If you are looking for reliable and reasonably priced suppliers of heat treatment equipment, SECO/WARWICK ThermAL should definitely come top of your list. They have been on the market for more than 60 years now and for the last eight years they have...
been an inseparable element of the global structure of the SECO/WARWICK Group. In Świebodzin, Poland, where the company’s headquarters are located, they have not forgotten their roots.
Tradition and Modernity
SECO/WARWICK ThermAL combines Polish engineers’ experience with the savvy of American entrepreneurs. Known for many years as Elterma, the business has been in operation since 1950 and has specialised in the manufacturing of heat treatment equipment for metals. “This is what we were doing 60 years ago and this is what we are doing now as part of the global SECO/WARWICK holding. Our products have won Clients in more than 35 countries. The secret of our success? We offer outstanding quality and price “it as reasonably as possible,” divulges SECO/WARWICK ThermAL’s President, Mr Jarosław Talerzak. “We have come a long way over these 60 years: from a state-owned enterprise to a privately-owned and effectively-managed modern company. It goes without saying we have adapted our products to the requirements of contemporary global marketplace.”
In Private Hands
The company has been operating under the private aegis for over eight years now. The turning point came in 2003, when SECO/WARWICK purchased 100% of the Elterma S.A. stocks. The new owner provided the company with access to their sales network, business contacts, references and technical documentation. The joint effort of Polish engineers and the experience and know-how of the American investor allowed the business to offer brand new quality merchandise. “Our experience counts more than 60 years. Combined with SECO/WARWICK’s support, it became a driving force for further expansion. Our sales and profitability have been increasing systematically since 2003. We are appropriating our profits purposefully, either to develop or to modernise the company and its products,” emphasises the company’s President.
Good because Polish
We have been operating as SECO/WARWICK ThermAL for a few months so far. The change in the company’s name is a consequence of expanding our product portfolio by a range of equipment for heat treatment of aluminium. Until recently, this kind of equipment was marketed under the logo of SECO/WARWICK. We wanted to avoid endangering our long-earned market position by the introduction of the name Elterma which seems rather unrecognisable in the aluminium industry. On the other hand, the name Elterma has been associated with SECO/WARWICK for years by the steel branch. Thus, the new name SECO/WARWICK ThermAL merges the key factors of both companies to the effect of synergy. This solution proves decidedly more advantageous. After we floated the company on the stock market we also restructured its ownership. Our shares changed hands. We take pride in the fact that the majority of them have been purchased by Polish investors. We won recognition on the markets all over the world. Currently, SECO/WARWICK Group is one of the leading heat treatment equipment manufacturers worldwide. Apart from Poland, our facilities can be found in the U.S., China and India. Apart from that, we have an extensive network of representatives. Soon new openings are scheduled in Brazil and Russia. All branches of the holding employ approximately 1000 people and boast production halls capacity of ca. 60,000 sqm.
Synergy Effect
The group generates annual sales amounting to ca. 120 million EUR. Each branch strives to make its presence felt on its local market. Each branch is also responsible for a particular line of products (SECO/WARWICK ThermAL specialises in equipment for heat treatment in controlled atmospheres as well as in heat treatment of aluminium). “The so conceived structure of the group allows us to benefit from the synergy effect. This means not only common resources or distribution network, but also the exchange of vital experiences and joint research initiatives,” develops Mr Talerzak. “These are but a few advantages we have over our competitors. Others include our R&D departments and laboratories. We also prove competitive in terms of costs of project execution. This mostly concerns lower costs of labour. The expenses on materials and technology are largely the same everywhere, be it Russia, China, Poland or the U.S.,” adds Mr Talerzak.
Mission Statement
„Success? First and foremost, it is the satisfaction of our Clients. And satisfied Clients are those that keep coming back. For this reason, we emphasize understanding their individual needs and requirements,” stresses Mr Talerzak. SECO/WARWICK ThermAL is a reliable and honest business partner, the one that seks best solutions available preceded with relevant tests and analyses. “We strive to make our equipment both innovative and affordable. We also deliver tailor-made solutions and provide retrofitting and maintenance services for our equipment and technical support for our customers’ projects,” adds Jarosław Talerzak.
Client-Oriented Services
Customised solutions open a long list of the company’s assets. This list includes a number of state-of-the-art technologies, be they carburising, nitriding, annealing solutions or heat treatment of aluminium (in particular the furnaces used for annealing aluminium sheets and for continuous homogenisation of aluminium ingots). “We strive at making our appliances as energy-efficient as possible. Saving energy means double benefit: for the Client and for the environment, too. These solutions are being developed mainly with a view to reducing the manufacturing cost for our Customers” emphasizes Mr Jarosław Talerzak.
Technical Capacity
„Our machine park allows us to turn out a wide variety of equipment and complete technological lines,” says Mr Talerzak. At the moment, the SECO/WARWICK ThermAL workshop’s production capabilities amount to approximately 10,000 labour hours per month. While the company operates at the production area of 13,000 sqm, including overhead space of approximately 9,700 sqm, the overhead cranes’ capacity varies from 5 to 16 tonnes. All manufacturing processes are continuously monitored, evidenced and controlled against the ISO 9001/2008 quality standard. SECO/WARWICK ThermAL’s machining capacity includes: plasma and oxygen cutting, machining: turning and milling, cutting, bending, forming of sheets, plates, profiles and pipes; shot blasting and painting; MIG, MAG, TIG, flux submerged and electrode welding; processing of such materials as: carbon steel, high strength steel, stainless steel, heat resistant steel, copper, aluminium, stress relieving of welded structures by annealing and vibration; inspection with visual, penetration, ultrasound and x-ray methods.
Quality on Top
Here at SECO/WARWICK ThermAL quality always comes top of the agenda. With a view to increasing its standard the company introduced the ISO quality management system as far back as in 1999. At the moment the company is following all ISO 9001:2008 guidelines concerning design and manufacturing of heat processing equipment, steel structures and machinery parts. As for SECO/WARWICK ThermAL’s manufacturing qualifications, particularly the welding ones, these are in turn approved by many additional certificates issued by authorized domestic and foreign institutes, including:
The Great Certificate of Competency issued by SLV Halle (Germany), authorizing SECO/WARWICK ThermAL to produce steel structures according to standards: DIN 18000-7:2008-11; Class D;
Conformance Certificate to DIN-EN-ISO 3834-3 (quality system for welding works);
European Welding Engineer EWE Certificate,
UDT (Office for Technical Supervision) for non-destructive testing laboratory in the area of ultrasound testing
SECO/WARWICK ThermAL is also an authorized supplier of heat treatment equipment for the Russian market. The business is GOST – R certified, in accordance with Russian standard that meets all security and quality requirements regarding heat treatment equipment for the Russian market companies.
Awards and Achievements
For more than 60 years of its existence the business has collected a multitude of awards: so many that their list itself would easily make a main body of this article. Those listed below come roughly from the last decade only and include:
ranked 70th and 52nd in the Rzeczpospolita daily’s Largest Companies Ranking in 2004 and 2005 respectively;
rated as the fastest-growing company in the Good Companies in the Lubuskie Province category;
ranked 10th in a ranking of Lubuskie Province companies employing more than 50 people.
honoured by QAD, in the Case Study category, for the most interesting modification of production module to adapt an ERP Mfg/Pro system to the company’s needs.
Business Gazelle award received in a competition run by the Puls Biznesu weekly.
Business Cheetah award for 19th position in the company value growth category in the last 3 years and 6th rank in the most dynamic company category in the electromachinery branch
a Golden Laurel award received from the Teleinfo weekly for Poland’s best-computerised company in 2007 in the category of small and medium-sized enterprises according to the 100 Teleinfo Report.
Outlook for the Future
“We are rated among Europe’s leading manufacturers of atmosphere heat treatment equipment. We spare no expenses on either investment projects or research and development. This allows us to be competitive both in terms of the price and technology. We believe very strongly that our time is still to come,” recaps Mr Talerzak.
