patrick mckenna

Patrick McKenna Appointed as CEO of Bluewater Thermal Solutions

/ HEAT TREAT NEWS

Patrick McKenna has been appointed as chief executive officer and director of Bluewater Thermal Solutions, a portfolio company of Aterian Investment Partners, effective immediately.

Patrick McKenna
CEO
Bluewater Thermal Solutions

“I’m honored to join Bluewater Thermal Solutions at such a dynamic time for the industry,” said McKenna. “With a strong operational footprint, a dedicated team, and a reputation for technical excellence, Bluewater is well positioned for growth. I’m eager to work alongside our employees, customers, and partners to build on the company’s momentum and drive our capabilities forward.”

McKenna has more than 25 years of leadership and innovation experience in the thermal processing industry. He most recently served as president & CEO of Ipsen USA, a global provider of vacuum furnace technology for the thermal processing sector. He oversaw a team of more than 250 employees at Ipsen’s U.S. based Vacuum Center of Excellence, while driving success across international markets.

Prior to Ipsen, McKenna was most recently co-founder, board member, and vice president of Nevada Heat Treating/California Brazing. There, he helped transform the business from a traditional commercial heat treating operation into a Nadcap-accredited provider of turnkey manufacturing solutions serving major aerospace OEMs.

Brandon Bethea
Co-Founding Partner
Aterian Investment Partners

Brandon Bethea, co-founder and partner at Aterian, expressed strong confidence in the new leadership: “Patrick has excelled in every role he’s taken on. His deep industry expertise and sharp eye for commercial growth make him the ideal leader to guide Bluewater into its next phase. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the team.”

Bluewater Thermal Solutions is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, and is one of North America’s largest providers of heat treating and brazing services. The company operates ten facilities across the U.S., offering thermal processing capabilities.

Press release is available in its original form here.

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Heat Treat Customers in Aerospace and Defense to Receive Vacuum Furnaces

/ AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT, FEATURED NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

Patrick McKenna, President and CEO, Ipsen

Nine furnaces were shipped to six states in America, Canada, and the United Kingdom this past July from an international supplier of heat treat equipment. This same supplier will be providing five vacuum furnaces to four customers within the aerospace, defense, and commercial heat-treating industries. The products are all uniquely designed to meet the customers' specific heat treating requirements.

The ability for the international supplier, Ipsen USA, to deliver these products reinforces their transition into  the Vacuum Center of Excellence within Ipsen.

Ipsen Vacuum Furnace (photo source: ipsenusa.com)

"Ipsen has worked with international operations teams for decades," said Patrick McKenna, president and CEO of Ipsen USA, "shipping equipment from the US to countries all over the world[...] With the identification of Ipsen USA as the Vacuum Center of Excellence, we can continue servicing those companies with the level of quality they expect and deserve."

(photo source: NASA on unsplash.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Global Heat Treat Supplier Establishes Excellence Centers

/ ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES NEWS, FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

Patrick McKenna, President and CEO (source: Ipsen USA)

Ipsen USA, Cherry Valley, Illinois, announced yesterday, July 29th, that it has been appointed as the Vacuum Technology Excellence Center for the global Ipsen organization. Ipsen USA, located west of Chicago near Rockford, Illinois, was one of the two Technology Excellence Centers announced yesterday. The other, Ipsen in Kleeve, Germany, will serve as the Atmosphere Technology Excellence Center.

According to the statement issued by Patrick McKenna, CEO of Ipsen USA, the focus on one field of technology (i.e. vacuum technologies), will enable faster-paced innovation and a sharper focus on equipment performance and quality. McKenna further noted that the global restructuring came after months of market analysis to understand the needs of the company’s customers. The resulting drivers for the organization’s global changes were a) increased customer demand for technical services, b) identical metallurgical outcomes worldwide, and c) solutions for processing newly developed materials. The establishment of these Technology Excellence Centers will allow the global organization to properly address market needs for current and future customers, as well as allow for faster response times supported by new advanced service products in all regions of the globe currently serviced by the company.

Vertical vacuum furnace repair (photo source: IpsenHarold.com)

As a result of this change, new furnace equipment will be manufactured at fewer locations around the world, focusing instead on specialization. The US location will exclusively build all types of vacuum furnaces, while the Germany location will build the atmosphere batch and continuous systems. Additionally, Ipsen India will continue to build atmosphere furnaces for the India and Southeast Asia markets. The China and Japan locations will no longer manufacture new furnaces, but will continue to focus their energy on customer service and the sale of new equipment from the Excellence Centers.

The customer relationship with the company will remain unchanged as customer support will continue at all global locations. Sales, service, and support teams remain local in each region to guarantee speed of response. All plants remain open in all regions as the aftermarket support of customers is more than half of Ipsen’s annual business. Activities such as upgrades, local inventory of parts and service will continue to be fully supported on a local basis.

This consolidation of equipment manufacturing sites together with the uncertainty of the global pandemic does result in a reduction of staff, which is a regrettable but necessary outcome.

 

For more information, please contact Patrick McKenna, President & CEO Ipsen USA at Patrick.McKenna@IpsenUSA.com or +1 815-332-2591.

(photo source: IpsenHarold.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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