Year 2025 – a year of great changes
Although the course of the year suggested that it would be very boring, the opposite is true. It was a great ride, with lots of new opportunities. Both for TAV Vacuum Furnaces and ECM Technologies. And we are only at the beginning of the green transformation. There are still many hardening plants that think that it can be avoided, just wait. But the world does not stand still, it is in constant motion, and despite everyone cursing the green deal, there will be no choice but to adapt to this trend. That is why I was surprised, in a good way, by the idea of the next path from Bodycote. The newly appointed president and essentially a completely new team in the company’s management indicate the future path in heat treatment.
And what is the path? This can be seen on this slide from the presentation. Special technologies, especially HIP and S3P. S3P is a top-secret technology for hardening the surface of stainless steels, fully owned by Bodycote, and therefore it is impossible to imagine the emergence of its competitor.
However, it is different with HIP. This is a general technology, just like vacuum heat treatment, but completely absent on our market. As a result, many industries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are significantly limited in development, especially in the field of aircraft production or power energy. However, this also applies to additive technologies, where many applications of metal printing are unimaginable without HIP. So, if someone is targeting progressive sectors in the field of heat treatment of metal materials, then owning HIP capacities gives enormous scope for future dominance in fields such as aircraft production, space programs, weapons production or production for the energy industry.
In the new strategy, other heat treatment processes are hidden under the name “Precision Heat Treatment”. What does this name evoke? Well, primarily precision and quality. Since the LPC (Low Pressure Carburizing) and Corr-I-dur technologies are also mentioned, it is clear where Bodycote is heading. From technologies with high energy intensity and high emissions, to technologies with a minimal carbon footprint and low energy consumption.
Because I completely agree, anyone who wants to survive in the heat treatment market must take this path sooner or later. And this is a huge opportunity not only for furnace manufacturers, but also for the heat treatment industry itself.
And so, we can only wish for the New Year 2025 for this vision to be transferred to investment activities. So, 2025 should be a kick-off year of big changes. A great opportunity for everyone.
Jiří Stanislav
December 23, 2024
