APPLIED PROCESS’S POSTHAVEN

Applied Process Inc. was incorporated in 1984 to build on its parent’s cornerstone; Austempering.  Atmosphere Furnace Company, now AFC Holcroft, founded in 1962, was one of the original companies of Atmosphere Group.  In the late 1970’s AFC embarked on a developmental project to improve the quench speed and efficiency of salt quenches.  Eventually  AFC’s Universal Batch Quench Austemper (UBQA) furnace was born.  UBQA technology integrated an atmosphere controlled furnace with a sealed salt quench.  The UBQA’s quench was revolutionary in the application of ambient pressure, water addition and quenchant flow rate to produce a quenching rate that rivaled that of fast oil systems.  This made the processing of larger forgings, weldments and castings a commercial reality.  The original UBQA furnace was a 36 in. x 48 in. x 30 in. (914mm x 1219mm x762mm) with a two ton gross load capability.  Applied Process Inc. was founded to exploit the capabilities of the UBQA furnace and to commercialize the Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) process.

UBQA technology advanced over the next 20 years.  36 in. x 72 in. x 36 in. (914mm x 1829mm x 914mm) UBQAs with 3 ton load capacity followed.  54 in. (1372mm) high units and units with a footprint of 72 in. x 72 in. (1829mm x1829mm) followed…..all with 3-ton load capacity.  Then, over a McDonald’s lunch about ten years ago, the concept of a double-wide, high-capacity UBQA line was conceived.  Finally, in 2012, the Monster Parts™ UBQA came to life.

Built at AFC-Holcroft in Wixom, Michigan, USA, the furnace made its journey to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA for installation in a new, purpose-built shop; the Monster Parts™ Division of AP Westshore.  The journey of the Monster™ from conception to delivery is captured in a video that can be accessed below: 

Today the Monster Parts™ furnace is exceeding all expectations.  Its 84 in. x 96 in. (2134mm x 2438mm) footprint and 10-ton gross load capacity make it the largest integral quench batch furnace on the planet.  What makes it exceptional is its performance and capabilities.  Capable of carburizing or neutral hardening atmospheres and a high-speed quench with a mere 10ºF quench temperature rise when quenching a 10-ton load, the unit is unmatched in its attributes. 

Carbo-Austempering™ of large steel gears, bearings or shafts, Austempering of large steel or ductile iron components for gearboxes, material handling, structural, pump and compressor components, processing of Carbidic ADI (CADI™) wear parts, and Austempered Gray Iron (AGI) components…..the Monster Parts™ line does it all.  It is, hands down, the most capable, precise, efficient, salt-quench furnace on the planet.  How can the Monster™ help you to reduce the cost and/or improve the performance of your large components?  Watch the video and then visit us at www.appliedprocess.com so we can collaborate on a Monster™ success story with you.

You can also visit our friends at Gear Technology and read more in their February newsletter:

http://www.geartechnology.com/newsletter/0213.htm  

You’ve all heard me say (ad nauseum) that at Applied Process we get paid to Austemper people’s parts, but what we really do is help customers convert from one material/process combination to a better, faster, cheaper one.  In the larger sense, however, we are simply one step in the manufacturing process.  Manufacturing takes materials from the earth and, step by step, synthesizes them into goods that we use.  Manufacturing creates wealth. 

Applied Process is a proud member of the National Association of Manufacturers ( www.nam.org ).  NAM’s primary function is to represent the manufacturing community’s interests.  That includes keeping track of US manufacturing and telling our story.  In a recent edition of NAM’s publication “Member Focus” NAM’s Chief Economist, Chad Moutray, painted a very interesting picture of the state of US manufacturing’s tremendous impact on the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  In 2010 the value added by manufacturing equaled $1.7 TRILLION (about 13% of the total GDP).  Manufacturing supports 17 million jobs in the US with 11.7 million being employed directly in manufacturing.  And in the recovery since the Great Recession US manufacturing has added well over 500,000 new jobs. 

Manufacturing, Agriculture and Mining/energy have carried the country out of a deep recession.  The US Commerce Department, finally awake to the importance of manufacturing to US growth, had its Bureau of Economic Analysis compete a study on the multiplier effect of various jobs within the economy.  Lo and behold, they found that “a flourishing manufacturing sector in the United States is crucial to our future competitive strength”.  No kidding?  The data show that the manufacturing sector had the largest multiplier effect of any economic sector.  In other words, for every dollar of GDP created DIRECTLY by a given sector, how much additional INDIRECT GDP activity is generated.  The chart below shows the results…….and it ain’t even close.  For every dollar of manufacturing GDP an additional $1.35 of GDP is created indirectly.

Now I’m no economist, but even I can see why “all of a sudden” the folks in Washington D.C. are taking an interest in the state of US manufacturing.  Manufacturers create wealth.  And US manufacturers and their direct (and indirect) employees pay taxes.  I’m glad the politicians are finally awake.  Maybe they just want our vote this fall and then they’ll forget about us again until the next election.  But maybe this election will show that we can’t be so easily forgotten.