Beamer, senior applications engineer at Quintus Technologies, will speak on “Quintus Purus: Development of Clean HIP Processing” at 9:40 on Wednesday morning. Earlier this year, he collaborated with fellow Quintus employees on an article, “HIP Innovation Maximizes AM Medical Potential,” which you can read here.
Bryan Stern Product Development Manager Gasbarre Thermal Processing SystemsPeter Sherwin Global Business Development Manager Heat TreatmentBrian Turner Sales Applications Engineer RoMan Manufacturing, Inc. Source: RoManSefi Grossman Founder & CEO CombustionOS Source: AuthorJoe Coleman Cyber Security Officer Bluestreak ConsultingChad Beamer Senior Applications Engineer Quintus TechnologiesHeat Treat Today contributors leading technical sessions at FNA 2024
Stop by Heat TreatToday‘s booth (424/426) to let us know how the sessions went and if you did your homework beforehand!
Listen as Jeff Rafter, vice president of sales and marketing at Selas Heat Technology and current IHEA president, discusses the upcoming IHEA Decarbonization SUMIMIT with Doug Glenn. Scheduled for October 28-30 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the summit will address the challenges and opportunities of decarbonization for manufacturers. Jeff highlights IHEA’s nearly 100-year history in industry education. The event will feature keynote speakers from the DOE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and John Deere, with a mix of technical and business content aiming to provide practical strategies for energy management and sustainability. Learn more in this episode of Heat TreatRadio, and learn more about this episode sponsor, IHEA, and their event at summit.ihea.org.
Below, you can watch the video, listen to the podcast by clicking on the audio play button, or read an edited transcript.
The following transcript has been edited for your reading enjoyment.
The IHEA Decarbonization Summit (01:03)
Doug Glenn: Jeff, when and where is the summit? And what was the driving force behind deciding to do this event?
Jeff Rafter: The IHEA Decarbonization SUMMIT will be at the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana, beginning on Monday, October 28, and ending Wednesday, October 30.
The drive to create this event arose because the IHEA membership had often commented on, and lamented, the frequent inquiries they get from the client base across all sectors of manufacturing; clients are looking for clarification on the ongoing changes of the U.S. energy infrastructure and, specifically, how to manage the requirement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
There is a lot that is changing quickly in the U.S. energy infrastructure around renewables, electrification, and low carbon fuels. he IHEA board felt that it was essential to assist manufacturing members by trying to clarify these topics in an interesting event that presented the information objectively and provided a diverse array of all the decarbonization pathways available to manufacturers today.
IHEA’s Qualifications (02:36)
Doug Glenn: For those who might not know what IHEA is, what makes it uniquely qualified to present such a summit?
Jeff Rafter: I am proud to say that IHEA is a very unique organization. Many trade organizations do not have the long-standing success in supporting members that this organization has. The composition of IHEA, which is close to 100 years old, was originally made up of heating appliance and heating component manufacturers, who have spent most of our history focused on industry education as a service to all the member companies.
We felt that this was the perfect organization to take up the topic of sustainability and decarbonization because we are education focused. From that background and that bias, we are leveraging thousands of years of experience over a broad array of manufacturing options from traditional fossil fuels through electrification. Our member companies provide a very strong basis to deliver real-world examples of how to deal with reducing CO2 emissions.
Doug Glenn: And if I am remembering correctly, IHEA actually has a standing history of cooperation and working with the DOE on different things in the past, correct?
Jeff Rafter: Very good point, Doug. If you look back in history, before “CO2 reduction” and “decarbonization” became buzzwords, we spent a lot of similar efforts working with government organizations, research laboratories, and third-party organizations around topics of NOx reduction and trying to create a cleaner basis of industrial, manufacturing, and energy. In addition, we have always spent our time helping with business concerns regarding efficiency, not only operating successfully heating processes and appliances, but also making manufacturing more cost effective.
Keynote Speakers (04:44)
Doug Glenn: And speaking of the DOE, I see that there are some pretty high-profile speakers coming. The keynote speaker is Dr. Avi Shultz, from the U.S. DOE, and he is on the Industrial Decarbonization Initiative. Other speakers include Paulomi Nandy from Oak Ridge National Lab, Jeff Kaman from John Deere, and Tim Hill from Nucor. Can you give us a sense of what these folks will be talking about?
Dr. Avi Shultz Director U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) The Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO)Paulomi Nandy Technical Account Manager, R&D Assistant Staff Member Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research Analysis Group (MEERA) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)Jeff Kaman Manager, Energy Supply and Sustainability John DeereTim Hill General Manager Sustainability Solutions NucorSpeakers at the IHEA Decarburization Summit
Jeff Rafter: Doug, we are very excited to have the diverse mix of speakers that will make up the summit presentations. With Dr. Schultz and Miss Nandy, we are very excited to be providing a third-party opinion — government organizations and research laboratories — and they will be presenting on their views of the trends for the future of sustainability and decarbonization.
When we move to some of the other presenters like Tim Hill from Nucor and Mr. Kaman from John Deere, we also wanted members and attendees to take away from the summit real-world experience. These are not imagined or planned changes. We wanted companies that had actual experience with decarbonization — who had even taken actions towards net-zero positions — to share with attendees exactly how they approached the challenges.
Because, of course, some of the issues around sustainability are that it comes at a cost.
And how do you fund that? How do you research that? Where do you look for grants, and how do you make the business case towards decarbonization or any sustainability action for that matter?
Finally, adding to those two bodies of participants, we have a number of presenters speaking about real-world solutions today. IHEA’s view on decarbonization and sustainability is that there is a very broad set of pathways that you can take today with inexpensive, readily available technologies all the way out to longer term solutions like full electrification of processes.
There is more than one way to approach this challenge and do the responsible thing in manufacturing, which is to address our CO2 production globally.
Is Electrification the Only Answer? (07:25)
Doug Glenn: You mentioned electrification. When people hear decarbonization or sustainability, they often think electrification. There may be a lot of people listening saying, “I am primarily combustion. Should I be going?” Are only electrification solutions going to be presented? Or are combustion solutions going to be presented as well to help with the decarbonization?
Jeff Rafter: The answer to that question is, “Yes, you should be going, regardless of whether your focus and your background is in traditional fossil fuel combustion or electrification.”
The summit will contain a very balanced approach of different technologies, presented with no bias. The goal of this summit is providing education to help business leaders make better decisions around their energy management and their environmental concerns.
With that said, when we look at the body of what is available in the agenda, electrification is an important topic. But as a lot of people recognize, some portions of electrification are just relocating to a different fossil fuel further away from the point of use whilst other electrification options linked to renewable energy sources truly can come close to net-zero production of CO2.
IHEA’s view is that there are many sustainability pathways that we can all investigate or pursue.
Some pathways maintain fossil fuel basis. Some industrial processes will be challenged to move to an electric heating source. And then for other processes, electrification is the cat’s meow. So it is that broad sweep of diverse technologies that everyone needs to be educated on to make better decisions when the time comes.
Who Should Attend the Summit? (09:21)
Doug Glenn: How technical will the summit be; do I need to know heavy engineering, metallurgy, and things of that sort? And who should come?
Jeff Rafter: Traditionally, a lot of IHEA’s educational content has been directed at a technical audience; it was technical education about how various energy sources and heating appliances work, how to comply to code, and how to approach the application of that equipment safely. In this particular summit, we have changed course a bit in that we did not want this event to be a technical conference.
The idea of this summit was to make it a business conference because that is where most of the challenges exist when we look at sustainability efforts.
The content that will be presented is a pleasant mix of some technical topics because we have to get a rudimentary understanding of how these different technologies work. However, we are spending just as much time in the presentations addressing business concerns: How do you fund these various actions? Where can you find available grants? What are real-world examples of how other companies have approached sustainability or have begun an initiative internally? How do you get the support and the decision-making decided while moving in the right direction? When you look at the agenda that will be posted on the IHEA website, you will see that the topics range broadly from some technology presentations to real-world business concerns and how to make those business decisions.
Agenda for IHEA Decarburization Summitt, Monday – Wednesday, October 28-30, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana
Doug Glenn: How much fun have you had putting this summit together?
Jeff Rafter: I would happily report it has been a tremendous team effort.
I am very proud to say that a lot of IHEA member companies and third parties have stepped up to help us construct this event. We are really looking forward to it being a valuable event that provides a lot of information and important takeaways for participants.
Doug Glenn: I know you have put a lot of work into it. I have watched you do this over the last year and a half, and you have done a great job coordinating it.
Closing Remarks (12:34)
Jeff Rafter: I would just like to say in closing, for anyone who is thinking about coming to the IHEA Decarbonization Summit, please do. This is a very important topic for manufacturers, and you really need to take the approach of not waiting. It is time to get in front of changes in our energy infrastructure and the need to decarbonize some manufacturing processes. This is a great way to get educated and start your plan.
Doug Glenn: And I did remember one other motivation: If you are looking to stay at the hotel where the summit is held, the cutoff date for the hotel (you can still get into the summit even if you do not hit this cutoff date) is October 7th. So anyhow, appreciate it. Jeff, thanks very much for your time.
About The Guest
Jeff Rafter Vice President of Sales and Marketing Selas Heat Technology Company, LLC Source: Selas Heat Technology
Jeff Rafter is vice president of sales and marketing for Selas Heat Technology in Streetsboro, Ohio, and has a rich history in the combustion industry, including Maxon Corporation. Jeff has 31 years of industrial experience in sales, research and development, and marketing; combustion application expertise in process heating, metals, refining, and power generation; and 13 years of service on NFPA 86 committee. He holds patents for ultra-low NOx burner design. Additionally, his company, Selas, is an IHEA member, and Jeff is the current president of IHEA as well as one of the driving forces/coordinators behind the upcoming Decarbonization Summit at the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis, October 28-30.
For the seventh year in a row, Heat TreatToday shines the spotlight on a remarkable cast of rising young leaders in the North American heat treat industry. Forty men and women who have already made their mark on the field through innovation, service, communication, and expertise. It’s an honor and a pleasure for us to present theHeat TreatToday 40 Under 40 Class of 2024, and we hope to see all of you at this year’s Furnaces North America Show in Columbus, OH, October 14-16.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, a major supplier of steel to the automotive industry with heat treat capabilities, has announced its acquisition of Stelco Holdings Inc, an integrated steelmaker with two operational sites in the province of Ontario. The $2.5B (USD) transaction will bring 1,800 workers into the Cleveland-based steelmaker’s current workforce of 18,000 employed across its facilities in the United States and Canada.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (Cliffs) recently released its definitive agreement to acquire Stelco Holdings Inc, increasing its steelmaking footprint and doubling the company’s exposure to the flat-rolled spot market, which includes raw materials, energy, and healthcare. Stelco adds capabilities that complement Cliffs’ existing operations, confirming the Cleveland-based steelmaker’s commitment and leadership in integrated steel production in North America.
Lourenco Goncalves Chairman, President and CEO Cleveland Cliffs
Stelco’s facilities consist of Lake Erie Works, a new integrated steelmaking facility in North America, and Hamilton Works, a downstream finishing and cokemaking facility, adding capabilities that complement Cliffs’ existing operations and product portfolio, while diversifying its market industries. Upon completion of the transaction, Cliffs shareholders will own approximately 95% and Stelco shareholders will own approximately 5% of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis.
“We did this deal the way it should be done, reaching a respectful agreement between the two parties that keeps national interests at the forefront and recognizes the importance of the workforce,” said Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president and CEO of Cliffs. “The enterprise value of this transaction is significantly lower than the cost of building an equivalent replacement mill in the United States, and the cost structure is lower than what a new U.S. mill would provide us. Stelco is a company that respects the Union, treats their employees well, and leans into their cost advantages. With that, they are a perfect fit for Cleveland-Cliffs and our culture. We look forward to proving that our ownership of Stelco will be a net benefit for Canada, the province of Ontario, and the cities of Nanticoke and Hamilton.”
Alan Kestenbaum Executive Chairman & CEO Stelco Holdings
“I am proud of what we have accomplished over the past seven years, and the value we have generated,” said Alan Kestenbaum, executive chairman and CEO of Stelco. “Most importantly, we have revitalized Stelco and restored it to its iconic status in Canada. I know thac Cliffs will continue to build upon the excellent work and life environment we have created for all of our employees and continue to be a reliable supplier to our valued customers, while maintaining Stelco’s stature and reputation in Canada and maintaining our Canadian national interests. One of the important drivers for this transaction was receiving a meaningful portion of the consideration in Cliffs shares. I have strong belief and optimism in the North American steel market. I believe that Lourenco and his team have created a winning platform, and I intend to remain an investor in Cliffs for a long time to come as he and his team continue to build out their platform and business.”
Pictured in featured image: Lourenco Goncalves
The press release is available in its original form here.
Heat TreatToday offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry. Enjoy these 10 news items.
Equipment
Premier Furnace Specialists received orders for nine pieces of heat treating equipment to be delivered to a range of manufacturing operations, all of which are currently in various stages of completion and testing or delivery and installation.
A manufacturer in the composites industry recently received shipment of a cabinet oven from Gruenberg, an industrial oven and sterilizer manufacturer. The furnace will be used for curing composite parts under a vacuum.
A second nitriding system was installed by Nitrex to increase capacity at Balexco, an aluminum extrusion company in Bahrain focusing on increasing production capacity.
Nine furnaces in various stages of completion and testing on the floor at Premier Furnace SpecialistsGruenberg cabinet oven shipped to composites manufacturerNitrex nitriding system installed at Balexco
Company & Personnel
Greg Miller National Business Manager Superheat
Cognizant, a professional services company that helps clients modernize technology, announced intent to acquire Belcan, a global supplier of digital engineering services for multiple industries, including aerospace, defense, and automotive.
Greg Miller has joined Superheat as national business development manager for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Greg will continue to work from his base in Lanarkshire, Scotland, bringing experience in manufacturing and preventative maintenance, with a foundation in induction heating.
Kudos
On July 2, 2024, David Lynch celebrated 40 years with Induction Tooling, Inc. This milestone was accomplished by his commitment to excellence and consistent hard-work and dedication.
Superheat, an on-site heat treatment service provider based in New Lenos, IL, recently received two Industrial Safety Training Council (ISTC) Safety Achievement Awards: one for achieving three consecutive years with zero recordable injuries and another for celebrating five years without an OSHA lost workday case. Bret Cadenhead, regional HSE manager at Superheat, represented the company at the awards event in Beaumont, Texas.
StandardAero celebrates 60 years of providing service to Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6A turboprop across four overhaul locations worldwide. In 1964, Dallas Airmotive (acquired by the company in 2021) became the first independent MRO provider to enter into a turboprop agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Centorr Vacuum Industries celebrates its 70th year in business in the vacuum furnace industry. The company was founded in Somerville, MA, as Vacuum Industries in 1954, and Centorr Furnace Company in 1962 in Suncook. NH. The two companies merged in 1989 in their current facilities in Nashua, NH.
Sławomir Woźniak, CEO of the SECO/WARWICK Group, celebrates five years in the position, managing all three brands: SECO/WARWICK, Retech, and SECO/VACUUM.
StandardAero’s engine overhaul center in San Antonio, TX, has completed correlation of its first test cell for the CFM International LEAP-1B turbofan engine, as part of its introduction of LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities.
Bill Stuehr (L), president & CEO of Induction Tooling, Inc., congratulates David Lynch (R) on 40 years with the companyBret Cadenhead, Superheat (R), receives ISTC Safety Achievement AwardSławomir Woźniak President & CEO SECO/WARWICK GroupCentorr Vacuum Industries, Nashua, NH, location
A Georgia-based provider of natural gas measurement and control products and solutions has announced the acquisition of a distribution and service center for the natural gas industry, extending its capabilities for heat treating manufacturers.
“We’re excited to welcome the Tri-State team to Equipment Controls,” said Jeb Bell, president of Equipment Controls Company. “Tri-State has built its reputation on a foundation of exceptional service. Their motto, ‘The Service Matters,’ resonates with our values, and we’re eager to extend that level of service to our customers.”
“We look forward to our future with ECCO. Our shared vision and complementary strengths will enable us to deliver exceptional value to our customers and the natural gas industry as a whole,” said Paul Hayes, president of Tri-State Meter and Regulator Service, Inc.
ECCO will be keeping Tri-State’s brand, team, offices, products, and service offerings.
This press release is available in its original form here.
