February 2007 News Archives

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The Passing of John F. Enright III

(February 28 - evening update) - Considered one of the most honest and straight shooting businessmen in the industry, John Enright passed this last week. John had only very recently been diagnosed with a terminal condition for which there was no treatment. The sudden loss has been felt by family, friends and associates. A scholorship fund has been established in John Enright's name at Notre Dame Univeristy. Contributions should go to:

Notre Dame Development Office 
C/O Carol Hennion
PO Box 519
Notre Dame, IN 46556

The New Unified Ipsen is Off to a Big Start in 2007

(February 28 - evening update) - Only weeks since combining VFS and Ipsen into one company ("Ipsen Inc.") the folks in Rockford are sounding pleased with the start of the 2007 calendar year. Here's their latest PR:

(February 28, 2007)-- Ipsen Inc., Rockford, IL –Furnace orders for the beginning of 2007 are off to a blazing start for several of Ipsen’s key customers. Ipsen has received orders for five vacuum furnaces for delivery in 2007. Gloenco, Newport, NH purchased a HR-50x 72 2-Bar MetalMaster™ vacuum furnaces with a specially engineered heat exchanger and turbine blower designed to optimize gas flow for more efficient cooling for their China facility. Senior Automotive ordered their 5th Ipsen vacuum furnace, a new H6672 2-Bar TurboTreater™ with its patented gas quenching system. Circle City Heat Treating in Indiana ordered their fifth unit a VFS HIQ-7472-2. This new furnace will give Circle City Heat Treating increased vacuum furnace capacity to serve their expanding customer base. New Hampshire Ball Bearing located in California added a 2 Chamber LOG 2424 2-Bar gas and oil quench vacuum furnace for the specialty bearing marketplace and MicroMotion in Colorado added a HR-54x48 2-Bar MetalMaster™ vacuum furnace to be installed in their Nanjiang China facility.

For more info contact: Junell Fosnow, Marketing & Sales - 815.332.2515 - junell.fosnow@ipsenusa.com

Nickel Breaks $20

(February 27 - evening update) - What more is there to say? Ouch. Stay on top of Nickel prices with our daily updated graph.

Recession Looming?

(February 27 - evening update) - There's quite a bit of bad news out there in the manufacturing sector and on the markets yesterday and today.

First there was a follow-up statistic to the drop in manufacturing output that we reported on Feb 19th - durable goods output in the US dropped by about 8% (3.2% was the expected drop). Coupled with low order books at most US manufacturing companies it led to comments like this one from JP Morgan analyst Haseeb Ahmed:

“The weakness in orders points to softness ahead for manufacturing and sluggish capital spending. The weakness was broad-based and points to clear risk to our forecasts.”

Then the infamous Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Fed, warned of a possible recession by late 2007.

This seemed to be part of what sent Asian markets (most notably Shanghai) tumbling by as much as 10% yesterday. The rest of the world's markets then largely followed suit today (with the Dow dropping 3% - the largest drop since 9/11) and it's continuing again tonight in Asia with Japan's markets succumbing to the sell-off tonight.

What does this mean for heat treating? Well MTI just released their survey results and they say that indicators are up and that the future looks bright for North American heat treaters. Time will tell of course.

Thailand Update

(February 27 - evening update) - It wasn't that long ago we were reporting that life was largely back to normal in Thailand after a military coup. Well things do change. The new government is making some strange rules (and sometimes back peddling on them right afterwards). The most recent rules we've heard about are that all companies must be majority owned by Thais, that 30% of foreign investment must be held for a period of 2 years in low interest bank account and that taking money out has become nearly impossible.

We're certain the new government isn't actually trying to scare every single investor away and cripple their own economy, but these measures seem fundamentally self-destructive. Already major players have backed out of planned ventures and numerous companies are looking to Indonesia and Vietnam as potential landing spots for their Thailand ventures. More soon.

Molten Metal Systems Wins ALCOA Order

(February 22 - evening update) - We received word today that Molten Metal Systems, LLC (256 381-8999) of Tuscubia, AL has won a nice order from ALCOA for one of their "SuperMelt" rotary furnaces. As you can imagine aluminum melting is core to ALCOA's business and, with fuel costs being on everyone's minds these days, anything that can increase efficiencies is a hot ticket. From what we understand the SuperMelt design can reduce melt cycle times up to 35%. Here's a shot of the melter and their PR:

Ed Mansell of Molten Metal Systems, LLC. has received an order from Alcoa for his patented “SuperMelt” Rotary Furnace. The furnace has a 60,000 lb. capacity and will be used at Alcoa’s Warrick Operations in Newburgh, IN. Alcoa searched worldwide for a rotary furnace to meet their requirements.

They chose the “SuperMelt” because of its versatility. In addition to the furnace being mounted on a tilting frame, it has a 360 degree rotating base that allows charging and pouring from around the entire perimeter of the furnace to accelerate the ability to pour to various stations without the need to reload and move equipment to the door. This ability greatly reduces cycle time.

Alcoa will use the furnace to process coated scrap and recover aluminum from dross in addition to melting other types of scrap aluminum. The new furnace will allow processing of dross and coated scrap on site where currently it is shipped to a secondary processor for the metal to be extracted and shipped back for use in Alcoa’s ingot plant. This process creates waste through lost energy during the cooling, and excess energy during reheating and transportation.

This will be the fourth “SuperMelter” and will have additional upgrades to make it even more efficient than the typical fixed type rotary furnaces. MMS currently has several quotes out worldwide for this type of furnace.
Alcoa Warrick Operations is one of the largest aluminum smelting and fabricating facilities in the world housing a 309,000 metric ton per year primary aluminum smelter and rigid packaging operation employing more than 2100 people, with more than 120 acres under roof and 14,000 total acres.

AK Steel Relocates Corporate HQ to West Chester, Ohio

(February 22 - evening update) - AK Steel has had it's corporate headquarters in Middletown, Ohio since the its beginning in 1994 arising from a joint vesture between Armco Steel and Kawasaki. Prior to that Middletown had served as Armco's corporate headquarters for some 85 years.

In order to update its computing and communications capabilities and attract top talent, AK has decided to relocate its headquarters to the upscale "Union Center" portion of West Chester, Ohio, some 15 miles south of Middletown. West Chester has become one of the most desired corporate locations in the greater Cincinnati region for its modern amenities, upscale restaurants and "tech friendly" parks. The move will include approximately 300 of AK's management staff while more than 500 administrative and managerial staff will remain in Middletown.

The move should benefit AK as West Chester has no income tax.

AK has annual sales of about $6 billion.

Here are some snippets from the press release:

“Our new corporate headquarters will provide AK Steel with state-of-the-art technology, including advanced computing and communications capabilities that are necessary to improve our competitiveness.  It will also facilitate more convenient face-to-face interaction with customers, suppliers and other important constituents,” said James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO. 

“Additionally, the move will assist us in attracting and retaining top professionals, who desire proximity to the abundant amenities and services available in the West Chester and northern Cincinnati area.”

Incidentally, with Nickel climbing to new records again, AK also announced price increases on its carbon and stainless products this week.

Mittal Ordered to Sell Sparrows Point Plant

(February 22 - evening update) - In order to preserve competition in the eastern US tin mill market, a judge has ordered the worlds largest steel producer, Mittal, to sell its 116-year-old plant near Baltimore. Mittal, which recently purchased Arcelor S.A. in a $33 billion transaction, has been under scrutiny by the US Justice Department for antitrust concerns.

The judge's order has brought out a number of possible buyers including JSW and Ispat (India) and also Evraz and OAO Severstal (Russia). Chinese and Brazilian firms are also reported to be interested in the plant (author's note: a bit depressing that there are no US suitors for this profitable plant).

Sparrows Point is a diversified plant with more than 500,000 tons of annual steel-making capacity. Read more here.

Nissan Offers Buyouts at Two Plants

(February 21 - morning update) - We all know how hard life is for the US auto manufacturers lately, but it appears the Japanese companies are not immune. Word comes today that Nissan is offering buyouts to workers on its SUV and engine lines at two plants in Tennessee (Smyrna and Decherd). The buyout offer is a lump sum $45,000 plus $500 for each year of service. Of 6,200 workers at the two plants, 300 are expected to take the buyouts.

Manufacturing Output Takes 0.5% Nosedive - Largest Since Sept '05

(February 19 - evening update) - Even though the utilities sector of manufacturing had a booming January, it was not enough to prevent the manufacturing sector as a whole from dropping some 0.5% - led mostly by drops in automotive parts manufacturing. We're hearing this too; even though most shops have solid order books, they're simply not as healthy as they were six months ago and those more dependent on the Detroit 3 are having to do some serious improvising. Look for more shops to try to pick up the excess work in HT for the oil industry (in spite of trucking costs as the shortage in capacity is serious).

GM Looking to Buy Chrysler??

(February 15 - afternoon update) - Rumors are flying today that GM is already in talks with Daimler to buy its struggling Chrysler group. GM has offered no comment on the rumors which first appeared in the German online magazine manager-magazin.de. Read the whole story with commentary over here.

Scandal Engulfs NASCAR - Toyota's Debut Tarnished

(February 15 - midday update) - Having already brought down four teams, NASCAR's crackdown has now snared Toyota in its net and tarnished their debut on the scene. After discovering what sources say is a component found in jet fuel inside Michael Waltrip's intake manifold, NASCAR officials have tossed Waltrip's crew chief, David Hyder, and fined him $100,000. Waltrip's Camry is out for the 500 and his team is scrambling to get a backup car to clear inspection in time for the race.

Waltrip's problems come just one day after the crew chiefs for Matt Kenseth, Scott Riggs, Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler were suspended. All four drivers and Waltrip were docked points by NASCAR, the first time any such action has been taken before the season.

Chrysler Plan Detailed: 13,000 Job Cuts, One Plant Closure

(February 14 - AM update) - Chrysler has officially announced its cut plans today. The short version is 13,000 jobs (9,000 US and 2,000 Canadian factory cuts + 2,000 salaried cuts), one plant closure (SUV line in Newark, DE) and a vehicle capacity cut of 400,000. While Chrysler lost nearly $1.5 billion last year, let's not forget their $2.02 billion profit in 2005. Read the details here.

Chrysler to Announce Turnaround Plan Today - 11,000 Job Cuts Expected

(February 14 - AM update) - For a time there it seemed that Chrysler was immune to the problems crippling GM and Ford. With time, however, demand for its large trucks and cars dwindled, inventories swelled and plants idled. Having lost some $1.5 billion in 2006, Chrysler is facing some 11,000 job cuts and two plant closures, according to sources. Plants in both Newark, DE and North St. Louis are expected to be on the closure list later today.

Pole Position for Toyota for the First Time

(February 12 - Evening update) - Hard to believe it's the first time, but it last weekend Dale Jarrett (44 - UPS Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing) was on the inside of Row 1 for the Budweiser Shootout and for the first time ever in the Nextel Cup. Read the scoop over at AutoWeek.

Metal Improvement Expansions

(February 12 - Evening update) - Industrial Heating has news of some capabilities expansions at three of Metal Improvement Company's heat treating facilities. Read the news here.

Heat Treat Hounds Snow Day

(February 8 - Evening update) - Today we have updated shots of the "Heat Treat Hounds" - aka Yvonne's dogs over at MMI. With the cold weather and snow that has recently hit the Midwest these Siberian immigrants are probably feeling right at home. The sure look a bit bigger than when we first saw them right here on HeatTreatNews.com:

Marathon's New Facility Pictures

(February 6 - Afternoon update) - Today we have some photos from MMI's new manufacturing facility in West Chester, Ohio. As we understand it this is the corporate headquarters with their other facility being a subsidiary in China and called "MMI-China." Here's their note (click photos for a larger image):

Here are some shots of our new manufacturing facility in West Chester, Ohio. We're part of the West Chester Commerce Center, a multi-tenant facility with conference center on a scenic lake with companies like Tyco, Proctor & Gamble and Escort Radar (and Marathon of course).

In the new facility we have a substantially upgraded manufacturing space with such amenities as three-phase 480 V (for our six electric furnaces - no need for step-up transformers like the old building), white epoxy, anti-static floors (to reduce risk to electronics - the old building was bare concrete), five sinks and two wet saws built into assembly lines (had to run all new pipes for that), metal halide lighting and 100% climate control throughout.

With all this we've built a truly "lean" production facility. Parts come in dock 1 where there is a test station & furnace. They then move to shelves on one side of the facility and are then "pulled" into one of our three assembly lines. Those lines run across the floor to our test furnaces where 100% of products are tested and then packed. Finally they're placed on shelves near the outbound dock 2 on the opposite side of the facility. It's a true, minimized-waste flow of products through production.

We worked toward this type of production in the old building but that building was laid out as a series of small rooms (typical for batch production) so it was simply impossible to get good work flow implemented there. With this new facility we're running more efficiently and with higher quality than ever.

Eric & Yvonne Boltz
MMI / Marathon Sensors Inc.

 

HeatTreatNews.com Reader Poll - "What's the biggest threat to traditional North American heat treat companies?"

(February 5 - Afternoon update) - Today we're starting a new feature on HeatTreatNews.com - a reader survey where you, the reader, not only get to cast your vote (anonymous), but are free to comment and discuss the poll in our forums (user name will be visible on posts). Today's question is about the biggest threat to traditional heat treats in North America. To participate (registration and log-in required to keep spammers out) click here:

"What's the biggest threat to traditional North American heat treat companies?"

Bodycote Rumors and Share Price

(February 5 - AM update) - If you read the Financial Times of London you may have come across an article back on January 27 about rumors of a Bodycote buyout by a private equity group called Apax Partners. Rather than plagiarize the FT.com article without giving proper credit, here's a link to read it yourself.

That rumor has had a pretty lasting impact on Bodycote's share price skyrocketing it from about 255 pence per share to about 280. You can check out Bodycote's share performance here.

Since the effect has been sustained the rumor is still seen as somewhat credible by the market. Nonetheless, this isn't the first time we've heard rumors of a buyout of Bodycote, PLC; back in 2002/2003 there were rumors that a group that included former Bodycote CEO, John Chesworth, was leading a buyout. That rumor, of course, never materialized.

Colts 29, Bears 17

(February 4 - late night update) - If you didn't stay up to watch one heckuva game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears then you're probably from a different hemisphere. In what was probably the best Superbowl in years, Peyton Manning proved himself and came away with a win in spite of the non-stop rain. Read about it here.

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