What Specialty Heat Treat does

Specialty Heat Treat, Inc. is a privately held, family-managed commercial heat treatment services provider founded in 1993 by Tom and Mary Moore and headquartered in a single facility at 11307 W Little York Rd, Houston, TX. The company operates more than 40 furnaces — including 12x 25' open furnaces, 2x 8' endothermic atmosphere furnaces, and 27x 8' open furnaces — capable of reaching 2300°F and processing loads up to 20,000 lbs and 312 inches in length, with continuous 24/7 operations and ISO 9001:2015 certification. Its core service portfolio spans normalizing, austenitizing/hardening, quenching (air, water, oil, polymer, molten salt/lead), tempering, stress relieving, annealing, solution heat treatment, age/precipitation hardening, atmospheric heat treating, and carburizing/case hardening, complemented by value-added services (cutting with 3 saws, straightening via 6 presses up to 1,000 tons, shot-blasting, and in-house Brinell/Rockwell hardness testing plus third-party mechanical, metallography, and NDE testing).

The business operates as a fee-for-service industrial job shop with quote-based pricing tied to material specifications, process complexity, and job size, generating revenue per processed pound rather than via licensing or subscriptions. Customer mix is primarily oil and gas (machine shops, manufacturers, steel distributors, and forgers serving the oilfield sector in Houston), with secondary exposure to aerospace, automotive, and defense — including project-based work for the Space Shuttle, SpaceX, USS Kitty Hawk, and M1 Abrams programs. Go-to-market is sales-led and direct: customers contact the company via phone or the company website, and there are no e-commerce, reseller, or distribution channels.

Ownership and management are concentrated in the Moore family — Sam Moore serves as President and General Manager and Matt Moore as Vice President, alongside Doug Chamberlain (VP/Sales), Fritz Huss (Quality/Maintenance/Purchasing), Jose DeLeon (Safety/Training), Twaina Bennett (Office), and Tommy Gilbert (Production). The company has no disclosed external funding, no subsidiaries, no M&A activity, and no partnerships, and it is a self-described "largest commercial heat treater in North America" with annual material processing capacity above 50 million pounds and headcount of 60+.

Name

Specialty Heat Treat

Legal name

Specialty Heat Treat, Inc.

Website

https://specialtyheattreat.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Specialty Heat Treat is a privately held Houston-based commercial heat treatment job shop founded in 1993, operating 40+ furnaces 24/7 to deliver normalizing, hardening, quenching, tempering, annealing, carburizing, and related services primarily to oil and gas machine shops and manufacturers, with additional aerospace, defense, and automotive exposure.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Heat Treatment Services

NAICS

Metal Heat Treating (332811)

SIC

Industrial Process Furnaces & Ovens (3567)

akta.pro primary industry

Steel Heat Treatment & Metallurgical Processing (Annealing, Quenching/Tempering, Normalizing) (IMAKABAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industrial Furnaces, Kilns & Thermal Processing Equipment (IMAHAEAE)

Keywords

• Industrial heat treatment
• Steel heat treating
• Case hardening services
• Metal heat treatment
• Carburizing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Heat Treatment Services: Job shop/fee-for-service model providing custom heat treatment services for industrial customers. Services include normalizing, hardening, tempering, stress relieving, annealing, solution heat treatment, age hardening, atmospheric heat treating, and carburizing. Revenue generated per job based on material weight, process complexity, and specifications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Specialty Heat Treat operates a commercial heat treatment job shop delivering industrial metal heat treatment services such as normalizing, hardening, quenching, tempering, stress relieving, annealing, solution heat treatment, age hardening, atmospheric heat treating, and carburizing/case hardening for ferrous alloys, stainless steels, and super alloys. The company complements these processes with value-added cutting, straightening, shot-blasting, and in-house quality control services, processing more than 50 million pounds of material annually across 40+ industrial furnaces operating 24/7 in Houston, TX.

Product overview

Specialty Heat Treat is a commercial heat treatment service provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of metal heat treatment processes. The core service offerings include Normalizing, Hardening (Austenitizing), Quenching, Tempering, Stress Relieving, Annealing, Solution Heat Treatment, Age Hardening, Atmospheric Heat Treating, and Carburizing/Carburizing. These services are delivered through their extensive furnace infrastructure (over 40 furnaces including 12x25 foot open furnaces, 15 foot open furnace, 2x8 foot endothermic atmosphere furnaces, and 27x8 foot open furnaces). Value-added processing services including Cutting, Straightening, Shot-blasting, and Quality Control complement the core heat treatment processes. The company primarily serves oilfield-related industries including machine shops, manufacturers, steel distributors, and forgers, as well as aerospace, automotive, and defense sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Normalizing Heat treatment process that involves heating steel above its critical temperature and then air-cooling it, refining its microstructure for improved strength and toughness. Refines grain structure and eliminates residual stress from cold or hot working or flame cutting. Delivered to industrial manufacturers in oil and gas, aerospace, automotive, and defense sectors.
• Hardening (Austenitizing) Process of heating ferrous alloys above their critical temperature to transform microstructure into austenite, followed by quenching to achieve desired mechanical properties using various quench media. For industrial customers requiring hardened steel components.
• Quenching Rapid cooling process, typically by immersion in water or oil, which hardens steel by transforming its microstructure from austenite to martensite. Quench media include still air, forced air, water, oil, polymer, or molten salt/lead.
• Tempering Heat treatment process that follows quenching, aimed at reducing brittleness and enhancing toughness by reheating steel to a temperature below its critical point. Tempering of alloy steels is done in the 300 to 1320°F temperature range.
• Stress Relieving Heat treatment process that reduces internal stresses caused by welding or machining, improving dimensional stability and reducing the risk of distortion or failure during subsequent processing.
• Annealing Heat treatment process that softens material, improves ductility, relieves internal stresses, and enhances overall workability by heating to a specific temperature and then slowly cooling it. Includes full anneal, process anneal, and anneal for machining.
• Solution Heat Treatment Solution annealing process that dissolves carbide precipitates, enhances corrosion resistance, and increases material uniformity by heating to a high temperature and rapidly cooling it to facilitate precipitation hardening.
• Age Hardening Precipitation hardening process that increases strength and hardness through the formation of stable precipitates during aging at controlled temperatures. Heating a solution treated material causes constituents to precipitate into grain boundaries and strengthen the material.
• Atmospheric Heat Treating Heat treatment process using controlled gaseous environment to prevent oxidation, enabling precise alterations in microstructure, enhancing mechanical properties, and achieving desired performance characteristics.
• Carburizing / Case Hardening Surface hardening process that involves diffusing carbon into the steel's surface at high temperatures, enhancing its hardness and wear resistance while maintaining a tough core. Uses atmosphere furnace with carbon-rich environment.
• Value-Added Processing Services Bundle of cutting (3 saws, max 28 inch O.D.), straightening (6 presses, 150-1,000 tons, max 25 inch O.D. and 300 inches long), shot-blasting (2 tables, 48 inch O.D., max 3,000 lbs), and quality control (in-house Brinell/Rockwell hardness testing plus third-party mechanical, metallography, and NDE testing) for heat-treated materials.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Bodycote: The world's largest commercial heat treatment and thermal processing services provider, with hundreds of furnaces globally. Directly comparable as a job-shop heat treater serving aerospace, automotive, oil & gas, and industrial customers — but at vastly greater scale and geographic reach.
• Ipsen: Manufacturer of heat treatment furnaces and vacuum technology with a strong commercial services footprint. Comparable through shared technical focus on atmosphere and vacuum heat treating equipment, though Ipsen also sells equipment rather than being a pure job shop.
• SECO/WARWICK: Global manufacturer of heat processing furnaces and provider of heat treatment services across multiple end markets. Overlaps with Specialty Heat Treat in industrial heat treatment processes and customer verticals (aerospace, automotive, energy).

Direct peers

• Paulo Products: St. Louis-based commercial heat treater offering brazing, carburizing, annealing, tempering, and other thermal processing services. A direct U.S. competitor to Specialty Heat Treat in the metal heat treating job-shop market, with overlapping service lines and customer verticals.
• HEF Group: French-headquartered global provider of surface engineering and heat treatment services with U.S. operations. Highly comparable as a commercial heat treater serving automotive, aerospace, energy, and general industrial customers.
• Nitrex Metal: Provider of heat treatment services and equipment, including nitriding, nitrocarburizing, and vacuum/process furnace operations. Comparable as a commercial heat treat services provider with overlapping process capabilities (case hardening, atmosphere furnaces).
• Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHTC): U.S.-based commercial heat treat company offering induction hardening, nitriding, carburizing, and other thermal processing services. A direct competitor serving overlapping industrial, automotive, and aerospace customers.
• Solar Atmospheres: U.S. commercial vacuum heat treating services company serving aerospace, defense, medical, and power generation customers. Direct competitor in high-specification heat treatment, particularly for aerospace and defense applications that overlap with Specialty Heat Treat's customer base.
• Bluewater Thermal Solutions: Commercial heat treatment and brazing services provider with multiple U.S. facilities, serving automotive, heavy equipment, and industrial customers. A direct U.S. competitor offering comparable process capabilities (carburizing, nitriding, induction hardening, brazing).

Regional players

• Wallwork Heat Treatment: U.K.-based commercial heat treatment and vacuum brazing service provider. Comparable service portfolio (hardening, tempering, brazing, nitriding) but operates primarily in the U.K. rather than North America, making it a regional rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Specialty Heat Treat