销售电话：13641669977 / 13524293535

[2022-09-25]    Bigger, Stronger, Smarter, Vacuum Heat Treatment Solution for Industry 4.0

Under the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry and the trend of dual circulation, green manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and service-oriented manufacturing have put forward higher requirements for heat treatment technology and equipment. Vacuum heat treatment, as an advanced process in the field of heat treatment production technology, has the advantages of high quality, low consumption, pollution-free, and high efficiency. With the rapid development of science and technology and the urgent need for modern production, the application of vacuum heat treatment technology in China is becoming increasingly widespread.

Established in 2013, Fulcrum Heating System (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is committed to producing advanced and reliable heat treatment equipment. Based on the introduction of international advanced vacuum heat treatment concepts, we have developed an expert system for LPC vacuum low-pressure carburization and gas nitriding with completely independent intellectual property rights, and created high-end heat treatment equipment based in China and facing the international market. Today, Fulcrum has cultivated a top technology and engineering team, has a broad customer base, and has become a leading Hot working technology company in China.

Three major trends in the vacuum heat treatment industry: larger molds, stronger cooling, and higher information technology capabilities

The past year 2021 was the beginning of China's 14th Five Year Plan and a year when the manufacturing industry welcomed new opportunities. Quality powerhouse, carbon neutrality, and intelligent manufacturing have become the focus of attention for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, which has brought unprecedented new opportunities for the development of the three major business sectors of Fulcrum.

The first major sector is the processing of tools/molds, known as the "mother of industry". At present, vacuum heat treatment processing has become an irreplaceable advanced technology in tool/mold production. In recent years, a revolutionary new trend has emerged in this huge sector of the industry, that is, the integrated die-casting process introduced by Alternative fuel vehicle enterprises. In traditional stamping processes, 70 to 100 parts are required for splicing the chassis base. Now, only one die-casting is required to obtain the finished product, which can greatly reduce time, production line, and labor costs. The upgrading of this process requires a larger die casting die, and the loading tonnage of vacuum furnace increases from 2 tons to more than 10 tons. Hot working enterprises urgently need to break through the key technologies for processing large dies. 

The second major sector focuses on the traditional machinery industry. Taking the carburization treatment of steel as an example, the traditional approach is oil seal cooling. However, with the transformation and development of green manufacturing technology, gas is gradually used to replace oil, that is, vacuum high-pressure gas quenching technology is adopted. In order to provide faster cooling speed, the pressure required is increasing, and the existing old heat treatment equipment is no longer able to meet the current production needs. Therefore, Hot working enterprises need to update many old equipment and iterate into new equipment and new technology with stronger cooling capacity.

The third major sector is high-end applications such as large ships. As a key supporting industry in the 14th Five Year Plan, high-end applications have ushered in a "golden five years" of development. The government and enterprises continue to increase investment, and more high-end application manufacturers will accelerate the conversion of old equipment to new equipment, achieve the integration and automation of production lines, and ultimately develop into "black light factories" or smart factories. Such a large-scale market increase has brought unprecedented growth opportunities to domestic Hot working enterprises that provide high-performance products and have information capabilities.

In addition, Fulcrum is also actively expanding into emerging business sectors, such as 3D printing and non-metallic material processing and forming. 

Choose Pfeiffer vacuum pump group to provide customers with high-performance vacuum heat treatment solutions

As a comprehensive technology combining vacuum technology and heat treatment, vacuum furnaces used for heat treatment processing require the support of high-performance vacuum equipment. Since 2015, Fulcrum has been cooperating with Pfeiffer Vacuum. So far, Fulcrum has over 300 equipment operating in the market, including over 200 equipment equipped with Pfeiffer vacuum pumps.

For Fulcrum, the long-term cooperation with Pfeiffer Vacuum is based on three major advantages of Pfeiffer products: firstly, the beautiful and compact industrial design, which is both durable and meets the aesthetic requirements of Fulcrum; Secondly, the trustworthy high-end quality of Pfeiffer products, which are characterized by high quality, low energy consumption, and digital sensing capabilities, is consistent with the demand for high-performance products from Fulcrum and its customers; Thirdly, reliable technical support and services. Pfeiffer Vacuum has a mature service team and maintenance center locally, which can achieve comprehensive technical support and component supply. By applying Pfeiffer vacuum products, Fulcrum further provides advanced process capabilities, higher automation levels, and excellent product investment returns to manufacturing customers.  

What impressed me the most was the ultimate performance of Pfeiffer Vacuum, which far exceeded our expectations. There is no doubt about this, "said Mr. Chen Yi, General Manager of Fulcrum Heating System (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. The vacuum tempering furnace of Fulcrum is equipped with Pfeiffer vacuum Okta 1000 Roots pump and Hena 302 single-stage rotary vane pump. Its performance in vacuum degree and air extraction rate is far beyond users' expectations, which has given satisfactory answers to thread tool manufacturers in Taiwan, China, China. In addition to the strong vacuum performance, high-end manufacturing also has high requirements for the standardization and stability of Hot working equipment. As the key system in vacuum heat treatment, the stability of the vacuum system directly determines the stability of the entire equipment. According to industry standards, vacuum heat treatment equipment needs to meet both AMS2750 and AMS2769 vacuum heat treatment standards, and the reliable performance of Pfeiffer vacuum pumps can fully meet these requirements.

As one of the new engines of high-quality development in China, digitization and intelligence are at the core of the fourth wave of industrial revolution. In the field of precision machining, Fulcrum utilizes the vacuum heat treatment equipment ModuleHeat to provide an automated integration solution for the fully automated low-pressure carburizing production line, creating a fully automated production line for high-end tool manufacturers and supporting their intelligent manufacturing development. The OKTA2000+HENA302 vacuum pump set equipped with it has multiple data sensors including temperature, speed, and frequency conversion, which can meet the needs of intelligent production and help the equipment of Fulcrum achieve automation capabilities.

The front stage pumps and Roots pumps of Pfeiffer Vacuum are all imported from Europe. With advanced mechanical manufacturing technology and the spirit of craftsmanship, they have excellent performance. In terms of durability, reliability, and energy efficiency, they can help manufacturing customers reduce their total cost of ownership, and can achieve higher efficiency compared to other brands with equal investment. Based on feedback from 3C industry component manufacturers and customers, Fulcrum believes that although the initial investment in using Pfeiffer vacuum products is relatively high, their strong performance can ensure stable and reliable qualified delivery, avoiding the risk of oxidation or yellowing of processed high-value products, resulting in huge cost consumption. Moreover, the low energy consumption and extremely low maintenance costs of Pfeiffer vacuum pumps ensure their excellent cost-effectiveness.

Pfeiffer Vacuum OktaLine Series Roots Pump

Pfeiffer Vacuum HenaLine Series Single Stage Rotary Vane Pump

Mr. Chen Yi said, "The long-term cooperation between Pfeiffer Vacuum and Fulcrum is based on our consistent philosophy: regardless of product positioning or technical performance, we always adhere to providing value to customers with high quality, promoting industry upgrading and transformation, better supporting China's green and intelligent manufacturing, and moving towards Industry 4.0

In the future, the manufacturing industry will usher in a new round of technological transformation and upgrading of production equipment, continuously creating new opportunities for enterprises. Fulcrum will continue to work together to promote vacuum technology, actively introduce digital, intelligent, and low energy vacuum heat treatment solutions, and provide high-quality support for the active and healthy development of China's manufacturing industry.