Dudley based Alloy Heat Treatment (AHT) has invested in an innovative 'Oven 25 machine', becoming the only UK-based firm able to carry out the Heat Treatment process of outsized parts.
The result is work remaining in the UK, rather than being off shored to Europe, previously the only other alternative.
AHT can now look forward to further growth as the machine opens up new opportunities within existing aerospace and automotive markets.
Alloy Heat Treatment specialises in heat treating components for the aerospace, automotive and advanced engineering sectors; they can now help clients heat pieces that fit into the basket size of 2630mm X 2400mm X 2300mm in a shorter turnaround time, therefore increasing productivity.
It also has the ability to free up solution capacity on Alloy Heat Treatment's rapid quench line. Ian Perks, sales manager at Alloy Heat Treatment said: “AHT made a strategic decision to invest in a large top loading oven which would free up capacity on our fully automated, rapid quench, drop bottom line. Due to an enquiry from Jennings Foundry at the time of specifying the oven it was constructed to carryout high and low temperature treatments. We are in the process of getting the oven NADCAP approved which will allow us to take on larger components for the aircraft industry.”
Dorset based WRES Ltd is an example of a company drawn to AHT because of the new investment. WRES Ltd specialise in the welding and fabrication of aluminium, stainless and mild steel for sectors such as marine, food, defence, architecture and petro-chem. The company chose AHT as they were the only firm within the UK which offers the service of heat treating larger parts. The firm has also utilised the new Oven 25 for its large fabrication pieces which are being used for a camera equipment jig, the Isis Frame and the Tool Sled, to film beneath the sea.
WRES Ltd Managing Director Alan Hamer said: “Alloy Heat Treatment is the only firm within the UK which we discovered to have the Oven 25 machine for our specific use. They gave us a one-week turnaround time to get the parts over to them and heated in their high-temperature oven. If we didn’t have this option from Alloy Heat Treatment, we would have had to send it to Europe, which would be a longer turnaround time and not very practical for us. I think Alloy Heat Treatment’s new investment is a triumph for keeping manufacturing work within the UK, as opposed to exporting it out to Europe. In turn it has helped us satisfy our clients’ requirements.”
Alloy Heat Treatment are the largest sub contract heat treater in the UK for aluminium alloys. Established for almost 40 years at its Peartree Lane site, the company heat treats everything from small fixings to components five metres long.