Nitrex, a Novacap portfolio company and a global provider of fully integrated heat-treating solutions and technologies, unveiled a new corporate brand identity. A new logo will be adopted by all the Nitrex business units. For now, the names of the legal entities will not change so customers, suppliers and stakeholders can continue to use the existing names and addresses in all official communication. The new wordmark for United Process Controls leverages its well-known trade name, the UPC initials, in combination with the company’s best-known brand asset, Marathon Monitors, to form UPC-Marathon. G-M Enterprises, the newest addition to the Nitrex Turnkey Systems portfolio, traded its metallic graphic for a single-color wordmark using the same typeface as the other logos with the addition of the tagline, “A Nitrex Company.”

To support an increasing demand for high-value gas nitriding, Solar Atmospheres in Souderton Pa., installed a vacuum gas-nitriding furnace. Built by sister company Solar Manufacturing, the front-loading furnace incorporates the latest nitriding and recipe system from the furnace manufacturer. The automated controls meet AMS 2759/10, Automated Gaseous Nitriding Controlled by Nitrogen Potential, in addition to the standard AMS 2759/6, Gaseous Nitriding of Low-Alloy Steel Parts. The automated control system is useful for single-stage and two-stage (Floe) processing. All hot-zone components are made completely of graphitic materials inert to the anhydrous ammonia used during the nitriding process.

OAO Belaz, a Belarusian dump-truck manufacturer ordered an electric roller furnace for the heat treatment of large bearing rings. The furnace is designed to heat treat bearing rings with a diameter of 980-1,180 mm. These rings are used in the production of dump trucks used in the mining industry. The entire line, which will be supplied by SECO/WARWICK, includes: a transport system with a set of manipulators, an electric roller furnace, a hardening press with matrix instrumentation and a control system with data visualization and archiving.

Alro Steel opened a 194,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oshkosh, Wis., on March 16, 2020. It replaces the previous 66,000-square-foot facility. In addition to expanded product offerings, the Oshkosh location added new processing capabilities and equipment, including shearing, large-capacity saw cutting, shot blasting for material up to 60 inches wide, and automated equipment to clean and prepare flame- and plasma-cut parts for shipment. The expanded inventory and processing services allow the Oshkosh facility to focus on cut-to-size metals and next-day delivery to Wisconsin customers.

Thomas Morris Crafton, president and CEO of Thermcraft Inc., passed away April 28 at the age of 67. Thermcraft was founded in 1971 by Tom’s father and mother, Morris L. Crafton and Clara Martin Crafton. Tom and his wife, Nancy, moved to Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1978, where he joined his parents at Thermcraft. He was a successful businessman and was greatly admired by his colleagues. Tom has given presentations about small businesses in Washington, D.C. and has relationships with companies throughout the world.

Bodycote will open a new heat-treatment facility in Elgin, Ill. The purpose-built facility, which is scheduled to be operational in June 2020, has been designed as a replacement for Bodycote’s aging plant in Melrose Park, Ill. It will support manufacturing supply chains in the Midwest region. The Melrose Park facility will be closed once the transfer of customers’ work has been completed. According to Bodycote, the investment allows it to expand capacity and improve its ability to deliver high-quality heat-treatment capabilities.

A technology developed at Graz University of Technology in Austria uses LED instead of laser sources for the additive manufacturing of metal parts. Researchers say it optimizes 3D metal printing in terms of construction time, metal-powder consumption, equipment costs and post-processing effort. Selective LED-based melting (SLEDM) is the targeted melting of metal powder using high-power LED light sources.

The Executive Committee of the Forging Industry Association’s (FIA) Board of Directors has decided to cancel the International Forging Congress (IFC) 2020 scheduled for September 19-21 at the Marriott Magnificent Mile Downtown in Chicago, Ill. This step has been taken because of the safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. FIA could not be assured that the configurations in the venues where IFC 2020 activities were scheduled to be held could be arranged in a manner to provide sufficient protection for delegates and exhibitors against the transmission of COVID-19. Delegates who have registered and paid to attend IFC 2020 will be reimbursed 100% of their registration fees. Those companies that have reserved and paid for a booth or tabletop at IFC 2020 will be reimbursed 100% of their registration fees. Emails will be sent to both groups explaining the reimbursement process.

Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. has been awarded a contract by a major U.S. automotive parts supplier for the complete overhaul and refurbishment of a cast link-belt normalizing furnace. Designed and manufactured by Can-Eng in 1996, the equipment was originally rated at 27,000 pounds/hour of hot-charged, closed-die forgings. It was known to be one of the largest cast link-belt furnaces in the world at the time of its manufacture. The refurbishment project will take place in Can-Eng’s Niagara Falls shops and will consist of a complete refractory reline, new combustion system, new control panel and a Level II automation system.

Fortin Ironworks, a third-generation, family-owned and operated ornamental iron and metal-fabrication company, is creating new products driven by a surge in consumer safety. These American-made products are destined to be an integral part of the “new normal.” The Columbus, Ohio-based company has been manufacturing products designed to keep people safe, such as fencing and gates, for nearly 75 years. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, however, Fortin Ironworks is getting requests for new ways of doing things.