Furnaces North America 2022, the premier trade show and technical conference in the North American heat treating industry, attracted over 1,200 attendees from around the world. The show is produced by the Metal Treating Institute in partnership with its media partner, Heat TreatToday.
While attendees were in Indiana at the Indianapolis Convention Center, they experienced connection with 125+ top suppliers in the heat treating industry, 35 educational sessions in 10 tracks, and two packed social networking events.
Technical sessions and many exhibitors and attendees Source: MTI
Exhibitors and attendees alike contributed to the energy and quality of attendance on the show floor, with robust networking and connections flowing over the course of the three days. Topics that were top-of-mind included automation, labor shortages, and the current challenges with supply chain issues.
“When the show doors opened up, it was so exciting the see the reconnection of supplier and customer,” stated Tom Morrison, FNA show producer. “FNA is a big success because of a lot of people, including the Metal Treating Institute volunteers, sponsors, and management, who put their heart and soul into delivering a world class event. It was exciting to see that hard work payoff this week.”
FNA Show Management announced it will host FNA 2024 in Columbus, OH on October 14-16 at the Columbus Convention Center with the Hilton Columbus serving as the host hotel.
(Pictured above is the Heat Treat Today team left to right: Michelle Ritenour, Ellen Porter, Sarah Maffet, Bethany Leone, Lauren Porter, and Alyssa Bootsma; Karen Gantzer, Doug Glenn, and Mary Glenn)
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
Heat treaters travel for miles to attend Furnaces North America 2022, in Indianapolis, IN, for two days of learning and networking. This guide gives some necessary attendee information and can’t-miss highlights from the schedule.
The Indianapolis Convention Center (ICC), at 100 Capitol Avenue, is the place to be. Check out the parking maps to plan your route and incorporate access via skywalk when planning your arrival. Additionally, scan the QR code below (or click here) to log in to the FNA 2022 resources, including resources to navigate the show floor tomorrow and links to find things to do with colleagues, employees, and clients.
Monday
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From 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM today, you can complete registration and pick up your badge at the ICC outside of hall B. You can do this on your way to the FNA 2022 Kickoff Welcome Reception, which begins at 6:00 PM at the Marriott Downtown 350 W Maryland Street.
Tuesday
Here’s a sample guide of how to maximize your time at the Indianapolis Convention Center on Tuesday, October 4th.
7:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Pick up your badge and register outside hall B of the ICC if you haven’t already done so.
10:30 AM – 5:30 PM: Tour the FNA Business Exhibition in hall B.
12:00 PM: Lunch at adjoining food court.
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Trade Show Floor Reception
What?
Discover “New Equipment”, “Emerging Technology”, and “Changing Trends” at the technical sessions. The 5 topics that you can explore on Tuesday are Maintenance, Equipment, Energy, Compliance, and The Future.
The following is a sample of some of the technical classes we are looking forward to:
“Heat Treat Robotics . . . .The Present, The Future” Room 124 (8:00 am — 8:35 am)
“Improved Predictive Maintenance Using SCR Power Controllers” Room 120 (8:50 am — 9:25 am)
“Saving Energy & Money in Your Heat Treat Plant” Room 122 (9:40 — 10:15am)
“Vacuum Furnace Leaks — What You Need to Know” Room 120 (10:30 am — 11:05 am)
Following these technical sessions, the entire exposition floor of Hall B holds over 135 booths, just waiting to share ideas and innovations. Find Heat Treat Today at Booth #622-624.
Who?
This full list of exhibitors will help you identify the heat treat industry players you want to visit. The time for in-person conversation is invaluable as you navigate new leads. This quick video (or watch below) gives the sense of what an opportunity this is: “You will not want to miss everything heat treating including a packed exhibit hall of the top suppliers in the industry, 35 technical sessions and the best minds in heat treating from both commercial and captive heat treaters.”
See you soon!
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
Paulo Products was the recipient of the Commercial Heat Treater of the Year award presented by Heat Treat Today, in cooperation with The Metal Treating Institute (MTI). The award was initially decided and presented virtually in 2020, and was formally awarded in person on October 6, 2021 during the MTI Annual Fall Meeting awards banquet in San Antonio, Texas.
MTI awards the Commercial Heat Treater of the Year to the company that demonstrates they are making a positive impact in the community and the industry. The award is judged by a panel of previous recipients based on quality programs, pollution and hazardous waste control, community involvement, and leadership.
The award consists of a plaque and a $1,500 donation to the MTI Educational Foundation by Heat Treat Today in the name of the winning company. The donation was matched by MTI’s Educational Foundation. Paulo Products will award this $3,000 as a scholarship to a high school or college student pursuing an education towards heat treat.
Photo: Paulo Products being recognized as 2020 Commercial Heat Treater of the Year. (L-R) Jim Oakes, Super Systems, Inc. & MTI President; Will and Ben Rassieur Paulo Products; Doug Glenn, Heat Treat Today
Young people today get a bad rap. Karen Gantzer, managing editor at Heat TreatToday, disagrees! The leadership, initiative, and problem-solving skills of the 40 Under 40 Class of 2021 are truly inspiring. In the heat treat industry, it appears youth isn't such a bad thing after all. In this article, read what Karen has to say about some of the young people on the team at Heat Treat Today.
This article was originally published in Heat Treat Today's August 2021 Automotiveprint edition.
Karen Gantzer Managing Editor Heat TreatToday
I find it very inspiring to work with young people in this industry. Contrary to what is sometimes heard in the world at large, many of the young people I’ve had the privilege of working with in the North American heat treat market are intelligent, conscientious, respectful, hard-working adults worth their weight in gold. They’re a real pleasure to be around. As this column is being typed, Heat Treat Today is working on selecting 40 young leaders in the North American heat treat market to be inducted into the 40 Under 40 Class of 2021, a great honor for each person, and a great honor for the 120 previous inductees, the 40 Under 40 Classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020. It’s amazing how difficult it is to pick 40 each year from those nominated. Nearly all of them are more than qualified, but only 40 can be selected. The judges invariably struggle each year. That is a GREAT problem to have, and it speaks to the quality of the young people in this industry. Although these young people will probably never make it into one of the 40 Under 40 classes, I would like to mention several under-40 individuals who contribute substantially to the North American heat treat market each and every day – the young people of Heat Treat Today – all of whom are less than 40 years old and all of whom are simply stellar people.
Ellen Porter Billing, Accounting, Audience Development
Bethany Funk-Leone is the Heat Treat Daily editor as well as the Heat Treat Radio editor and resident idea person along with Doug. We sometimes have to pivot at the last minute and Bethany flexes with grace, determination, and wit, as she juggles multiple responsibilities and stays ahead of the game.
Brandon Glenn is our art and web design expert. When we need a logo or image, a tweak on the website, or a last-minute edit on the Heat Treat Daily, Brandon is our man; and he always comes through with precision, kindness and often a comment that makes us laugh.
Ellen Glenn-Porter wears several hats—billing/accounting/audience development—and makes sure that important admin is completed on time. She faithfully connects with you in the industry and is always diligent to make sure the rest of the team is aware of needs, encouragement, or concerns that are sent to her.
Lauren Porter Production Manager
Alyssa Bootsma Social Media Editor
Jonathan Lloyd Audio and Podcast Editor
Lauren Porter, Heat Treat Today production manager, is our newest team member. She has been Doug’s right hand person and done yeoman’s work in getting the print magazines, e-blasts, and other media out to you all as well as working with advertisers.
Alyssa Bootsma is our social media editor. She has taken excellent initiative on the various platforms and has grown our presence significantly. It has been exciting to see her grow and succeed in an area that had been unfamiliar to her, but one which she has embraced.
Jonathan Lloyd, Heat Treat Today's talented audio/podcast editor, ensures the excellence of Heat Treat Radio and other multimedia endeavors. His expertise and creativity in the audio and visual world is a huge asset as he helps us maintain a cutting edge.
The old-timers, Doug Glenn and I, couldn’t be happier to be working with this youthful group, who keeps us sharp and current! And, while they might never be in Heat Treat Today's40 Under 40, they are our "Top 6" list of great people serving the North American heat treat market.
Home heating oil is going for $1.49 per gallon. 525.4 gallons was just pumped into the two, 275-gallon fuel oil tanks in the basement of my 1900’s-era farmhouse. Eleven months ago, when I last filled those tanks, fuel oil was selling for $2.35 per gallon. $1.49 is the lowest price I’ve paid in the 10 years I’ve lived in this drafty old house, and it represents a 36% drop in price.
Let’s put the blame on fracking for the price drop. We can’t really blame COVID – although we can and should blame COVID for nearly everything else that went wrong in 2020, but not the drop in fuel oil prices specifically, and energy prices in general.
My acquaintance and friend, Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson, retired adjunct faculty member, economist, and fellow for economics and social policy with the Institute for Faith and Freedom (www.faithandfreedom.com) at Grove City College (www.gcc.edu), my alma mater, in western Pennsylvania, recently published a short and thought-provoking article about fracking. You can read Dr. Hendrickson’s entire blog post by clicking here (if you’re reading this in digital format – which apparently only roughly 30% of you are), or if you’re reading this in the “old-fashioned” print edition (roughly 70% of you!), I’ll summarize a few of the more salient points below, or you can jump on your computer and Bing or Google “mark hendrickson faith freedom why fracking is a big issue.” It will pop up as one of the first search results. More on this article in just one moment. But first …
Since this issue covers heat treatments in the energy and medical industries, please notice the article in this issue that deals with heat treating a fracking pump valve seat. The article is an edited version of one of four Heat Treat Radio interviews conducted with Integrated Heat Treating Solutions CEO, Joe Powell. If you’re involved in the oil and gas industry or any other energy related industry, this fracking article will be of interest to you. Joe explains how his company more than doubles the life of a mission-critical valve seat in a down-hole fracking pump by introducing some very, very unique heat treating and quenching processes. (Spoiler: the secret is in the quenching!) Read and enjoy – or if you’d prefer to listen, click here.
Now, back to Dr. Mark Hendrickson’s blog post on fracking, Why Fracking is a Big Issue. Dr. Hendrickson points out “the strange tendency of many people who have benefited from economic advances to denounce and vilify the source of their prosperity, a sort of ‘bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you’ phenomenon.” The “denouncing and vilifying” of fracking is one good example of this strange psychosis.
Hendrickson continues, “The enormous boost that cheap natural gas gives to the American economy is reason enough to continue with fracking, but there are also important geopolitical, health, and environmental benefits to natural gas.” Geopolitically, fracking has made the US energy independent. In terms of human health and safety, natural gas is “far safer for workers to extract than coal, and burning it causes much less pollution than coal.”
Much more could be said; much more issaid in Hendrickson’s short article. I recommend his article to you.
I like paying $1.49 per gallon for my fuel oil, but I’m not in favor of that price if there is an obvious harm being done to a specific person. Dealing with legitimate environmental, health, and safety issues verifiably caused by fracking is reasonable and good; completely eliminating fracking seems extreme. Long live $1.49 (or less) fuel oil prices for all!
Heat Treat Today publishes four print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in Heat Treat Today‘s Automotive Heat Treating magazine, June 2020.
Doug Glenn, Publisher, Heat Treat Today
For the record, the 2020 North American heat treat industry has been severely impacted by COVID-19. Everyone I’ve talked to agrees that the reality of 2020 will pale in comparison to the hopes and dreams for 2020 back in January and February of this year. March and April usually bring spring-like optimism, but this year those two months were marked by a grinding of the US economy to a nearly complete standstill, the heat treat industry included. As one of our Latvian foreign exchange visitors said in his broken English, “NOT GOOD.” Thus, it has been; and thus, it is even as of this writing.
Every situation, however, is 20% situation and 80% what you make of it, so let me suggest four positive things that will come out of this historic economic tragedy.
#1 “Sheltering at home” for 6-8 weeks might help us all slow down. For the vast majority, we’ve all been slowly heated in the waters of busyness to the point where we think it is normal. During my recent conversation with the executive director of an industry association, this person said, “I’m in favor of anything that will help us all slow down.” This person was fully convinced that our “normal” pace is not healthy. Perhaps this person was right. One other individual I spoke to was “forced” to ignore work for two weeks. His company furloughed individuals and sternly warned them NOT to check emails while furloughed because the company could be sued if furloughed workers were actually working. The national market manager that told me this story did so from his personal cell phone while preparing to paint a room in his house. No work for him. Like many of us, he had to slow down.
#2 Interacting face-to-face with other human beings is important. I know that many of you introverts are loving the forced isolation, but even you must admit that after a week or more seeing no one, it would be nice to be able to at least go somewhere where you can actually see and talk to other human beings besides those with whom you are confined to quarters. My favorite example of this are all of the technologically savvy young people who live on their phones. As long as they have their phones, they’re content. Come to find out, many of these now homebound young ones are now MISSING SCHOOL, not so much for the academics, but more for the interaction with their peers – even if it is sitting next to each other with their heads in their phones! People matter. COVID is helping us remember.
#3 COVID, or more accurately, the RESPONSE to COVID, is helping us all remember just how quickly we can lose our freedoms. For many of us, we lost the freedom to go to work, we lost the freedom to freely assemble, we lost the freedom to travel where and when we like, we lost the freedom to walk around without a mask, we lost the freedom to walk up a grocery store aisle in either direction, and we’ve even lost the freedom to worship where and when we like. Some even argue that we’ve lost our freedom of speech! Try asserting the opinion that the actual COVID virus is not significantly more dangerous than a normal flu. Try it once; you’ll not do it again! Of course, most of these freedoms will be lost only temporarily and for a good cause – our safety. But please remember what King Mongkut (Yul Brynner in The King and I) said about finding safety from others, “Might they not protect me out of all I own?” Or take it from Ben Franklin – “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
#4 And finally, COVID is helping us all see just how quickly life can change … and this is a good thing … because it is true. We think we are safe, we think we are secure, we think that life will always be this way, we think we are in control. We are wrong. There’s only One in control – assuming you believe in God – and we are not Him. This might be a scary thought for some – to not be in control. But, it is better to live in an unpleasant reality than a dangerous fantasy. COVID is helping us deal with reality.
So, there’s a lot of good coming from this pandemic. Here’s to a more modestly paced life, here’s to time with friends and family, here’s to liberty, here’s to remembering Who’s in charge … and here’s to your health and safety and a return to a more “normal” North American heat treat market.
Heat Treat Today wants to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day! As restrictions across our country ease and we begin to start getting things back to normal, we’re all the more appreciative of the freedoms and safety that so many brave men and women have given their lives to secure. May we all take the opportunity to consider and give thanks for their sacrifice, and may you and your family have a blessed and safe holiday!
Heat Treat Today publishes four print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in Heat Treat Today‘s Aerospace Heat Treating magazine, March 2020.
The first time I heard the name “Rodriguez” was at the 2015 ASM International Heat Treat Show during the “The Heat Is On” networking reception held at The Waterview Loft at Port Detroit – the same location it was held this last year (2019). I was standing beside a to-remain-nameless president of a furnace manufacturing company who had traveled extensively in his pre-heat treat days. While we were chatting at one of the outdoor cocktail tables on a lovely Detroit night, a middle-aged couple (and by that I mean a couple who were roughly my age, 54 at the time) came up and stood with us. Striking up a conversation with them, as I’m known to do with complete strangers, it became clear to us, both by their accent and by the content of the conversation itself, that they were from South Africa. They were here in the States to attend the Heat Treat Show.
When the “to-remain-nameless” furnace manufacturing president found out that this middle-aged couple was from South Africa, his eyes lit up. With enthusiasm somewhat uncharacteristic of his personality, he asked them – with great anticipation – “Do you know Rodriguez?” They looked at him as if he had two heads and after a short glance at each other replied, “Of course!” The to-remain-nameless president then looked at me, a man of roughly the same age as these two middle-aged individuals, and said, “Do YOU know Rodriguez?” Feeling a bit in the dark, I answered honestly, “No; who is Rodriquez?”
Suffice it to say, I did a lot of listening from that point forward in the conversation. It was fascinating and, to be frank, somewhat unbelievable.
As with any good story, it is best not to say too much, especially about how the story ends, but the story of Rodriguez is a fascinating story that you will NOT believe. And it is heat treat related – kind of.
I’ll tell you a bit more about Rodriguez here, but you must PROMISE to search for and watch the documentary about Rodriguez, Searching for Sugar Man. You can watch it on Netflix, and you may be able to find it other places as well. Trust me, it will be a worthwhile investment of time and, if you’re like most people who I’ve steered in that direction, your response will be something like, “No way! Not possible.”
In fact, Rodriguez was a heat treater. If you listen carefully at roughly the 1-hour mark in the documentary, you’ll find out that Rodriguez worked in the heat treat department for Chrysler, its Lynch Road Assembly plant in, interestingly enough, Detroit! According to Wikipedia, the “Lynch Road Assembly [Plant] was a Chrysler assembly plant located… near Coleman A. Young International Airport. It is now the location of The Crown Group, a powdered coatings manufacturer which supports the automotive manufacturing industry.”
That is as “heat treat” as the documentary gets, so don’t expect any more.
You need to watch this documentary, you and your entire family. My four kids were all in their teen years when we first watched Searching for Sugar Man. They were mesmerized once we got into it. Suffice it to say that Rodriguez was a musician besides being a heat treater, and what happened to him is, well… unbelievable.
If, nay, WHEN you watch it, please drop me an email (doug@heattreattoday.com) and tell me what you thought. Also, if you know of any other non-heat treat, heat treat stories, or simply movies where heat treat is mentioned, please let me know. I’m trying to compile a list of movies where at least heat treat gets a mention.
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Heat treaters travel for miles to attend 
