It takes long-range planning and capital investment to be a preferred partner in the thermal-processing industry. You just can’t rest on one’s laurels. You have to think differently about technology if you want to be well-positioned for the future.

With a focus on pyrometry, refractory and combustion, Heat Treating Services Unlimited Inc. (HTSU) recently added energy management to its arsenal of services. In addition to maintenance, calibration, repair and testing services – ultimately giving its customers more uptime – HTSU can now optimize furnace applications, saving thermal-processing facilities up to 40% in power-peak billing costs.

The company’s brand-new division, called Dyno Controls, was formed from the acquisition of dibalog USA Inc. at the beginning of 2015. Dyno Controls provides the hardware and software to measure, record, visualize and manage energy consumption.

HTSU, meanwhile, has an advanced metrology lab that provides accurate and timely calibrations and repairs of field-testing equipment and instrumentation. The lab and field services are accredited ISO/IEC 17025, which helped to contribute to a 30% increase in pyrometry services in 2014.

About 60% of HTSU’s core business is in the automotive and aerospace sectors, meeting CQI-9 and AMS 2750 specifications, respectively. For some of its larger clients – including a parts manufacturer based in Germany, commercial heat treaters and a manufacturer of bearings – HTSU offers full-time, on-site personnel to manage their personnel and thermal-processing equipment.

Other key markets for HTSU include construction, military and locomotive. Service agreements can range from daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual testing and inspections.

Based in Greenville, S.C., HTSU opened its first satellite office in Detroit in 2007. That was followed by an office in Wichita, Kan., four years later. In 2014, HTSU opened satellite offices in Asheville, N.C., and Venice, Fla. Not yet done expanding, this MTI Associate Member will open its sixth office to serve the Northeastern region later this year.

HTSU’s history is rooted in reinvestment. Take, for instance, the first check President Kyle Favors received on the company’s first day of business in May 1998. Favors spent 75% of that check to purchase a service truck and began selling blocks of technical-support hours. Today, the company employs 20 people in five offices, with service contracts in 31 states, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany and Puerto Rico.

And no matter where the project is around the globe, HTSU prides itself on fast response time. By maintaining a full line of test equipment ranging from infrared analyzers to in-furnace data loggers, each technician has the tools necessary to react to the customer’s needs.

Favors credits two key elements to HTSU’s success. First, the company today is a leaner, more agile organization that leverages its internal capabilities. Unlike its competitors, HTSU is less reliant on contractors for projects. Second, it takes a knowledgeable team with an extreme amount of commitment to quality and customer service. Whereas HTSU was once trying to be everything to everyone, the company is now strategically focused on bringing solutions to the thermal-processing industry.

It has obviously paid off. Over the past 18 years, HTSU has maintained a 97% customer retention rate.

Visit www.htsu.com for more information on Heat Treating Services Unlimited.