The outdated line, consisting of a hardening and tempering furnace that had been in operation at the plant for almost 40 years, will be replaced by a modern solution with higher efficiency and energy savings. “The old furnace simply had to be replaced – it had reached the end of its service life,” says Lukáš Andrášik, technician at HKS Forge and one of the participants in the business trip. “In China, we went to see a specific proposal for new technology and to find out how it works in practice directly at the manufacturer.”
Successful meetings
During the trip, the HKS Forge team met with the equipment manufacturer, StrongMetal, as well as its Swiss business partner. The manufacturer presented a design for a complete line – from a hardening furnace and quenching tank, to a washing unit for forgings, and finally to a tempering furnace. “We did not want to choose just based on paper offers from suppliers around the world. We needed to see the manufacturer’s capacities in their various production plants, their technical solutions, and the quality of their work live,” explains Lukáš Andrášik.
The visit confirmed that the technology meets HKS Forge’s requirements and that China can be a strong partner in this field. An important step was that StrongMetal arranged visits directly to its customers. Thanks to this, the team was able to see the equipment in real operation – including its maintenance and the automation of individual steps.
Exhibition showed opportunities for the future
The representatives of HKS Forge also combined the business trip with participation in a forging exhibition in the city of Guangzhou. The exhibition brought plenty of inspiration in the fields of metallurgy, forging, and steel processing. In addition, it enabled the establishment of new contacts with suppliers of presses, heating systems, forgings, and tools.
“We were particularly interested in other types of mechanical presses, as well as spindle and hydraulic presses, which feature a well-designed lubrication system, efficient transfer of forgings between operations, and a higher degree of automation,” notes Andrášik. Our specialists brought back not only new knowledge from the exhibition, but also potential opportunities for savings – especially in the area of electric heating control and reduced energy consumption.
Lower losses, higher efficiency
The planned new heat treatment line will not just be a replacement for the old one. Its design will ensure significantly lower heat losses, new advanced electronic heating control, and, according to estimates, could save the plant up to 20% of energy compared to the old line.
“This is a major step forward for us – not only technologically, but also ecologically and economically,” concludes Andrášik. The business trip to China thus opened the way not only to a new furnace, but also to broader cooperation and further development of the HKS Forge plant.
Darina Kvetanová
