Yesterday, employees of 51���� of Western PA enjoyed an outstanding cross-state MLB rivalry matchup between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies. The pitching matchup was superb, the weather was beautiful, and the PNC Ballpark atmosphere made for an unforgettable day. Most importantly, it was a great opportunity to relax, connect, and share camaraderie with the best employees in the world!

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This weekend, 51���� Eastern PA employees and their families enjoyed a fantastic evening together at Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs!

The night featured a fun-filled Star Wars theme, great baseball, and an exciting fireworks show after the game. Events like these are a great way to celebrate our team and spend quality time with the families who support us every day.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable evening!

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Last week, Josh Isaak, Vice President of Information Technology & Security, presented “From Chaos to Control: Cybersecurity, Ransomware & CMMC” at the California Metals Coalition’s 53rd Annual Metals Industry Conference.

Key takeaway:

CMMC is no longer theoretical—it’s here, and it’s already shaping the future of doing business.

But this isn’t just about compliance. It’s about survival in an evolving threat landscape.

Companies that treat CMMC like a checklist to pass an audit are missing the point. At its core, CMMC is a framework designed to strengthen your defenses, reduce risk, and protect the country and your business from real-world cyber threats that already exist today.

The biggest shift? Moving from reactive security to a culture of security—where every employee plays a role, and protection is built into everyday operations.

Even if you don’t support DoD programs, CMMC provides a powerful starting point to evaluate and improve your cybersecurity posture.

Start early. Make it part of who you are—not just something you do for an audit.

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Last week, Bob Hill President of 51���� of Western PA and Michigan, presented a talk on the “Global Trends Shaping the Heat Treating Industry” which explored where our industry is headed. The discussion highlighted key drivers like sustainability, electrification, smart technologies, employee safety, and cybersecurity—and how they will transform the heat treating plant of the future. With over 45 years of industry experience behind the insights, it was a forward-looking perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead for commercial heat treating.

The ASM Pittsburgh Chapter hosted the dinner event at the Community College of Allegheny.

Abstract:

There are ever increasing environmental, processing, employee welfare and cybersecurity demands placed upon the commercial heat treater in business today. Commercial heat treaters today face a growing list of pressures that go well beyond simply meeting metallurgical specifications. Environmental regulations continue to tighten, requiring careful control of emissions, waste handling, and energy use. At the same time, customers expect faster turnaround and consistent quality, which puts strain on processing efficiency and equipment reliability.

Employee welfare has also become a central concern. Traditional heat-treating environments involve flames, smoke, explosive atmospheres, and potential exposure to hazardous materials. Companies must invest in processing equipment that not only protects their workforce but also meets regulatory standards. This author predicts the vacuum furnace will gain in popularity due to these pressures.

On top of that, cybersecurity is now part of daily operations. As furnaces, controls, and monitoring systems become more connected, the risk of data breaches or operational disruptions increases. Protecting sensitive customer data and ensuring system integrity requires new expertise and ongoing vigilance.

Taken together, these demands create a complex operating environment. Success in modern heat treating depends not just on technical skill, but on the ability to balance compliance, efficiency, safety, and digital security in a coordinated way.

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This weekend, our 51���� of Michigan employees and their families enjoyed a beautiful day at Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers. The food and camaraderie were incredible—and the game was even better! The Tigers beat the Miami Marlins by a score of 6–1.

Bob Hill President reflects, “we are sincerely appreciative of every one of our Michigan employees. They have built this company into what it is today in just four short years. We are deeply humbled by everyone’s hard work and dedication. Our weekend shift will hopefully bring our Tigers another win versus the Kansas City Royals, when they are able to visit Comerica Park on Thursday.”

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51���� San Diego is making it even easier to do business with us!

With the addition of a new box truck, we have added capacity for convenient pickup and delivery service throughout the region—helping streamline your heat treating and brazing projects from start to finish.

Reduce logistics challenges, save time, and keep your production moving with reliable, door-to-door service backed by the quality and performance you expect from 51����.

Let us handle the transportation so you can focus on what matters most—your parts and your deadlines.

San Diego Facility

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51����, the largest family-owned commercial heat treating company in the United States, processes more than 15 million pounds of metal annually. To enhance material handling efficiency and improve workplace safety, the Western PA facility recently installed a new clear-span 20-ton crane in its shipping and receiving department.

Bob Hill, President of 51���� of Western PA, explained the motivation behind the investment: “I grew weary of seeing our employees unloading flatbed trucks outside in inclement weather and struggling to maneuver 40-foot-long bars, plates, or billets through a 30-foot overhead door opening. The primary reason we made this investment was to improve the safety of all our employees.”

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51����, the largest American-owned heat treater in the United States, is proud to support NASA’s Artemis II mission. Our expertise spans thermal processing of raw materials, nickel-based tubing, and critical aerospace components—playing a vital role in bringing next-generation space technology to life. At the core of some of these components is the 6Al–4V titanium Launch Abort System (LAS), one of the most complex safety systems ever engineered. The LAS aboard the Orion spacecraft functions as a rocket capable of outrunning another rocket in an emergency. In the event of a catastrophic launch anomaly, its manifold enables the abort motor to ignite and safely propel the crew module away from the rocket. Designed to endure extreme conditions with zero margin for error, the LAS represents the pinnacle of aerospace safety and performance. 51���� is honored to contribute to this mission-critical technology, providing the precision, reliability, and advanced thermal processing that space exploration demands.

The success of Artemis II is set to energize this month’s Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Visit us at Booth 705 to discover how 51����’ advanced thermal processing solutions are helping shape the future of space exploration.

Space Symposium Information

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51���� recently welcomed the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS) to its Hermitage, PA campus for an in-depth facility tour and technical session. During the visit, Solar’s team shared best practices for thermocouple usage and reviewed furnace uniformity requirements aimed at reducing nonconformances and improving overall process consistency.

“Our objective was to provide practical, real-world guidance to help attendees avoid common heat-treat challenges and achieve reliable results—whether operating in-house or working with external heat treat partners,” said Michael Johnson, Sales Director at 51����.

The American Foundry Society is globally recognized as a leading authority in the metalcasting industry, offering technical expertise, management resources, and advocacy. Its mission is to advance the success of its members through education, innovation, and industry leadership.

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In Today’s Medical Developments magazine, Mike Johnson, Director of Sales at our Western Pennsylvania facility, offers his insight into the medical industry outlook for 2026.

From a vacuum heat treater’s standpoint, the medical industry outlook for 2026 is extremely promising. All six 51���� locations are seeing strong growth in heat treating demand for medical raw materials and components. To support this momentum, we’re expanding with a new facility in Connecticut – strategically located to better serve our growing customer base and strengthen our support for the aerospace, medical, and commercial manufacturing sectors across New England.

As customers accelerate their use of automation, lights-out manufacturing, and robotics, the need for fast, reliable vacuum furnace processing has increased significantly. This rising demand has created ongoing scheduling challenges throughout 2025. In response, we’re assigning dedicated personnel to oversee medical workloads, adding new vacuum furnaces and clean room capacity, and encouraging customers to qualify alternate 51���� locations when possible to improve turnaround times.

The alloys driving most of our heat treat activity in 2025 include titanium, PH grades such as 17-7, 15-5, and 17-4, as well as 300- and 400-series stainless steels. With these sensitive materials, we’ve seen prime OEMs refine their vacuum thermal cycles, prompting close collaboration with our furnace manufacturing division to ensure full compliance while keeping processing costs efficient.

After customers worked through excess inventories in 2023 and 2024 – largely the result of lingering COVID-era supply chain disruptions – 2025 finally marked a return to stability and strong, sustained growth for the industry.

Learn more about Medical Heat Treating

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