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Metals Engineering: Consistency of Quality

Simply defined, process control is the ability to achieve repeatable results using specific inputs and validated processes to control outputs. At the heart of process control is the necessity to provide a quality product or service (meaning it meets predefined specifications and tolerances) time after time after time. This applies to every aspect of our daily lives, from the vehicle we drive and the food we eat, to the hobbies we invest our time and money in.

Can you imagine if one day the right-side pedal in your vehicle caused acceleration, while the following day it did the opposite or performed no function at all? This scenario is unthinkable to the consumer in us, because every purchase we make is underpinned by the expectation that the specific product or service we are buying will perform as intended, every time we dole out our money to acquire it.

These expectations are no different in the world of heat treatment, and the intent of this article is to provide a high level overview of process control — specifically the critical inputs, outputs and parameters that are defined internally, by the customer or in alignment with industry standards.

Inputs in the World of Heat Treating:

• Material and material specification
• Processing equipment controls
• Heat treatment recipes

Materials range from casting and forgings to rough and finished machine stock. Both steel and iron have minimum and maximum chemistry tolerances maintained by the mill or foundry to ensure consistency within each batch. It is critical to note that incorrect, out-of-tolerance or inconsistent material will produce results corresponding results. As the saying goes, garbage in = garbage out.

While the technology used in heat treating varies significantly, all equipment must have the proper controls (inputs) to drive the furnaces correctly. Although not an exhaustive list, these inputs include temperature, soak time, quench medium, quench time and enrichment gasses used in atmosphere-based heat treatment processes such as neutral hardening, carburizing and various forms of nitriding.

The third and final input is the heat treatment process itself. The recipes are developed using a combination of theory, experience and DOE that include parameters such as part fixturing, process temperature, soak time, and quench rate and time. Distinct recipes will always produce distinct results. While all aspects of process control are critical, the above inputs provide the foundation upon which the output and parameters will rest.

Process Control continued in our next article – stay tuned. . .

About Metals Engineering, Inc.

Metals Engineering is an ISO 9001:2008 certified commercial heat treater with facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. The company offers a wide range of heat treatment capabilities designed to meet stringent customer requirements. For more information on Metals Engineering’s capabilities or to request a quote, go to https://metalsengineering.com/ or call 920-339-8590.

Metals Engineering Uses Heat Treatment Technology to Soften Metal

The words flexible and metal provide opposing visuals when it comes to industrial components, but annealing metal parts is a necessary heat treatment prior to machining in the manufacturing process. Metals Engineering, Inc. is a leading provider of annealing metal for customers throughout North America.

An ISO 9001-compliant commercial heat treater based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Metals Engineering provides industrial customers with annealing and other heat treatment services that feature some of the fastest turnaround times in the industry.

“Annealing metal and iron parts is one of our core areas of expertise,” said Ted Kemen, owner and CEO of Metals Engineering. “Our customers depend on us to deliver the enhanced machinability and hardness characteristics they need for high-quality end products.”

The annealing process involves heating parts to a specific temperature, holding the temperature steady for a set amount of time, and then cooling at a controlled rate. Steel and iron parts that have gone through the annealing process are softer, making them easier to cut and shape.

Annealed metal parts feature a refined microstructure that minimizes the risk of cracking during cold working. The process also enhances the electrical conductivity of metal parts for applications that rely on this characteristic.

Full annealing, subcritical annealing, and spheroidizing are all processes performed in Metals Engineering’s furnaces. The processes can be performed in open fire furnaces or under a protective gas to prevent scaling. Annealing of forgings, bar stock, plate, and tubular product is performed to obtain optimum microstructures for machining.

“The heat treating capabilities we have at our two facilities enable us to handle large and small metal parts,” Kemen said. “We provide the consistent metal characteristics our customers need for exceptional performance.”

About Metals Engineering, Inc.

Metals Engineering is an ISO 9001:2008-compliant commercial heat treater with facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. The company offers a wide range of heat treatment capabilities designed to meet stringent customer requirements. For more information on Metals Engineering’s capabilities or to request a quote, go to https://metalsengineering.com/ or call 920-339-8590.

Metal Heat Treatment Leader Provides Confidence in Performance

Industrial customers researching metal heat treatment companies depend on Metals Engineering, Inc. to provide the level of temperature uniformity and quality performance that is better assured with an ISO 9001 conforming quality management system. Metals Engineering is a leading commercial heat treater based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that performs a variety of heat treatment services including precipitation hardening with turnaround times that put it among the fastest in the industry.

The set of requirements mandated in the ISO 9001:2008 or 9001:2015 standards set management system conformance requirements that give manufacturers confidence that their supplier can consistently provide products and services that meet their needs and expectations. Tom Bennett, of Total Quality Systems LLC, recently helped Metals Engineering complete their annual ISO audit with no findings from auditor DQS Inc.

“ISO-compliant heat treatment companies such as ours can provide a higher level of reliability because our quality management system meets or exceeds the requirements of this standard,” said Ted Kemen, owner and CEO of Metals Engineering. “This provides our customers with increased confidence in our ability to provide consistent, conforming products and services.”

The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental organization that brings together international experts that develop management system standards supporting continual improvement helping lead to innovation and solutions to global challenges. The ISO standard itself does not certify companies, rather it confirms conformity of the business’s quality management system to defined requirements.

“Metals Engineering regularly submits to voluntary third-party audits that certify our compliance with ISO 9001 guidelines,” Kemen said. “We believe in the importance of continuous improvement and attention to quality processes that result in exceptional products and service for our customers.”

ISO 9001 features a risk-based approach to quality that covers a variety of topics including:

• Leadership’s commitment to quality
• The company’s customer focus
• The adequacy of its resources
• Employee competence
• Process management
• Quality planning
• Design of services provided
• Customer communication and ensuring the capability to meet customer requirements
• Effective control of external providers of materials and/or services
• Effective monitoring and measurement of processes
• Processes to address customer satisfaction
• Corrective actions to drive improvement

About Metals Engineering, Inc.

Metals Engineering is an ISO 9001:2008-certified commercial heat treater with facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. The company offers a wide range of heat treatment capabilities designed to meet stringent customer requirements. For more information on Metals Engineering’s capabilities or to request a quote, go to https://metalsengineering.com/ or call 920-339-8590.

Heat Treatment Option Enhances Cast PH Stainless Steels

Commercial heat treater Metals Engineering, Inc., leverages its operational flexibility to provide precipitation hardening services with turnaround times that rank among the quickest in the industry. Metals Engineering, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, performs precipitation hardening of PH grades of stainless steels for a variety of industrial applications including gears, cutlery, shafting, aircraft parts, medical devices and more.

“We have a full range of equipment that can heat PH stainless steels to whatever aging condition the customer specifies,” said Ted Kemen, owner and CEO of Metals Engineering. “The precipitation hardening process yields a product that usually does not need to be machined or ground afterward because it holds its size and shape.”

Quality management software enables Metals Engineering technicians to measure key quality data and deliver consistent, repeatable results. The company’s furnaces heat parts to temperatures ranging from 900 to 1,150 degrees, with prescribed treatments at 25-degree increments.

Metals Engineering uses precipitation hardening to treat a variety of PH stainless steels, including 17-4PH, 17-7PH and 15-5 and 13-8.

“PH stainless steel can be hardened by a single low-temperature heat treatment that virtually eliminates surface scaling and distortion,” Kemen said. “We’re capable of running any of the aging processes on pieces that are up to 102 inches wide and 228 inches long.”

Metals Engineering is a leading commercial heat treater, performing a comprehensive set of processes including carburizing and stress relieving for a wide range of industrial applications. The company also offers carbonitriding, a modified version of the carburizing process that leverages the molecular properties of nitrogen in addition to carbon.

About Metals Engineering, Inc.

Metals Engineering is an ISO 9001:2008-certified commercial heat treater with facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. The company offers a wide range of heat treatment capabilities designed to meet stringent customer requirements. For more information on Metals Engineering’s capabilities or to request a quote, go to https://metalsengineering.com/ or call 920-339-8590.

Carburized Steel Features a Harder Surface than the Core

Metals Engineering’s ability to provide carburizing/carbonitriding processes for a wide range of industrial applications is one reason manufacturers throughout North America trust the quality of their products to the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based commercial heat treater.

The carburizing process involves heat treating steel in the presence of carbon-rich gases. The carbon diffuses into the surface, and upon quenching in oil, creates a surface hardness up to 60 on the Rockwell C scale.

Metals Engineering technicians use software to monitor furnace temperature and carbon potential to deliver precise case hardening depths to as deep as .150 inches. Carburizing can be used on lower carbon steels to provide hardness on the surface that would be impossible to achieve with a typical quench and tempering process.

Metals Engineering also offers carbonitriding capabilities, a modified version of the carburizing process that leverages the molecular properties of nitrogen in addition to carbon. Carbonitriding is more commonly used with inexpensive, easily machined low-carbon steel to generate harder surface properties similar to carburizing. Carbonitriding forms a shallower, wear-resistant case than carburizing, typically .005 to .020 inches deep.

The company’s lab technicians have the ability to perform the necessary microhardness and microstructure inspections required per industry and customer specifications. Hardness and case depth certifications can be produced if required.

Metals Engineering’s plants in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin, provide the flexibility to offer some of the quickest turnaround times in the heat treatment industry. Both plants are able to perform carburizing or carbonitriding processes.

About Metals Engineering, Inc.

Metals Engineering is an ISO 9001:2008-certified commercial heat treater with facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. The company offers a wide range of heat treatment capabilities designed to meet stringent customer requirements. For more information on Metals Engineering’s capabilities, or to request a quote, go to https://metalsengineering.com/ or call 920-339-8590.

Custom Tooling Complements Electrical Current Heating Capabilities

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – Metals Engineering, Inc., a commercial heat treater based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, provides specialized induction hardening services for a wide range of industrial applications.

Induction hardening uses electrical current to selectively harden specific areas of metal parts such as the outside and inside diameters of shafts, splines, rollers, and the teeth on gears and sprockets. Specific tooling can be made to accommodate unique hardness profiles as well.

“Induction hardening is commonly specified to provide wear resistance and surface hardness which results in greater life for our customers’ parts. Induction hardening minimizes the distortion of the part compared to other heat treating processes,” said Ted Kemen, owner and CEO of Metals Engineering. “In addition to our stock equipment, we have custom tooling built to meet specific customer requirements for induction hardening.”

Metals Engineering technicians use quality management software that measures key quality data and programs digital hold tags for consistent, repeatable results. The heat treatment technology enables delivery of exceptional quality for customers in a wide range of industries.

“We have made significant capital investments into our induction department over the past two years, including advanced quality software, redesigned tooling, updated operator interface, new power supplies and a new cooling tower,” Kemen said. “These improvements have increased our repeatability, quality and throughput.”

Induction hardening provides an additional option for heat treating steel at specific rates and within tight tolerances. Metals Engineering’s heat treatment capabilities enhance iron and steel alloys for parts as large as 15 inches in diameter, 48 inches in length, and 450 pounds. Common steels used for induction hardening are 1045, 1141, 1144, 4140, 4150, 4340, and 52100.

Case depths of up to .375 of an inch can be achieved with the proper type of material. Metals Engineering lab technicians have the ability to perform the necessary microhardness and microstructure inspections per industry and customer specifications. Certifications of hardness and case depth can then be produced if required.

About Metals Engineering, Inc.

Metals Engineering is an ISO 9001:2008-certified commercial heat treater with facilities in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin. The company offers a wide range of heat treatment capabilities designed to meet stringent customer requirements. For more information on Metals Engineering’s capabilities or to request a quote, go to https://metalsengineering.com/ or call 920-339-8590.