Master of heat processing SECO/WARWICK Group

MASTER OF HEAT PROCESSING

SECO/WARWICK GROUP, headquartered in Swiebodzin, Poland, is a leading global manufacturer of heat processing furnaces and equipment. This year the company celebrates its 25th anniversary. Dariusz Balcerzyk reports.

SECO/WARWICK belongs to the ‘Big Five’ global companies, which supply around 50 per cent of the world’s heat processing furnaces. It focuses on the most sophisticated technologies and its range covers five main product groups: vacuum heat treatment; atmosphere heat treatment; controlled atmosphere brazing of aluminum heat exchangers; melting, holding, and thermal processing of aluminum; and vacuum metallurgy.

Currently the group consists of seven manufacturing companies, with SECO/WARWICK SA, in Swiebodzin, Poland operating as its head company. The other main companies within the group are: SECO/WARWICK Corporation (US), SECO/WARWICK Europe SA (Poland,), Retech Systems LLC (US), SECO/WARWICK Retech Thermal Equipment Manufacturing Tianjin Co., Ltd (China), SECO/ WARWICK GmbH (Germany), SECO/WARWICK Allied Pvt. Ltd (India), SECO/WARWICK do Brasil Ind. de Fornos Ltda. (Brazil), SECO/WARWICK Service (Poland), SECO/WARWICK France SAS (France) and SECO/WARWICK RUS (Russia).

“The group provides standard or customised state-of-the-art heat processing equipment to forward-thinking companies in various industries including automotive, aerospace, powder metallurgy, electronics, energy, machinery, tooling, medical, steel, titanium, general industrial as well as aluminum and aluminum recycling. We have customers in nearly 70 countries. Among them are such industrial giants as Bosch, Siemens, Valeo, General Electric, Honeywell, Ford, Volkswagen and Rolls-Royce,” says Mr Pawel Wyrzykowski, chief executive officer of SECO/WARWICK Group.

The company employs around 1000 people worldwide. Half of them are engineers, 25 per cent are workers and the remaining 25 per cent is administration. The group’s annual sales are estimated at PLN 500 million (around €113 million). The first quarter 2016 net revenues from sales of products, goods and materials amounted to almost PLN 136 million (around €31 million). Where science meets business

In the field of heat treatment SECO/WARWICK has a reputation for its innovative approach. “Innovation along with the group’s global position in the world are the two main factors that define our strategy of operation. Thanks to a state-of-the-art R&D division equipped with a metallography laboratory, and cooperation with the leading academic centres in Poland and abroad, we can provide the kind of innovative solutions that other companies are unable to offer,” says Mr Wyrzykowski.

SECO/WARWICK cooperates closely with technical universities, research centres and research institutes around the world. It is actively pursuing cooperation programmes with the technical universities in Lodz and Poznan, with the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology in Warsaw, Institut für Metallformung TU Bergakademie in Freiberg, Germany, Technical University in Warsaw, Central South University in China and the National Research Saratov State University in Russia. This intensive cooperation brings new technologies and solutions used in the heat treatment processes around the world. These innovations include the entire production process, advanced control systems and machines that ensure the continuity of maintenance, reliability and the ability to change the configuration depending on the needs and expectations of a user.

Ecotitanium and graphene

SECO/WARWICK’s high standard of innovation and its ability to transfer scientific theories into industrial production processes enable it to work on projects to the highest level of technical sophistication.

Recently SECO/WARWICK Europe, together with RETECH Systems (USA) signed a contract for the delivery of a comprehensive melt shop equipment package to the first European aviation-grade titanium recycling plant, Ecotitanium, Saint-Georges-de-Mons in France. The full scope of delivery will comprise three metallurgical units: one plasma arc melting furnace (PAM), two vacuum arc remelting furnaces (VAR) and accompanying equipment. This project will provide the aerospace indus-

ASTOR Sp. z o.o.

ASTOR od niemal 30 lat wspiera podnoszenie efektywności procesów w przemyśle, produkcji oraz infrastrukturze, dostarczając nowoczesne technologie w obszarach automatyki przemysłowej i robotyki, systemów IT oraz wiedzę biznesową i techniczną w formie szkoleń (Akademia ASTOR) i konsultacji (ASTOR Consulting).

Zadowoleni klienci

4000+

Specjaliści ASTOR

100+

Partnerzy

1000+

W portfolio ASTOR znajdują się systemy sterowania GE Automation & Controls i Horner APG, oprogramowanie przemysłowe Wonderware, roboty przemysłowe Kawasaki i Epson, produkty do bezprzewodowej transmisji danych SATEL Oy oraz falowniki, panele HMI i urządzenia sieciowe własnej marki Astraada. Firma posiada 7 oddziałów w całej Polsce.

Wszystkim działaniom, które prowadzi firma przyświeca wizja, aby polska myśl inżynierska i menedżerska była szanowana w Polsce i na świecie. Dlatego też ASTOR wspiera polską edukację, inicjuje programy dydaktyczne, badawcze, organizuje cykle szkoleń. W głównej siedzibie firmy – ASTOR Technology Park, funkcjonuje pierwsza w Europie interaktywna, dostępna dla kontrahentów, studentów, przedstawicieli świata naukowego i turystów, wystawa robotyki i technologii IT – ASTOR Innovation Room, w której odbywają się testy, pokazy i szkolenia. ASTOR jest wieloletnim członkiem Business Centre Club oraz zdobywcą wielu nagród zarówno polskich, jak i międzynarodowych, m.in. prestiżowego tytułu „Ten, który zmienia polski przemysł”, Medalu Europejskiego czy tytułu Innovatora Małopolski 2014.

Kaczmarek Electric SA

Firma Kaczmarek Electric SA to ogólnopolska sieć hurtowni elektrotechnicznych - jeden z krajowych liderów rynkowych z ponad 70 oddziałami, hurtowniami oraz elektromarketami w całym kraju. Oferujemy specjalistyczne artykuły dla elektroinstalatorów, służb utrzymania ruchu, klientów z sektora przemysłowego, energetycznego i budowlanego. Oferta produktów i rozwiązań dla branży przemysłowej już od lat jest jedną z naszych najmocniejszych stron ze względu na dostępność asortymentu oraz wsparcie techniczne, którego udzielamy. Służymy fachową pomocą w doborze produktów z zakresu automatyki, a także wsparciem w przygotowaniu rozwiązań aplikacyjnych, przy wykorzystaniu dostępnych w naszej ofercie produktów i narzędzi światowych liderów w segmencie automatyki przemysłowej.

Metal Work Pneumatic

Metal Work is an Italian company specialised in the production of pneumatic components for automation systems. Established in 1967 , has gradually extended its structure and production range to become a market leader. We currently market five separate product ranges: actuators, valves, FRL units, fittings and handling/robotic components, all of which appear in our 1000-page catalogue.

The main production plant is located in north Italy, Concesio near Brescia, and the group now has a total workforce of over 1000 . Metal Work obtained ISO 9001 quality certification in 1992, followed by ISO 14001 in 2000 and OHSAS 18001 since 2007 . Almost all Group.s Companies worked in one integrated ERP by SAP.

Product distribution and technical assistance are handled by over 40 branches in Italy and abroad that are in direct daily contact with the market and provide a capillary service. Product quality and an efficient sales organisation are the corner stones on which Metal Work firmly rests ones which enable it to meet the diverse needs of pneumatic automation.

Parker Hannifin

Parker Hannifin is a leading global manufacturer of innovative motion and control technologies for a wide variety of possible industrial applications and applied media. The range includes components and systems of technologically advanced hydraulics, pneumatics, electromechanical drives, filtration, fluid connectors and seals.

Our cooperation with SECO / WARWICK is mainly focused on hydraulic drives used in metallurgical production lines. The range of Parker’s products can successfully expand the application possibilities. We provide a ready-made solution, after a very thorough consultation with the SECO / WARWICK design offices. Noteworthy are the drives with precise positioning systems for lifting, moving, and rotating of highly inert objects.

Parker is also a manufacturer of proven technical solutions, which provide basic media used by the SECO / WARWICK advanced technological lines. Parker Hiross is a recognized supplier of equipment for water cooling - industrial chillers used in closed and open water systems.

The Parker’s range includes nitrogen gas generators, which are devices that make nitrogen from compressed air on the premises of the factory. Nitrogen is commonly used to displace the oxygen in heat treatment furnaces. Parker can provide systems for the production of nitrogen from compressed air, which replace the expensive installation of tanks for liquid nitrogen in a number of heat treatment processes.

An extremely wide Parker’s range allows to perform innovative projects for the industry.

Parker Hannifin Sales Poland Sp. z o.o. ul. Równoległa 8, 02-235 Warszawa tel. +48 22 573 24 00 e-mail: warszawa@parker.com www.parker.com/pl

try with a new supply channel, independent of American and Russian sources, giving it better control over its sourcing of titanium, a strategic raw material for the sector.

The company is also involved in a project for the industrial production of graphene, a unique material some refer to as a ‘gateway to the future’. Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, atomic-scale, honeycomb lattice, in which one atom forms each vertex. Graphene has many exceptional properties: It is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel, conducts heat and electricity efficiently and is nearly transparent.

The Institute of Electronic Materials Technology (ITME) in Warsaw, Poland has started to produce a high quality, large format graphene on a reactor designed and manufactured by SECO/WARWICK in cooperation with ITME. The construction of the equipment was co-financed by The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR) under the ‘Grafmet’ project.

“The graphene obtained by using SECO/WARWICK’s SuperCarb® solution is a product with a wide range of applications. We have also developed a manufacturing technology for the functional nanocomposite GRAPH ROLL, based on polycrystalline graphene and intended for reversible hydrogen storage. It can revolutionise the automotive industry, since GRAPH ROLL allows for the possibility of safe storage of large quantities of hydrogen, which is used to propel the experimental cars of the future. Although the industrial use of graphene is rather a question for the future, SECO/WARWICK is already involved in this most exciting and technologically advanced project. This is because we see our business activity from a long-term perspective,” concludes Mr Wyrzykowski. n

www.secowarwick.com

Paweł Wyrzykowski - Chief Executive Officer (SECO/WARWICK Group)

Paweł Wyrzykowski joined SECO/WARWICK Group in 2011 as CEO. In his current role, Mr. Wyrzykowski is managing all global activities, creating and implementing the strategy and coordinating all SECO/WARWICK Group business units. He completed graduate work in the School of Foreign Trade at the Warsaw School of Economics. In 1992-1998, he worked for the Creditanstalt group in Vienna and Warsaw. In 1998, he was employed by the Pfleiderer AG group, a leading manufacturer of engineered wood panels. In 1998-2001, Mr. Wyrzykowski was the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the management board of Pfleiderer Grajewo S.A., becoming president of the company’s management board in 2003. He served as member of the management board of Pfleiderer AG of Neumarkt in Germany, where he, among others, served as the Chairman of some subsidiaries, such as Grajewo and PERGO (2009-2011).