Business View Magazine November-December 2018

162 163 department,with staff engineering and technical teams poised to handle our customers’most intrigu- ing challenges.” Lister mentions some of the company’s signature projects and awards: “We did a project with Latrobe Specialty Steel, before their acquisition by Carpen- ter Technologies back in 2007-08.We delivered the largest vacuum induction melting furnace operating today while they were constructing their new plant. It was a collaborative design/build.While they were building,we were shipping components in and we are proud of what we did in a short span of time. That won an AIST (Association for Iron & Steel Technology) project award.We also manufactured a 150-ton static electrode ESR furnace which,when it was installed in 2011,was the largest of its kind. Going forward, Consarc’s focus remains on lever- aging today’s newest technologies for the benefit of its customers. Lister sees the future of Consarc intimately tied to the nascent industry of additive manufacturing,which refers to a process by which digital 3D design data are used to build up a com- ponent in layers by depositing material.“Additive Manufacturing (AM) is going to drastically change the way that engineers and end users are designing parts,”he states.“We’re seeing a tremendous up- swing in research and development of high perfor- mance alloys for 3D printing.That means there is currently a tremendous demand for powders.There is no doubt this technology is in its infancy; we’re not going to be driving 3D printed cars anytime soon. But,we are seeing a lot of research and devel- opment and where there’s smoke, there’s eventually going to be fire.” CONSARC CORPORATION PREFERRED VENDOR n Strohecker Incorporated www.strohecker.com Strohecker Incorporated specializes in the fabrication and repair of wrought copper crucibles, molds, liners, hearths, and related equipment for use in VAR, ESR, EBM, PAM and other related specialty melting processes. Founded in 1947, Strohecker started as a custom fabricator of industrial equipment in high-temperature and corrosive environments. Soon after, Strohecker began developing techniques in the welding of heavy copper to itself and other dissimilar materials. It manufactured some of the earliest copper crucibles for the titanium industry and continued to develop its welding processes, so that by 1980, Strohecker’s crucible work had become the most important part of its business. Situated midway between Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH, Strohecker draws from a wide range of experienced specialty forming, machining, heat treating and testing services – all within close proximity. For over 70 years Strohecker has provided quality fabrication and repair services to most of the specialty melting shops across North America, as well as to producers in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Meanwhile, Lister says that Con- sarc will continue to provide its full spectrum of services “to help com- panies with their equipment for its entire lifecycle- from pre-sales, to installation, to ongoing metallurgical support,”he concludes.“We’re making strategic investments into additive manufacturing, and supporting our customers in mature industries, like automotive and aerospace.We’re doing all that and keeping an eye on modernizing our product offerings for the future. We are an engineer- ing company, striving to develop game-changing technologies, at heart; we just happen to also manu- facture vacuum furnaces.”