Custom Stress Relief Car Furnace

Industry: Electric Motor, Armatures
Goal: To bring stress-relief heat treating in-house
Product: Custom Stress Relief Car Furnace

For over 20 years, a global electric motor supplier had outsourced its stress-relief heat-treating, resulting in long lead times and limited process control. These factors, along with rising costs in heat treating, transportation, and processing, prompted the purchase of a furnace due to a clear case for a rapid return on investment.

HeatTek engineered and built a custom Stress Relief Furnace that enabled the facility to bring heat-treating operations fully in-house. The design included a powered product load car with an isolated drive unit to protect critical components from heat exposure. The furnace also featured a variable temperature range to accommodate multiple weldment types and processes and a custom chamber size to fit through the facility’s existing doorways without costly building modifications. The furnace’s clear working area measures 18’ long by 7.5’ wide by 7’ high, with the capacity to process 15,000 pounds of steel per cycle.

The new furnace dramatically reduced production lead times and eliminated the recurring costs of outsourced heat treating. Components that once required one to two weeks to process can now be completed within a single shift, enabling faster delivery of completed motors, improved scheduling flexibility, and greater quality control. The investment not only improved operational efficiency but also provided long-term cost savings, increased production capacity, and enhanced responsiveness to customer demand.