The most obvious reason for outsourcing heat treating vs. keeping it in-house is the cost. When doing heat treating in house, the part manufacturer must manage the following costs:

• Heat treating equipment capital costs
• Equipment maintenance costs (high temperature alloy furnace parts, motors, heating elements, burners, baskets, trays, etc.)
• Ever changing energy costs for natural gas, electricity, and operating supplies (quench oil is over $5.00 per gallon; polymer quenchants are over $14.00 per gallon)
• Labor costs, including training, fringe benefits and safety compliance for employees working on all three shifts
• Workers Compensation Costs
• Fire insurance costs
• Environmental and Safety compliance costs (some unique to the heat treating operation).

Most of the above costs for in-house heat treating have to be managed in the manufacturer’s fixed costs. On the other hand, outsourcing of your heat treating to Akron Steel Treating, means the manufacturer need only manage the cost per part processed, a variable cost. When business slows, your costs for heat treating are reduced proportionally. Usually, heat treating costs will be only about one to ten percent of the cost of the finished product.

Many times AST can group similar parts from other customers for better furnace utilization and for lower overall cost. Likewise the 24/7 overhead from our furnaces is spread over the approximately 1,200 different customers we service each year.