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Message from the Editor: Digitalization: An Ever-Expanding Frontier

/ EDITOR, EDITORS PICK, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT TECH

Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. This letter first appeared in the May 2023 Sustainable Heat Treat Technologies print edition.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment.

In order to create a more sustainable future for heat treaters, operators may be looking to “digitalization” as an immediate step for their heat treat systems. Digitalization is an amorphous term that can describe a few things.

One definition of digitalization curated for the heat treat industry is: the integration of advanced digital technologies (like cloud technologies, 3D visualization, simulation, analytics and collaboration tools, and even robotics) with heat treat equipment and all other aspects of production (order fulfillment, certifications, communication systems, etc.) to create a “digital twin” — that is, a holistic virtual representation of heat treat operations. By transitioning analog data and manual operations to a digital system, the end goal of creating a “digital twin” of all heat treat operations can be actualized, allowing heat treaters to monitor and analyze in real-time and create simulations and predictions about equipment performance.

This term tends to be broader than just “digitization” — the act of digitizing analog technologies to digital form — though the two terms are often used interchangeably.

An interest in digitalization makes a lot of sense. For one, updating manufacturing plants with digital practices is a huge draw for young people: “People want to work for a technologically advanced company that they can feel good about,” according to Josh Hale, managing recruiter at International Search Partners, when he spoke on Heat Treat Radio . Additionally, Covid-19 labor constraints accelerated adoption of IIoT (industrial internet of things) technologies — digitalization being just one of many. But there are also several intrinsic promises that digitalization has to offer manufacturers, for example:

  1. Efficiency: creating efficient operations that streamline business processes
  2. Accuracy: increasing accuracy by achieving precise control over temperature, atmosphere, and other process parameters
  3. Data and Analytics: real-time monitoring/data collection and rapid data analysis
  4. Safety: reduced need for manual interventions, thus avoiding accidents and improving operator safety

From a sustainability perspective, digitalization means heat treaters can monitor, analyze, predict, test, and adapt energy efficiencies in their operations. This magazine features a conversation with experts in heat treat with an eye for energy, and they’ve commented on this specific topic. “With higher computational capacity on the controllers on a per furnace basis,” John Clarke, technical director at Helios Electric Corporation notes, “we have the ability to start executing real-time analysis on the furnace and potentially implement a thermodynamic model of the furnace and how it’s operating.” Several representatives from Watlow illustrate this point: “Poor thermal uniformity can lead to scrap and rework of material, which both result in excess energy consumption.” Read the eight-page conversation with six international expert contributors on page 19.

But there are drawbacks to adopting this new technology, and in the midst of all of this “good,” I do wonder how difficult this transition has been — or can be — for some in-house heat treaters. Challenges when considering this technology include:

  1. Initial Investment. The initial investment in new technology is always present, and so is the question of who will “dish out the dough.” Will the furnace supplier try to absorb upgrading expenses? Or does it fall to the end-user buying the furnace or upgrade?
  2. Operational Complexity. However easy to operate a technology is now, it was not always the case. I once thought typing at a computer was the most difficult thing in the world. Now, I’m so familiar with a keyboard that I can look over at my husband texting on his phone and know (to a degree) the message he is typing, just by watching his thumb position. What skills does your team have to learn a new system? How much time will it take to train 50%–75% of them? How long until you feel confident in the process?
  3. Overdependence on Technology. We depend on digital technologies for many things (thank you, alarm clocks!), but is the level of dependence compromising something valuable? And to what degree? When it comes to cybersecurity threats, for example, what type of dependence on technology exposes you to more risk versus fortifying your internal systems?

The promises and challenges of digitalization will continue to face-off in offices and plant floors. While the boundary line of digital acceptance may shift, this new frontier towards creating “a holistic virtual representation of heat treat operations” means new technologies and processes that will be tested and adopted by heat treat pioneers, possibly you.

As with any frontier, there are known and unknown dangers. Let us know how your company is considering digitalization and what opportunities are golden nuggets or simply fool’s gold: editor@heattreattoday.com.

Special thanks to Mike Löpke (head of software & digitalization at Nitrex Metal) and Jeffrey Halonen (CEO of Steelhead Technologies) for their insights.

Bethany Leone, Managing Editor, Heat Treat Today

Contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

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Message from the Editor: The Hard and the Smart of Learning

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Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. This letter first appeared in the January/February 2024 Air & Atmosphere Heat Treat print edition.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment.

Bethany Leone, Managing Editor, Heat Treat Today

Ever try to learn something that nobody seems to explain in clear English? While this is sometimes the reality in industries chock-full of competitive information, it can also be rooted in simply not knowing the limits of one’s knowledge.

It reminds me of June 2020, when I was entering the heat treat industry as an editor. I had a background in research, teaching, and writing, but certainly not materials science, manufacturing, or any type of engineering. There was an information gap I was keen on closing.

As a millennial, I went about this by supplementing my work hours with videos of iron ore being poured, reading blogs about specific temperature ranges involved in different heat treat processes, and scanning latest news in the four major Heat Treat Today industries (automotive, aerospace, medical, and energy) to learn what to ask about. The long and short of it was that I decided to “work smarter” by absorbing quick information bites that I could use as context for my work. And, at least to this young blood, the smart way means doing the job efficiently and effectively. (Notice how effectively follows efficiently.)

Now, there was absolutely nothing wrong with working smarter! The problem was that I was not getting any smarter. In fact, I was running into one problem a er another. Often, this was in the form of, “Does this equipment piece really matter to our readers?” or, “I understand time and temperature are important, but how do I write about them in this instance?” While I had absorbed information about the subject material, I
had not reconciled myself with the reality that arduous work was needed to learn information in a usable way.

My idea of working smarter at this stage, while helpful to an extent, was costing me the time and energy needed that could have been used to dedicate myself to learning one thing at a time, accepting the arduous nature of the process. Since then, I have taken opportunities to learn more
about equipment, processes, and heat treat resources through lectures, books, and richer knowledge sources. Now, because I have a richer understanding of industry information, I have the discernment needed to work smarter to be more effective.

As an example, this February issue is dedicated to annealing in roller hearth furnace systems. In preparation for this focus, I:

  1. consulted Dan Herring’s chapter about air/atmosphere furnaces and furnace classifications to identify why this equipment has such a name and some of the equipment highlights,
  2. talked with experts with a history in the heat treat industry about the equipment highlights,
  3. reviewed Heat Treat Radio’s episode on pusher versus continuous systems to better see how a pusher system functions,
  4. located technical articles written on annealing, and
  5. watched short videos of the system in action.

For a B2B editor, this list is sufficient . . . for now. But for heat treat decision makers working for manufacturers with in-house heat treat, more is needed. That is why we have assembled this magazine for you: to be better informed and so make better decisions. There are three features in the pages that follow to help give you greater insight into this one area of heat treat — roller hearth systems (see pages 10, 18, and 26 for these articles). Whether you are a veteran when it comes to using roller hearth furnace systems or a skeptical observer from the sidelines, I hope these articles are resources as you work hard to better learn this topic so you can work smarter when the need arises.

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Message from the Editor: Winter

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Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares some reflections on the season of winter and the opportunity this season provides to ponder the stories that inspire us towards the coming spring.

This article first appeared in December 2023’s Medical and Energy Heat Treat print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Do you feel the cold of the coming winter?

Beneath the surface of earth is a realm of darkness and death, ruled by Hades. By his throne, the ever-youthful Persephone soon will join him for these winter months, as she has pledged to do each year.

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Perhaps you know this Greek myth: Hades, enraptured by the sweetness of Persephone, stole Persephone down to his kingdom of darkness to be his queen. While Persephone was confined below ground for what would be eternity, her mother, Demeter, went into great mourning. Side note: Persephone is a goddess. So, when we say her mother went into mourning, we mean the goddess of the harvest caused drought in the lands, weeping for her daughter.

Clearly, this could not go on. Zeus, the head god of all gods and master of the sky, intercedes on behalf of all humanity for Persephone to return to her mother. Hades agrees, after all, he’s not an evil guy; just selfish through and through, like all anthropomorphic gods. . . But before the Maiden leaves, he offers her seeds from a refreshing pomegranate, which she takes. One, two, three, perhaps six seeds she ate. She is reunited with Demeter, and all is well.

Wrong.

For in eating these seeds from the Underworld, Hades may now claim his bride to dwell with him for several months in the year.

So, each year, while Persephone is confined below ground, the Greek goddess of the harvest roams the earth in mourning, withholding grain from the land. We know that precious Persephone returns to her mother by the telltale signs of spring (yes, she is known as being the goddess of spring).

Persephone and Hades. Tondo of an Attic red-figured kylix, ca. 440-430 BC. Said to be from Vulci. (Source: ©Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons)

As winter descends, this tale often breaks through my mind. Why? As a student of history, I do not believe it is true, neither does the myth cohere perfectly with my religious beliefs. But this story of six unassuming pomegranate seeds, the power of a mother’s will, and the cruel edge of mourning carries me through cold winter with thoughts of spring.

The myth, though untrue, is truer because it is not true. (For more on this tongue-in-cheek insight, read G. K. Chesterton’s chapter, “The Ethics of Elfland,” in Orthodoxy).

I enjoy telling variations of this myth to myself and turning over and over these subtle implications about life, as well as the humanizing and “just-so” element of why we may have a winter to begin with . . . well, why many of us have a true winter.

But it does not take time-tested myths to inspire. At the recent ASM Heat Treat show, I met a man who shared his passions for the industry, for serving others, for volunteering, and for making the most of 16-hour car drives to make calls to his family. While the details are a blur, the story I left with was that the reason to live was to give. While sales were important — that was his job! — this was just a part of his life story of giving.

What stories inspire you? Perhaps a successful installation of a new vacuum oil quench furnace that you supported brings to mind challenges of logistics, cooperation with culturally different people, or memories of near disasters. Were there themes of endurance, commitment to doing the hard thing so you could get smart enough to do the smart thing?

Whatever the story, remember it so whenever a “winter” in work or life comes, the themes may encourage you of a coming spring.

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Message From the Editor: Daylight Savings

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This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares some thoughts on savings, delayed gratification, and how these concepts apply to the work of Heat Treat Today. 

This article first appeared in November 2023’s Vacuum Heat Treat  print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

I like having savings. Monetary and more: a fully secure retirement fund; my grandmother’s aunt’s antique bookcase; a bottle of well-aged Italian wine; and a stash of dark chocolate. But “savings” are funny animals. They are one of many things in life that are a blessing to enjoy, but the flip side of them always reveals a moment of saying no, and often multiple times since savings happen over time.

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It’s worth noting that this action of delaying gratification is not a universally appreciated principle. There are good reasons to be wary. Sometimes delaying gratification (or saying no) obscures the need to recognize a good, true decision that one should make in the moment; other times, it makes us focus on long-term goals to an inordinate degree that we fail to appreciate the fleeting joys life gives us in each day.

However, I see these reasons as the worst distortions of applying this principle: The whole purpose of delaying gratification is to live in a way that increases one’s ultimate ability to be fully grateful in the pursuits of this life — day to day, lifelong, and eternal. Daylight savings just ended in the U.S. on November 5, which means the one hour that we said no to using back in March we now cashed in on by sleeping in an extra hour! Well, that’s how I have been using this savings plan. Yet, my life norms (I work from home at a computer) aren’t benefited by the “daylight spending” that happened during the dark months. The fact is, saving that hour of sleep in March only guarantees that my sleep rhythms are thrown off drastically at least once a year (usually twice).

At the time of writing this editorial in September, I wondered, what if I “saved” differently this year. Rather than cash in on the hour this fall, could I save those extra 60 minutes every morning until March 2024, and use them for independent pursuits? This savings plan means saying no to that relished November day of sleeping in, but it means a half a year of an extra morning hour all to myself . . . and no thrown off sleep rhythms.

(Yes, I know there are readers out there who have cracked the system and may already — willingly or culturally — avoid daylight savings. Make room: I’m jumping on your bandwagon!) This realization — that (a) this daylight savings plan isn’t working for me, and (b) I could do something about it — was more profound than it should have been. Maybe it looks like optimizing my inbox by streamlining current e-newsletters and incorporating additional points of information so that I am effectively staying on top of trends.

Heat Treat Today’s media message is that people make better decisions when they are well informed, and our mission is to provide helpful, relevant information to ensure North American manufacturers with in-house heat treat are well informed every day. Whether you subscribe to just the Heat Treat Daily and receive the Heat Treat Today print publication or stay on top of your industry’s trending technical and news highlights with a monthly Heat Treat Today industry e-newsletter, you are saving resources that — we believe! — will give you an edge on the industry.

But just as with my realization of daylight savings, take a second to consider how you will be cashing out. Save what matters, not what appears to matter to everyone else.

 

 

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Message From the Editor: Take a Bike Break

/ EDITORS PICK, FEATURED NEWS / Leave a Comment

This article first appeared in June 2023’s Heat Treat Buyers Guide print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor/Heat Treat Radio Editor
Heat Treat Today

A bike frame caught my eye the other day. It has a lot going for it: athletic (not me), hardcore (not me), and outdoorsy (not me). But the most important feature? “The Soma Jawbone is built on a Tange Prestige heat-treated double-butted CrMo steel frame with clearance for up to 29” x 2.25” and 27.5 x 2.6” tires (with good mud clearance)”; now, I have a pressing desire to analyze the quality of my bike shuffled back in the shed.

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There is something essential about the experience of biking which forces the rider to accept silence. Take different modes of travel: I can busy myself while driving along highways by calling my Maryland tribe, listen to a podcast while walking, and fill any moment of silence at home with squirrel feeder obstacle course videos. But on a bike, the continuous physical and mental engagement distances me from riding companions and focuses my mind on the scenery or a lingering thought in my mind.

These opportunities to transition and think, these “bike breaks” — real bike or not — are necessary to allow thoughts to reside, untangle, and spring forth with clarity. One time as a tree-watching car passenger, I started thinking about prime numbers: Was there a method to find them? Surely. With all being odd numbers, let’s start with a relevant, small, odd number 3. . . well, any number that is a multiple of three and not divisible by 2. Ok, but let’s get rid of the divisibility by “3” . . . add or subtract 2 to any multiple of three . . . 21+2 is 23, yes! 21-2 is 19, yes! 27-2 is 25, no!! Well . . . how about: “To find a prime number, add or subtract ‘2’ to any odd number which is a multiple of three. If the number does not end in a ‘5,’ that is (very likely) a prime number!” Based on some wandering thoughts on a car drive, I was able to create a “prime number finder” method. (And, no, this is not completely accurate. It doesn’t account for most 7s and higher primes.)

The advertisement of the Soma Jawbone notes heat treated steel frame as key to its design
Source: Bikepacking.com

But beyond the joys of mental gymnastics, bike breaks should be taken in the midst of mundane or mega work concerns. Rather than getting sucked into the course of work, when have you taken a bike break to consider any of these questions freely: What preventative maintenance plan should have been installed yesterday? Where can safety be improved for furnace operators? Do we have the right people, and how are we bringing newcomers — future leaders in North American heat treat — into the fold? Should we incorporate laser heating or leverage plasma nitriding processing?

There is such joy to work and to being alive, as well as hardships. Accessing the joys and unravelling the hardships may be just a bike break away.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com

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For Families of Teens at Microsoft Surface

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Why Netflix shares are down 10%

/ EDITORS PICK, TECHNOLOGY

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6 Bots That Deliver Science and Serendipity on Twitter

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The New Threat to Wolves in and Around Yellowstone

/ EDITORS PICK, games

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