Integrated heat treatment – Comparison of different machine concepts

Heat treatment of machine components or automotive parts traditionally is done at separate facilities or companies. Very effective manufacturing becomes possible if heat treatment processes can be integrated in line to avoid logistics and to save time and money. The need of qualified heat treatment experts prevents manufactures from applying heat treatment technologies so far. Laser heat treatment is very suitable for integration in production lines. And with a certain amount of hard- and software tools it becomes possible to decrease the barrier of applying heat treatment in production lines. A short overview over latest developments of these tools is given. In the framework of governmental supported and industrial projects a wide variety of solutions have been installed during the last years. A comparison gives answers which concept suites best for different conditions of for instance mass production and or single part manufacturing.Heat treatment of machine components or automotive parts traditionally is done at separate facilities or companies. Very effective manufacturing becomes possible if heat treatment processes can be integrated in line to avoid logistics and to save time and money. The need of qualified heat treatment experts prevents manufactures from applying heat treatment technologies so far. Laser heat treatment is very suitable for integration in production lines. And with a certain amount of hard- and software tools it becomes possible to decrease the barrier of applying heat treatment in production lines. A short overview over latest developments of these tools is given. In the framework of governmental supported and industrial projects a wide variety of solutions have been installed during the last years. A comparison gives answers which concept suites best for different conditions of for instance mass production and or single part manufacturing.