The Seco/Warwick Group, one of the five largest manufacturers of equipment for the heat treatment of metals and vacuum metallurgy in the world, reports a record order portfolio of more than $105.3 million after three quarters of 2018.
The Group’s sales in the first three quarters of 2018 increased by 10 percent compared to the same period of 2017. The operating profit for this period was approximately $5.3 million, while the net profit was about $3.5 million.
“A good performance and a rich portfolio of contracts, both completed and newly signed, result from a combination of excellent business relationships, a global reputation for proven technology, and consistently building a strong Seco/Warwick brand,” said Paweł Wyrzykowski, Seco/Warwick Group CEO.
The strong market position of the Seco/Warwick Group is built not only by factories and companies on three continents, but above all, stable revenues and a record order portfolio for end-to-end solutions in five product categories.
One category of note is atmosphere heat-treatment technology and equipment, the Seco/Warwick product segment that enjoyed robust sales in 2018. The final results reflect great progress for this product segment that has prompted continuing investment in this technology and expansion into new markets.
Projects include:
- The sale of two complete technological lines, each consisting of a two-chamber sealed quench furnace and auxiliary equipment for one of the world leaders in the commercial heat-treating market.
- Delivery of a continuous operating roller hearth window bending line to the Czech Republic and Poland.
- The installation of a fire resistance test furnace for the Scandinavian market.
- The latter product deserves a special distinction, because Seco/Warwick is the market leader most frequently chosen by companies conducting fire resistance tests of their products.
Another product segment of the Group that recorded spectacular sales results is vacuum metallurgy. A significant increase in sales of vacuum induction melting systems (VIM) in 2018 has already become the success story of the segment. At Purdue University in the United States, the Group installed and commissioned a VIM type furnace with a unique oil cooling system — a furnace for infiltrating samples with a zirconium alloy. VIM also was delivered among other vacuum metallurgy projects to an American company serving the aviation industry.
It was the aerospace industry that built a strong order portfolio, 70 percent of sales, for the Group in 2018, because equipment from the three segments of the Group is devoted to this sector. Particularly noteworthy are furnaces for vacuum heat treatment, which Seco/Warwick sent to customers at least once a week in 2018; 65 percent of the total volume was designed as customized projects. In addition to numerous realizations for the aviation market, the Seco/Warwick vacuum solutions segment has proudly entered the demanding and difficult Japanese market for tool steel components.
The last but equally attractive product group is equipment for the heat treatment of aluminum and controlled atmosphere brazing (CAB). As shown by Seco/Warwick in numerous installations around the world, technical experience and an innovative approach make the CAB solution the preferred joining technology for battery cooling plates within the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV) market. Interestingly, Seco/Warwick is the only company in Europe supplying lines dedicated to brazing the aluminum electric car battery coolers.
Seco/Warwick is an award-winning company that has been interested in unconventional and innovative solutions since its inception. The company has developed many intelligent tools to support production processes using artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the latest concept of Industry 4.0.
Observing the global market trends related to Industry 4.0, Seco/Warwick launched a research and development project aimed at creating a comprehensive management system for predicting maintenance issues for both metal heat treatment and vacuum metallurgy systems, equipped with a unique failure detection system. The effect of this project is the SECO/PREDICTIVE system for monitoring furnaces for heat treatment.
SECO/PREDICTIVE, based on predictive analytics, together with the SECO/LENS® based on augmented reality technology, are the latest solutions of the Group supporting production and service processes.
Awareness of the need to implement advanced and intelligent solutions, often called “the brains” of an entire production line, is constantly growing. Seco/Warwick, as a production company, understands these needs, offering innovations that increase the resilience of companies and their business performance. This was reflected in the results in 2018, where the company recorded an increase in the number of electrical projects by 20 percent compared to the same period in 2017.
Financial data for the full year 2018 will be available in the consolidated periodic report in April this year, which will be posted on the company website.
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