Super Systems Inc. (SSi) was established in July 1995 by Bill Thompson, father of current CEO Steve Thompson, and the company has been proudly serving the thermal-processing industry since then.

Gold probes have been a mainstay of the business since its inception, and they continue to set the standard for oxygen detection and carbon calculation. As time passed, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company introduced technologies such as dew-point analyzers, gas analyzers, process controllers, flow meters and software. With approximately 110 employees, SSi serves the aerospace, automotive, military/defense, agriculture and medical industries.

Almost all of SSi’s products are the result of customer requests for more heat-treatment-specific solutions. The longtime IHEA member began with the heat treater in mind, and that focus continues to guide the company in developing new products and technologies to help meet industry standards of quality and repeatability.

SSi products help deliver cost-effective, precise and reliable solutions to heat-treating processes. Today’s heat treater is looking for ways to consistently run parts and eliminate scrap and rework. Technology and automation are the foundation for making this happen. Industrial process controls such as the SSI Modular Matrix provide that foundation. The expandable I/O allows the system to extend to all inputs, making processes efficient and error-free.

The company’s state-of-the-art facility has the resources to design and build technology from the circuit board up. SSi employs professionals in the areas of electrical, computer, metallurgical and mechanical engineering to deliver the latest technology to the industry.

It all began with the gold probe. It has been enhanced over the years, but it is still the probe the company supplies for applications where carbon or lack of oxygen are important. SSi also manufactures infrared (IR) analyzers, and they are the industry standard with in-house developed firmware and IR technology. SSi’s line of industrial gas and liquid flow meters provide precise control with many different options to address the right application.

The company has been addressing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for years with its SCADA system. SSI developed SuperDATA for process data collection, and it is used globally by commercial and captive heat treaters. This software allows personnel on the shop floor to utilize data for immediate decisions and proof of process. It was created with the goal of giving business stakeholders the key performance data needed to yield quality heat-treated parts in the most efficient manner.

 Load Entry 3 software is part of the SSi SuperDATA suite of programs. Load Entry assists with recipe management and tracking by providing a single, PC-based interface to control all activities for a heat-treat facility. Load Entry is accessible from any computer setup as a SuperDATA workstation or from SSi’s mobile application, allowing multiple access terminals throughout a facility.

SSi’s eFlo 2.0 flow meter is designed for harsh environments and uses superior technology for measuring gas and liquid flow. It is available with a keypad or touchscreen interface and is offered in a variety of sizes and motorized manual valves. The technology provides temperature and pressure compensation to provide precise control of gas- and liquid-flow rates.

The Matrix Series controller provides a flexible platform for meeting a large variety of control applications. The expandable I/O for analog and digital cards allows for right-sizing an application. The instrument has all the built-in features for sophisticated thermal-processing applications, includes a customizable HMI allowing the right interface to be created for the application and includes built-in data logging. The Modular Matrix is applicable in vacuum, nitriding, carburizing, annealing, aging, ferritic nitrocarburizing, endothermic gas and many more applications.

Even though SSi is a global technology company with offices in five countries, it still maintains a “family feel” that many companies lack in the modern era. SSi is a family-owned company that was started by the current CEO’s father. The third generation, Will Thompson, recently began his career at SSi and hopes to make a long-lasting impact in the company.

SSi also prides itself on delivering high-quality customer service and always picking up the phone when a customer calls. Its team works together on a daily basis to achieve this goal. There is not one person whose job it is to always pick up the phone but rather a team effort to ensure that the customer always has the opportunity to speak to a team member.

Over the last 12 months, SSi has stayed the course of improving the designs of its products to provide more precision in atmosphere evaluation and control. The company has a new instrument platform that is making its way to the market that provides modular I/O and enhanced features for many types of heat-treating processes. Software enhancements are continuously developed with operational efficiencies and industrial automation in mind. With all of our products, SSi is focusing on a user-friendly interface to enable error-free operation.

The labor market, manufacturing landscape and technology will shape what the next five to 10 years look like, but SSi will have a global team available to deploy its solutions to help solve the everyday problems faced by the industry. SSi is also placing an emphasis on minimizing the carbon footprints of its customers and the thermal-processing industry as a whole. SSi products directly play a role in efficiency, reducing scrap and reducing rework, which ultimately allows those using the products to reduce their carbon footprint as well as save time and money.

Industrial Heating Equipment Association

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