How is the market for industrial furnaces?

If I look at it from a global perspective, it is good. A growth factor of CAGR of 6.2% gives a pleasant prospect for investors. To clarify, CAGR stands for Compound Annual Growth Rate and is used to assess how much an investment will grow over a certain time frame. In other words, this indicator shows how much profit the investor will earn annually from his investment for a certain period. It is true, however, that this statistic also includes glass furnaces, ceramic furnaces, drying and firing furnaces, etc.

And what are the trends?

• Substitution of gas for electricity
• Vacuum technologies are gradually replacing classic ones
• Demand for multi-chamber systems that are more energy efficient will grow
• Taking into account the trends in the materials used, the demand for vacuum furnaces with oil quenching for the processing of low-alloy steels will increase
• On the other hand, the demand for heat treatment of titanium alloys, Inconels and other materials related to aviation, energy and military production will grow
• ESG reporting will increase the pressure on both heat treatment suppliers and customers, who will have to choose a heat treater that produces a smaller carbon footprint
• Digitization will move in all directions; however, AI will not help in this, it processes the past and it is very difficult to forecast the future
• The decline in automotive will be replaced by the development of aircraft and military production. Mass production will therefore decrease and special production will increase
• Robotization and automation will increase, unmanned
• As the intelligence of control systems increases, the demand for the qualification of service personnel will decrease
• The connection of furnaces with the ERP system will become more important. The ESG report itself puts a lot of pressure on this connection so that it is possible to have immediate information about the carbon footprint of a production order. This is only possible through online measurement and data capture, and their processing in ERP at the production order level
• The market related to the production of coolers for electric cars, and therefore soldering ovens, will grow
• The market for nitrocarburing in gas will grow due to the requirement to reduce the emissivity of car braking systems
• The requirements for the cleanliness of the production environment will increase, i.e. the reduction of any emissions, noise, vibrations, etc., so that the ergonomic conditions of furnace work meet the requirements of today
• In the area of ​​commercial heat treaters, their grouping into larger units can be expected. Bodycote, Aalbert, Härtha Group are examples of this. The main reason is the concentration of financial resources for innovative investments. But their regional role will remain.

Both ECM Furnaces and TAV Vacuum Furnaces have no problem with filling production capacities. Last year, both companies had a record. This is just confirmation of the innovation trend that the industry must experience if it is to cope with the Green Deal. And when will this trend come to us?

Jiří Stanislav

October 24,  2024