According to the Reshoring Initiative’s 2022 data report, reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) job announcements in 2022 were at the highest rate ever recorded. There was 364,000 reshoring and FDI jobs announced for 2022, which was up 53% from 2021’s record number. Fourth-quarter announcements accelerated even more than anticipated due to the Chips and Infrastructure Acts and deglobalization trends. In addition, 2022 brought the total number of job announcements since 2010 to nearly 1.6 million.

If you’re at all like me, you wonder which articles get the most attention on our website. Every year we publish over 40 feature articles, and at the end of the year we gather statistics to see which ones get the most page views. So, without further ado, here are the five most-viewed articles on www.industrialheating.com based on page views in 2022. This ranking applies only to articles published in 2022.

“The Bright World of Metals,” the slogan for the joint staging of four technology trade fairs – GIFA (15th International Foundry Trade Fair with Technical Forum), Metec (11th International Metallurgical Trade Fair), Thermprocess (13th International Trade Fair and Symposium for Thermal-Processing Technology) and Newcast (6th International Trade Fair for Castings) – will be held June 12-16 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany. Every four years, these trade fairs are the meeting place for companies from around the world. The exhibits will be complemented by a versatile ancillary program consisting of seminars, international congresses, symposia and lecture series.  

High-temperature sintering has been proven to provide achievable increases in material properties when applied to conventional powder-metallurgy (PM) applications. As material properties and strength requirements increase, some thermal processors are transitioning from traditional sintering furnaces to high-temperature models. However, not all high-temperature sintering furnaces are created equal.

This article considers the production deficits, logistics turmoil and demand surges that contributed to supply-chain disruptions that were brought into focus with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced that Gasbarre, an industrial furnace manufacturer, will create and retain 172 total jobs in Pennsylvania as part of a planned expansion at the company’s facility in St. Marys, Elk County. The company is investing $5.8 million into the project and has leased a 150,000-square-foot facility in St. Marys, which will triple the size of its current location. Gasbarre also plans to relocate operations from their site in Plymouth, Mich., to this new facility.

Challenges facing annealing operations include rising energy and raw material costs, operations crew turnover and supply-chain constraints. How can the virtual world of the IIoT help operators cope with these real-world challenges? This webinar, hosted by Industrial Heating September 15 at 2:00 p.m. (EDT), will discuss how a cloud-based data management and advisory system conserves resources by moving away from a set-it-and-forget-it mode. See how real-time correction of abnormal furnace conditions with algorithms processing furnace data in the cloud optimizes furnace economics.
 

The year-over-year U.S. inflation rate through February 2022 hit a 40-year high of 7.9%, eroding purchasing power especially for gas, food and rent.

GKN Powder Metallurgy (GKN PM) announced its commitment to enter the permanent magnets  for electric vehicle (EV) market in response to the supply challenges the industry is facing. The company says it is well positioned to meet the ever-increasing demand for a stable, local supply of permanent magnets, which are a vital component of EV motors. Using its industry expertise, existing production processes and manufacturing capabilities in North America and Europe, GKN PM will bring stability in the manufacturing of permanent magnets. Significant progress in product development has already been made, and the business is now entering the phase of industrialization planning. A dedicated Magnets project team operates out of the company’s Innovation Centres for metal powders in Cinnaminson, N.J., and for sinter-metal manufacturing in Radevormwald, Germany.

Linde is developing a dedicated laboratory to advance the understanding of the parameters and behavior of atmospheric gases used in the manufacture of metal powders. The lab, which is scheduled to become operational mid-2022, will enable Linde to develop new technologies to improve the atomization process – particularly increasing yield and process stability. The facility’s focal point will be a much smaller-scale version (5.25 feet high) of a typical atomizer. Linde will also collaborate with powder manufacturers and OEMs to help them test specific gas behaviors on the test bench, allowing them to then scale up the results on their large atomizers.