The Challenge:
California Brazing was expecting a sudden surge in production, which meant they needed to expand their production capabilities quickly without breaking their budget.
As a manufacturer of critical brazed components for the Aerospace, Defense, Semiconductor and Photonics industries, it was essential that they find a vacuum furnace capable of brazing and meeting strict requirements for the Aerospace industry. Since this purchase was unplanned, they also needed a heat-treating system that was cost-effective and could be delivered and installed in a short time period.
Winning Outcome:
One of the key tenants of California Brazing’s success is maintaining leading industry accreditations and certifications, including AS9100 and ISO 9001:2008. Since they need this new furnace to process parts for the Aerospace industry, it also needed to be capable of meeting applicable standards specified by the AWS C3.6 Brazing Specification and AMS 2750 Pyrometry Specification.
The TITAN® had all the answers. To start, it was cost-effective to purchase and operate since it was part of a standard product line. This meant that even though it was an unexpected expense, it wasn’t going to break their budget. It also meant California Brazing could count on quick delivery and installation, as well as fast start-up times.
“Now, four years later, our TITAN H6 is still performing just as well as our other custom heat-treating systems.”
However, it did more than just check all the boxes. California Brazing was also able to retrofit their vacuum furnace with the PdMetrics® software platform for predictive maintenance.
“As any brazing or heat treat shop knows, one of the worst headaches is dealing with down equipment. We like being on the cutting-edge of our industry, and one of the great things about PdMetrics is that we can be proactive before something ever fails or goes wrong.”
After installing PdMetrics, it notified them that a heating element on the diffusion pump – while not failing – was not performing properly. In the past, they might not have known something was wrong until it failed. This time, though, they were able to quickly replace the heating element without any lost production time.
In the end, this heat-treating system allowed California Brazing to easily handle the expected surge in production while also enabling them to keep the promises made to their customers and provide them with the same high-quality parts on time and on budget.