Matt Clinite

18 News Chatter To Keep You Current

/ HEAT TREAT NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

Heat Treat Today offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry. Enjoy these 18 news items.

Equipment

  1. Blue M, a global industrial and laboratory ovens manufacturer, has announced the shipment of a stacked mechanical convection oven to be used for non-hazardous curing applications between 570°F and 750°F (300°C and 400°C).
  2. Hammerer Aluminum Industries (HAI) has implemented a Nitrex nitriding system at its facility in Romania, replacing the traditional salt bath nitriding process. The new system has a load capacity of 3,300 lbs (1,500 kg), is designed specifically for treating extrusion dies, and offers controlled nitriding and controlled ferritic nitrocarburizing.
  3. SECO/WARWICK recently completed three transactions: a European manufacturer of modern armament equipment and armaments supplier for NATO acquired a vacuum furnace with gas cooling and a molybdenum heat chamber; a Slovenian manufacturer ordered a vacuum furnace with 15 bar high pressure gas hardening and two nitriding furnaces; and a Turkish company purchased an induction vacuum furnace for melting and obtaining castings designed for manufacturing aviation components.
Blue M’s stacked mechanical convection oven for non-hazardous curing applications
Nitrex nitriding system to replace salt bath nitriding system
Vacuum furnace and two nitriding furnaces sent to Slovenian client
SECO Vector vacuum furnace delivered to NATO member

Company & Personnel

  1. Industry veteran Mark Stein was recently added to the Nitrex team as regional sales manager for Michigan territory. In his role, Mark will lead sales initiatives across Michigan, working directly with current and prospective clients to enhance service, optimize growth strategies, and ensure market demands are met. 
  2. To mark 175 years of innovation in specialty chemicals and distribution, Hubbard-Hall recently unveiled a new logo and a completely redesigned website. The updates reflect the company’s rich history and ongoing evolution, noting its founding year of 1849.
  3. Bluestreak Compliance, a quality management (QMS) and manufacturing execution system (MES), has hired Rory Godsell as its new Cybersecurity Compliance Specialist to assist clients and their vendors in achieving compliance of NIST 800-171, CMMC and DFARS. He brings expertise in cybersecurity, penetration testing, ethical hacking, digital forensics, cyber operations, and project management, to the company’s mission of advancing CMMC certification services.
  4. Steelhead Technologies, which delivers ERP, MES, and CRM solutions designed to transform job shop manufacturing, recently announced the successful completion of a $12.5M Series B funding round. This brings the company’s total funding to $23 million. 
  5. Ipsen USA announced the promotion of two team members to new roles in 2025. Matt Clinite has been promoted to Ipsen USA Sales Director, and Christina Connelly has been promoted to Director of Ipsen Customer Service (ICS) – Parts.
Mark Stein
Regional Sales Manager for Michigan Territory
Nitrex
Screenshot of Hubbard-Hall’s new website
Rory Godsell
Cybersecurity Compliance Specialist
Bluestreak Compliance
$12.5M in funding for Steelhead Technologies
Matt Clinite
Sales Director
 Ipsen USA
Christina Connelly 
Director of Customer Service (ICS) – Parts
Ipsen USA

Kudos

  1. Kanthal, a leader in industrial heating technology, has won the prestigious industry award “E-prize” in the category Energy Optimization for its technology that helps companies and industries transform to a fossil-free production. The award is organized by Sweden’s largest business newspaper, Dagens Industri, and the newspaper, Aktuell Hållbarhet, together with the energy group E.ON.
  2. Aalberts surface technologies honored Olga Kovalenko, Patric Keune and Metin Önal for 25 years of commitment in Solingen. Presenting the certificates were Guido Heijnen, sales director, and plant manager Miguel Rodrigues.
  3. TAV VACUUM FURNACES was recently awarded the title of “Best Performer Enterprise 2024 in the Province of Bergamo.” This prestigious award is reserved for the top 1000 companies in the province.
  4. StandardAero was selected by US-Bangla Airlines, a leading Bangladeshi carrier, to provide OEM-authorized PW127M Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Services. In addition, the company has been chosen by Brazilian Air Force to support PT6A-68C engines powering its A-29 Super Tucano Fleet, it has secured Indian DGCA Approval for its OEM-authorized PW127M Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Services, and it has received CAAC Approval for Its LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B Engine MRO Services, enabling it to support A320neo and B737 MAX operators across China.
  5. HeatTek, a leader in manufacturing ovens and washers, recently celebrated the company’s 25th anniversary, noting its numerous achievements since 1999, including industry accolades, editorial recognition, as well as awards identifying its positive culture as an employer. “We are incredibly proud to celebrate this milestone,” says Jason Plowman, president and 2nd generation owner of HeatTek. “The success we’ve achieved over the past 25 years is a direct result of the hard work and commitment of our employees, the trust of our customers, and the support of our partners. We look forward to continuing our journey of innovation and growth in the years to come.”
  6. Ron Waligora, chief operating officer for AFC-Holcroft, recently announced his retirement date of May 4, 2025. Throughout his 36 years with the company, he moved through the engineering disciplines and eventually into a management role as mechanical engineering manager and later senior engineer manager in 2015. In the spring of 2023, Ron Waligora and Tracy Dougherty assumed the roles of chief operating officers. Upon the announcement of Ron’s retirement, Tracy assumed the role of president and CEO on January 1, 2025.
  7. Aalberts surface technologies is proud to announce they have received the EcoVadis Bronze Medal. The sustainability rating reviews a company’s management of economic, environmental, and social performance, covering different industries, locations, and company sizes contributing to business sustainability on a global scale, and is based on a “best-in-class” approach, assessing whether a company reaches the best possible level for their business activity.
  8. The Divergent team was recently granted the Nadcap 12-month Accreditation for the Additive Manufacturing (AM) scope.
  9. Solar Atmospheres Greenville, SC facility announced it has been awarded Parker Aerospace approval.
  10. Brad Stallsmith recently marked his retirement after 43 years of dedicated service at Peters’ Heat Treating. His journey has included starting the Blade Division, mentoring new team members and ensuring high standards in processing.
Nicolai Schaaf, Sustainability Manager at Kanthal, with E-prize
Miguel Rodrigues, Metin Önal, Olga Kovalenko, Patric Keune, and Guido Heijnen, of Aalberts surface technologies
TAV board member Gerolamo Soliveri on the company’s recognition

Jason Plowman
President/Owner
HeatTek
Ron Waligora, retiring COO, AFC-Holcroft
Brad Stallsmith, retiring after 43 years, Peters’ Heat Treating

Find Heat Treating Products And Services When You Search On Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

18 News Chatter To Keep You Current Read More »

Vacuum Furnace Best Practices

/ FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, VACUUM FURNACES TECHNICAL CONTENT

Matt Clinite
Customer Service (Aftermarket) Sales Manager of Aftermarket Sales
Ipsen USA

Source:  Ipsen USA.

The Furnaces North America 2020 was a virtual session, giving presenters the opportunity to create pre-recorded videos as a tool for future learning. The information for today's Heat Treat Today Technical Tuesday is pulled from a session delivered by Matt Clinite, customer service (aftermarket) sales manager at Ipsen USA.

As the sales manager of aftermarket sales at Ipsen USA, Clinite is familiar with what makes and breaks the lifetime of a vacuum furnace. In his presentation titled, "Vacuum Furnace Best Practices for Greater Reliability and Efficiency," Clinite presents a technical overview of the "five fundamental steps to keep your vacuum furnace running at peak performance."

An excerpt: Four of the five principles to assess your vacuum furnace's present condition right now are:

  1. Start with the Hot Zone
  2. Review Your Temperature Monitoring Systems
  3. Assess Your Water Cooling System
  4. Check Your Pumping System
  5. And..[watch the video!]

Additionally, Clinite guarantees that viewers will learn three things: identify and correct common furnace problems; establish a maintenance plan; and improve reliability, efficiency, and overall capability of your furnace. If anything else, walking through how to build a preventative maintenance checklist will be a helpful review for any heat treater!

Watch the 16-minute video: "Vacuum Furnace Best Practices for Greater Reliability and Efficiency."

Vacuum Furnace Best Practices Read More »

The Heart of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 was created to bring recognition to young professionals in the industry, giving names, faces, and words to the rising generation of industry professionals. In this article, released in the final nomination period for Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2020, exemplary classmates from previous years share their views on the industry, giving words of encouragement to other young professionals, both current and future.

Kyle Hummel, P.E., Sr Metallurgical Engineer at Contour Hardening

In 2019, Kyle was nominated by Contour Hardening to receive the 40 Under 40 recognition. Since receiving the nomination, Kyle has begun an Executive MBA program at Purdue to, “expand my education in business and leadership,” Kyle wrote, “in order to improve my effectiveness in my current position as well as prepare myself for future roles.”

Over the years, Kyle has found the broad range of processes and technologies in the heat treat industry to be appealing. The heat treat industry, Kyle noted, “can offer the perfect balance of hands on work experience as well as quality and process improvement that can keep you engaged for years as you grow your career. Another advantage is that heat treaters typically supply a number of different industries, so you can get experience in multiple fields that will help steer your career choices.”

Read more about this 2019 Honoree here.

Matt Clinite, ICS Sales Manager at Ipsen USA

Similarly, Matt Clinite was recognized in last year’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2019. Over the past year, Matt has been leading his remote team of regional sales engineers, who help Ipsen’s customers secure aftermarket parts, retrofits, and field service technicians. For him, the switch to online platforms and less face-to-face contact in the era of COVID has brought him to consider the fact that the “forced adjustment” may have lasting effects on business in years to come. “For many of us extroverted professionals,” wrote Matt, “[it] is a real bummer, but I’m optimistic this will be a blip in time, and some day we will be able to continue meeting face to face.”

As a 31 years old young professional, a manager, and a father of two, Matt has critical insight into hiring and maintaining future young leaders: While many believe that the industry needs to attract young people, Matt flips the onus saying, “If you ask 10 successful people in the industry to tell you their story, 9 of them will say they fell into the industry by accident…the industry needs to retain the young people that ‘fall’ [in].” His suggestions are that employers take care of their young employees and “provide a career path that will allow them to grow financially and professionally.”

Read more about this 2019 honoree here.

A Few Words of Advice to Young Professionals

For young professionals beginning in this industry, both Kyle and Matt emphasize the importance of initiative and focused learning, especially on the job.

Kyle Hummel, Contour Hardening

  • “Learn as much as you can, and get out on the floor and understand the equipment and talk to the people who have been working in heat treat for years.” – Kyle Hummel
  • “Find someone who can be a mentor to you and help you through the learning curve – working with huge expensive furnaces and equipment can be intimidating at first, and having someone help guide you through the process will be very beneficial.” – Kyle Hummel
  • “Take it upon yourself to become known inside your organization. Find ways to get in front of senior leadership and the technical staff. Once they know who you are, find ways to continually insert yourself into projects and discussions with them.” – Matt Clinite
  • When invited to important meetings or discussions early on, “It’s ok (and often times
    best) to sit back and simply listen to the discussion. Take it all in and become a sponge.” – Matt Clinite
  • “Don’t be afraid to request meetings with leadership around topics such as: career advancement, merit increases or to voice your ideas.” – Matt Clinite

The Role of 40 Under 40

These two honorees, as well as fellow classmate Tim Mohr, Director of Strategic Programs at Paulo, and 2018 honoree, Danielle Cote at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), explained how the recognition has benefited them, and why they would encourage others to nominate their young colleagues this year or in future years.

Matt Clinite, Ipsen USA

Kyle Hummel: “Being a part of the 40 Under 40 class assists in making those connections to current or future customers, suppliers, or even competitors that you might not have made otherwise.  Heat treat is a close knit industry, and you never know when you will work with one of the other 40 under 40 winners, so it is nice to have that connection.”

Danielle Cote: Professor Cote indicated thankfulness of the honor to be a part of 40 Under 40 Class of  2018 as it provided recognition to an unrecognized field. Hear her full message at this link.

Matt Clinite: “It’s a fun thing to “tout” at the trade show and to post on LinkedIn. And of course to share the magazine with family and friends always makes for good dinner table talk. To me the best part is the comradery. I really enjoyed reaching out to (and having been reached out to) by other recipients… In 2019 I felt flattered when a well-recognized individual from the industry nominated me. I hope I can show other young professionals in the industry my appreciation by nominating them.”

 

Tim Mohr: Tim also recognized the networking value of his nomination. He says that his acceptance into the 40 Under 40 Class of 2019 allowed him to meet new people throughout the industry. Listen to his full testimonial below.

 

 

Read more: If you haven’t already, head over to Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 to nominate a young professional in the industry.

 

(photo source: Hirvana Arvizu Soyhivan on www.unsplash.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Heart of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Read More »

The Class of 2019 40 Under 40: Meet Sergio Gallegas Cantu & Matt Clinite

/ HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

Heat Treat Today is privileged to oversee the 40 Under 40 recognition awards, highlighting a group of young, up-and-coming talent in the North American heat treat industry every year. This year’s Class of 2019 is no disappointment, a group of industry elite, significant contributors to the heat treat market.

Every couple of weeks we highlight two of the current class of recipients. This week we introduce Sergio Gallegas Cantu of Quaker Houghton and Matt Clinite of Ipsen USA.

Name: Sergio Gallegas Cantu

Company: Quaker Houghton

Position: Technical Service Manager & Heat Treatment Specialist

Sergio graduated from Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Materials Engineering. He is currently the heat treatment specialist and technical service manager for Quaker Houghton (formerly Houghton International) in Mexico.  In his role, he interacts extensively with our local team and customer base. He previously worked as senior metallurgist in product development at FRISA in the design of forging process and heat treatments for superalloys, titanium alloys, and stainless steel.  He has experience in material specifications for the aerospace industry including mechanical properties, failure analysis, microstructure, and grain size control for near shape forgings.

Nominated by: Quaker Houghton

Name: Matt Clinite

Company: Ipsen USA

Position: Ipsen Customer Service Sales Manager

Matt is very passionate about supporting his customers, being the first to dive in and help customers get their equipment running in peak performance. Even though he is in sales, he loves jumping in to help a customer with maintenance and repairs such as hot zone rebuilds. As customer service sales manager, Matt manages a team of 6 regional sales engineers and is a member of the leadership team at Ipsen. He is a 2018 YES graduate, active in MTI, and serves as an Ipsen U instructor in the company’s 3-day vacuum furnace training program. Matt has been involved in selling some of the most complex and technologically advanced furnace installations in North America, including what is believed to be the largest vacuum furnace in the world (over 10,000 cu.ft.).

Nominated by: Ipsen

Read more about the feature at Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 resource page and find out more about each of this year’s winners by clicking on their image. To nominate someone for the Class of 2020 40 Under 40, please click here.

The Class of 2019 40 Under 40: Meet Sergio Gallegas Cantu & Matt Clinite Read More »

40 Under 40 Class of 2019 Members Attending Heat Treat Show 2019

/ HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

The Class of 2019 40 Under 40, revealed online on October 4, was featured at the Heat Treat Today booth at the Heat Treat Show in Detroit, Michigan. Here is a group photo of most of those still present on the last day:

Matt Watts (Ultra Electronics Energy), Mike Harrison (Gasbarre), Ben Gasbarre (Gasbarre), Tom Zimmerman (ATP), Chris Davidson (SSi), Neal Conway (Delta H), Brandon Sheldon (Plibrico), Kyle Hummel (Contour), Sergio Cantu (Quaker Houghton), Uwe Rahn (Rubig), Justin Dzik (Fives)

 

Several recipients stopped by to get their pictures taken alongside their photo on the pop-up banner. See the gallery below, and Click here to see the announcement of the full Class of 2019.

40 Under 40 Class of 2019 Members Attending Heat Treat Show 2019 Read More »

A Dozen & a Half Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

A Dozen & a Half 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

  • Dustin Lawhon was recently promoted to Regional Sales Manager at Paulo, responsible for establishing relationships with new customers in the Great Lakes Region.
  • A manufacturer of metal components for the automotive industry recently inaugurated its new plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Gestamp‘s new plant for manufacturing chassis parts will be equipped with state-of-the-art machinery for hot stamping and hydroforming, among other technologies.
  • A large oil pipeline project in South America will have its nickel-based, flat-rolled products supplied by Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI), with shipments beginning in second quarter 2019 and scheduled to be completed by year-end.
  • A company providing machine safeguarding solutions announced that it has launched a new Combustion Safety division that provides turnkey solutions for organizations that use thermal processes in their operations. Rockford Systems LLC‘s new expanded division will be led by Robert Sanderson P.E. who has been appointed to the position of Director of Business Development.
  • A mutual cooperation has been declared for the realization of a revolutionary concept for a significantly CO2-reduced steel production, commonly developed by two companies: Tenova–a company of the Techint Group specialized in innovative solutions for the metals and mining industries–and Salzgitter AG– among the leaders in innovative and sustainable steel and technology products. The name of the concept is SALCOS (SAlzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking) and its aim is to undergo a stepwise transformation process of the integrated steelmaking route, moving from carbon-intensive steel production based on Blast-Furnaces towards a Direct Reduction and Electric Arc Furnace route, including the flexible incremental utilization of hydrogen. This concept is capable of reducing CO2 emissions up to 95% with respect to the entire steel production route.

  • Vacuum heat treating has been added to Paulo’s Monterrey Division plant which has been focusing on stress relieving and ferritic nitrocarburizing since startup. Since startup processing has been focused on stress relieving and ferritic nitrocarburizing.  Adding vacuum equipment is the first step to expanding critical aerospace brazing to include both argon and nitrogen quenching.  The working zone measures 48”x48”x48” with a 3500lb capacity and a maximum temperature of 2400F. The installation will include tempering and testing equipment to support both annealing and hardening processes for a variety of materials.
  • Timothy J. Harris will join ATI as Senior Vice President, Chief Digital and Information Officer, effective May 6, 2019.
  • A Cleveland-based distributor of heat treat furnaces, pumps, and products, Mountain Rep, has partnered with RÜBIG, an Austrian industrial furnace manufacturer.
  • Andrew Yazot will move from his position as International Sales Manager for Ipsen to Midwest Regional Sales Owner, effective immediately. In this position Yazot covers nine states in the Midwest, replacing former Midwest Regional Sales Owner Matt Clinite, who was promoted to Ipsen Customer Service Sales Manager last month. Yazot, who joined the company in 2009, holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has worked in technical sales for more than two decades.

Equipment Chatter

  • A 2200°F (1200°C) crucible furnace was shipped to a company in the energy industry by Lindberg/MPH. The crucible furnace may be used for a number of applications and processes, including annealing, ashing, carbon firing, ceramic firing, hardening, melting, metalizing, normalizing, sintering, solution treating, and stress relieving.
  • A southeastern US manufacturer of various items used in the production of heavy equipment and transportation devices has purchased a dual chamber heat treating furnace from L&L Special Furnace Co, Inc. The furnace will be used to heat treat the tooling used to manufacture these items.
  • A cooling chamber is currently being used for cooling oven trucks of steel parts at the customer’s facility. The No. 807 was supplied by Grieve Corporation.
  • A manufacturer in the composite industry has purchased a natural gas-fired heavy duty walk-in furnace from Wisconsin Oven Corporation.

Kudos Chatter

  • An aerospace maintenance and heat treatment manufacturer based in Elizabeth, Indiana, has launched a new website in order to reach clients across the U.S. and internationally. SAS-INC. is made up of Simpson Alloy Services Inc. and Simpson Aerospace Services.
  • GE Aviation was selected by Aviation Week & Space Technology as a winner of the 62nd annual Laureate Awards, honoring extraordinary achievements in aerospace.
  • PhoenixTM Ltd has been accredited in accordance with recognized International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2017, general requirements for competence in testing or calibration laboratories.
  • Aleris has been recognized for the second consecutive year with the accredited supplier award by Airbus at a Supply Chain and Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) event in Toulouse, France.
  • Cambridge Heat Treating Inc. CFO Cheryl Mortimer is the recipient of the Women Entrepreneurship Fund and was recognized at an event with Ontario MP Bryan May. Cambridge Heat Treatment Inc. was selected to receive a contribution of up to $100,000 through the WEF program.

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 & a Half Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current Read More »

15 Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

15 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

  • Leroy M. Ball has recently been appointed to the Board of Directors at Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI). Ball, 50, is president and CEO of Koppers Holdings Inc.
  • Heat Treat Today 2018 40 Under 40 recipient Matt Clinite of Ipsen USA has recently been promoted from Midwest Regional Sales Owner to Customer Service Sales Manager, effective immediately. Clinite joined the company in June 2014 as a Sales Engineer.
  • Vesuvius plc recently announced that it has acquired CCPI Inc., a specialty refractories producer focused on tundish (steel continuous casting) applications and aluminum. Based in Ohio, CCPI will become part of Vesuvius’ Advanced Refractories business unit.
  • Gasbarre has announced that the company will no longer be using the J.L. Becker name, but instead, are transitioning to its new name, Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems. Thermal Processing Systems is one of the three new business units that now comprise Gasbarre Products, Inc. The other two units are Powder Compaction Solutions and Manufacturing Technologies.
  • Marisa A. Oeltjen has been added to the Bluestreak I Bright AM™  team as customer success support specialist. Ryan Wenzel, working from Bluestreak I Bright AM™’s Northeast Ohio location, serves as a database analyst and key member of the tech support group.
  • Howard Kimberley has joined Aeromet International as Chief Executive Officer. Kimberley has extensive experience in the aerospace industry including senior executive positions at GKN and Hampson Industries, and most recently as CEO of international aerospace group Shimtech since its formation in 2011.
  • Abbott Furnace Company recently announced it will be hosting its Fifth Annual Continuous Brazing Symposium in Mexico this spring in Puebla, Mexico from May 21 – 23, 2019.

  • Equipment Chatter

  • A European manufacturer of investment castings for the medical industry recently purchased a gas-fired pusher furnace from Armil CFS, Inc. The 2-row pusher furnace will be used for the burnout and pre-heating of investment casting molds.
  • A midwestern facility of a US-based manufacturer of safety-critical fasteners and assembly solutions has purchased a new MB48-120 mesh belt furnace from AFC-Holcroft, replacing an older AFC-Holcroft installation. The new mesh belt furnace will be used in the production of metal fasteners.
  • Several orders have been met by SECO/WARWICK for various equipment and systems: 1) An American manufacturer of flat rolled aluminum sheet recently added a new SECO/WARWICK sow and T-bar preheat furnace system 2) The main producer of forgings in Central Europe for strategic markets recently invested in a single-chamber furnace type PEK. 3) A manufacturer of high quality matrix forgings, construction connectors and manual tools purchased a CaseMaster AFS – a multipurpose Sealed Quench chamber furnace, intended for thermal and thermo-chemical treatment in a controlled endothermic atmosphere.  4) SECO/WARWICK provided an additional atmosphere generator system to a supplier of engineered carbon and graphite solutions for severe service lubrication applications in the aerospace, petrochemical, energy, industrial, and defense sectors. 5) The company updated and simultaneously extended a box furnace’s productive longevity for a leading international participant in the field of precious metals and advanced materials. 
  • Lindberg/MPH announced the shipment of a single-zone tube furnace to an engineering company in the nuclear power industry.

Kudos Chatter

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (PA) meets with Onex Inc and members of NWIRC

  • U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (PA) recently met with Onex Inc and members of NWIRC with the purpose of hearing firsthand from Onex employees about NIST MEP’s impact on Pennsylvania’s manufacturing industry.
  • Dana Incorporated‘s motor and inverter joint venture, TM4, recently announced it has reached a major milestone with the production of its 12,000th TM4 SUMO™ electric powertrain for buses and commercial vehicles in China.
  • For the ninth time, The Timken Company, a world leader in engineered bearings and power transmission products, has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

 

Special Mention

On Valentine’s Day, Thermcraft lost its founder, Mr. Morris L. Crafton, at 93. In 1971, Mr. Crafton and his wife Clara founded Thermcraft on the principle of providing the best customer service available in the thermal processing industry.

Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mr. Crafton grew up in North Carolina and served in the US Navy during WWII, and then after college, he was called again to serve his country during the Korean War. After his military service, Mr. Crafton  moved his family to Washington, PA, where he ran a popcorn business and, in time, became a partner in a business that manufactured replacement heating elements for industrial and laboratory furnaces.

After returning to North Carolina, he decided to start his own company. With the full support of his wife Clara, they secured a small warehouse in downtown Winston Salem and began making replacement heating elements for industrial and laboratory furnace applications.

Thermcraft was moved to its current facility in 1979, just a few miles south to the edge of Winston Salem. Through new product development and various acquisitions, the Craftons began to grow Thermcraft into the company it is today.

Mr. Crafton lost Clara to cancer in 1995. He eventually turned the reigns of Thermcraft over to his son Tom, but that didn’t stop Mr. Crafton from being involved in the day-to-day business. He continued to drive himself to work well into his 92nd year, making mail runs and performing various other tasks. He enjoyed a daily walk through the factory, talking to his employees and staying on top of what was going on within his company.

Mr. Crafton will be missed by all who knew him. He will be remembered as a strong leader who was kind and generous to those around him. He had a great sense-of-humor and often left those he met with the saying, “glad you got to see me.”

“We are certainly glad we had the opportunity to meet you, Mr. Crafton,” is the sentiment of all at Thermcraft.

Heat Treat Today offers its condolences to the family of Mr. Morris Crafton and the team at Thermcraft.

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.

 

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