Atmosphere Group Now “Aichelin Americas”

November 5, 2025 / HEAT TREAT NEWS

The Atmosphere Group contains many familiar subsidiaries to the heat treatment world: AFC-Holcroft, Atmosphere Heat Treating, Inc., Austemper Inc., and Nitrex NTS (Nitrex, G-M Enterprises, and UPC-Marathon). Now, the U.S. operating holding company will carry out business for the Region Americas under a new name: Aichelin Americas.

Marty Poljan will continue to lead the region as president and CEO of Aichelin Americas. The group has announced that Tracy Dougherty has been promoted to president of Sales & Service and that Paul Oleszkiewicz has been promoted to president of Operations. Together, Tracy and Paul bring more than 50 years of leadership experience in the heat treating industry.

Marty Poljan
President & CEO
Aichelin Americas
Source: Linkedin

“Our clients don’t simply buy equipment — they make a long-term decision about who they can rely on,” says Poljan. “This leadership structure reflects that reality. We are here to be a consistent, service-driven partner — not just at installation, but through every maintenance cycle, modernization and capacity expansion that follows.”

“This industry has shifted,” notes Dougherty. “Responsive service, modernization support, and clear accountability over the lifespan of their equipment. That’s where our focus is, and where it will remain.”

Delivering on that promise operationally is Paul Oleszkiewicz, president of Operations, whose three decades at Nitrex have been dedicated to engineering execution, process reliability, and technical precision.

“Engineering leadership in heat treating comes down to repeatability and trust,” says Oleszkiewicz. “A furnace isn’t just a product — it’s a long-term production system. Our responsibility is to deliver with consistency and to stand behind that equipment with real technical support.”

“A furnace isn’t just a product — it’s a long-term production system”

As Aichelin Americas continues to align its manufacturing capabilities, aftermarket service network, and engineering resources across its combined brands, it is able to offer access to a leadership team that has lived the operational realities of all things thermal processing.

Press release is available in its original form here.

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Furnace Manufacturers Form Partnership To Bolster Processing in North America

November 18, 2024 / ATMOSPHERE AIR FURNACES NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

AFC-Holcroft (AFCH), an industrial furnace manufacturer based in Wixom, MI, recently announced a strategic partnership with Tokai Konetsu Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TKK), a designer and manufacturer of industrial furnaces in Japan and China. The merger is aimed at enhancing their industrial furnace business for electronics part and battery material (anode/cathode) processing in North America.

Tracy Doughterty
Chief Operating Officer
AFC Holcroft
Source: AFC Holcroft

AFC-Holcroft designs and manufactures a wide range of industrial furnaces, including universal batch quench, pusher, continuous belt, roller and rotary hearth, and walking beam furnaces, predominantly for the North American market. Tokai Konetsu Kogyo Co., Ltd., based in Tokyo, Japan, is an industrial furnace manufacturer with a client base primarily in Japan and China. The company has supplied continuous and batch furnaces and battery material processing furnaces to industrial sectors across North America, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as Asia.

“AFC-Holcroft is thrilled to join forces with TKK,” said Tracy Dougherty, chief operating officer of AFCH. “Together, we will drive innovation and deliver exceptional value to our EV customers in the anode and cathode materials industrial furnace market.”

The press release is available in its original form here.

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Facility Approved to Heat Treat Flight Critical, Flight Safety Configurations Invests in UBQ, UBTN Furnaces

April 17, 2019 / AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT, AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT NEWS, FEATURED NEWS

A commercial heat treat company which is approved to heat treat certain flight critical and flight safety configurations for prime aerospace and helicopter companies recently invested in a new Universal Batch Quench (UBQ) furnace and a Universal Batch Temper (UBTN) annealing furnace to be operated at its plant in Fraser, Michigan.

“We’re excited to be a part of the continued growth and expansion of Specialty Steel Treating,” said Tracy Dougherty, Vice President of Sales at AFC-Holcroft. “The customization of these furnaces combined with state of the art controls and IoT features (Remote Diagnostics™), enable both AFC-Holcroft and Specialty Steel Treating the ability to offer superior quality, performance and continuous improvement to customers.”

Delivery of the UBTN is expected in the 2nd quarter of 2019 to the Specialty Steel Treating site on Malyn Road in Fraser, with the UBQ to follow in the 3rd quarter to the Commerce Road plant, also located in Fraser.

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UBQ Furnace Installation Expands Production Capacity

March 22, 2019 / FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

Several universal batch quench (UBQ) furnaces were purchased and installed over the course of 2018 to support the growth in business of a commercial heat treating operation located in Richland Hills, Texas.

Modern Heat Treat, which provides services such as alloy quench and temper flame hardening and carburizing to the metalworking industry, added the UBQ furnaces along with companion equipment to its installed base, increasing capacity of the equipment already in operation at the facility. AFC-Holcroft , a member of the Aichelin Group, fulfilled the orders for Modern Heat Treat, which has benefitted from the modular, flexible UBQ design with the ability to add new equipment to their facility incrementally.

“These large capacity UBQ furnaces provide Modern Heat Treat with a distinct advantage in the market since the equipment is scalable to meet their need for flexibility,” said Tracy Dougherty, Vice President of Sales at AFC-Holcroft. “AFC-Holcroft is proud to be a part of the continued expansion and growth of Modern Heat Treat.”

Modern Heat Treat operates a 25,000 sq ft facility with 57 employees and over 40 pieces of furnace equipment.

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Irish Mfg Group Purchases 2 Heat Treatment Lines for Mining, Drilling

August 20, 2018 / FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

An Irish engineering group specializing in the design, manufacture, and servicing of hard-rock drilling consumables has added two separate state-of-the-art heat-treatment lines as part of the group’s global expansion, both from a Michigan-based manufacturer of industrial furnace equipment for ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

Mike Jones, Benton Plant Manager, Mincon USA

Mincon Group plc purchased a complete batch style integral quench heat treatment line for its U.S. plant in Benton, Illinois, from AFC-Holcraft. The furnace, with an effective load size of 36″ x 72″ x 56″, tempering furnaces, washing and conveying equipment, controls system and accessory equipment, will be utilized for the heat treatment of components such as those used in heavy industries like mining and drilling.

In-house heat treatment processes were pioneered and have been perfected at Mincon’s headquarters in Shannon, Ireland, and now this new facility at the Benton plant will ensure consistency in the quality of drill bits it produces. The $2.5-million project was completed in April 2018 after 18 months, and Mincon Group expects it to help the company double its production volumes.

“We are excited by the possibilities presented by the addition of this key piece of equipment,” said Mike Jones, Benton Plant Manager, Mincon USA. “In addition to ensuring our USA plant produces superior quality drill bits, running our own facilities also shortens manufacturing cycle times and introduces flexibility when compared to using an outsourced heat-treatment solution.”

Tracy Dougherty, Sales Manager at AFC-Holcroft

Another smaller size line with an effective load size of 36″ x 48″ x 36″ will be delivered to Perth, Australia. Both batch furnace lines have features designed to reduce distortion of the products being processed.

“We’ve seen tremendous demand for on the part of manufacturers to continually improve control, quality, consistency and reduce distortion,” stated Tracy Dougherty, Sales Manager at AFC-Holcroft. “The addition of these batch furnace lines will allow Mincon to increase production using brand-new equipment that meets their need for high quality and productivity. We’re excited to be a part of their continued growth in the market.”

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Tracy Dougherty