Heat Treating Services

What Heat Treating Services does

Heat Treating Services Corporation of America (HTS) is a family-owned commercial heat treatment provider founded in 1978 in Pontiac, Michigan, with its first furnace installed to heat treat steering knuckles for Ford. The company operates four production facilities across Pontiac, Waterford, and Homer, Michigan, totaling over 200,000 square feet and 64 million pounds per month of thermal processing capacity. HTS ranks consistently in the Top 5 Heat Treat Companies in the U.S. per the Metal Treating Institute and employs approximately 250 qualified personnel across operations.

HTS delivers a comprehensive portfolio of thermal processing services for ferrous metals, including oil quench and temper, multiple annealing variants (atmosphere and non-atmosphere sub-critical, isothermal, normalize, spheroidize, inter-critical, and critical range), stress relief, age hardening, carbide removal, and blast cleaning. The company is differentiated by advanced metallurgical testing equipment (ARL 3460 Optical Emission Spectrometer, King Scan Optical Hardness Determinator), PLC/PID-integrated furnace control with SQCPAK simulation software, and IATF-16949 and ISO 9001 certifications maintained since 2006. Sub-brand Trojan Heat Treat (Plant 4, acquired 2005) extends the portfolio into non-quench heat treating. Value-added services include in-house metallurgical testing, microstructure evaluations, hardness histograms, spectrographic analysis, sorting, bar coding, EDI, drop shipping, and a full-service transportation fleet.

HTS operates a sales-led, direct-to-enterprise go-to-market targeting large-volume manufacturers and machiners of rough castings and forgings. Its primary verticals are automotive (Ford as anchor customer since 1978; engine, drivetrain, transmission components) and heavy truck / off-highway (axles, suspension, drivetrain parts), with secondary verticals in military (US Military tank track components) and energy (deep-sea drilling equipment, wing nuts). Revenue is generated through quote-based transaction fees tied to processing specifications, weight, and scope, with 30-day payment terms. Customer concentration is skewed toward enterprise OEMs, with documented cases of customers transitioning from captive heat treat operations to HTS as a primary or redundant outsourcing partner.

Name

Heat Treating Services

Legal name

Heat Treating Services Corporation of America

Website

https://htsmi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Heat Treating Services is a family-owned, Top 5 U.S. commercial heat treater operating four Michigan facilities with 64M+ lbs/month capacity, serving primarily automotive, heavy truck, military, and energy OEMs with ferrous metal thermal processing and metallurgical testing services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Metal Heat Treatment Services

NAICS

Metal Heat Treating (332811)

SIC

Industrial Process Furnaces & Ovens (3567)

akta.pro primary industry

Boilers, Furnaces & Process Heating Equipment (IMAHAKAD)

Keywords

• Metal heat treating
• Thermal processing services
• Ferrous metal annealing
• Industrial heat treatment
• Metallurgical testing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Pontiac

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Heat Treatment Services: HTS provides thermal processing services for ferrous metals including oil quench and temper, normalizing, annealing, stress relief, and carbide removal. Services are billed based on processing requirements, weight, and specifications for rough castings and forgings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Heat Treating Services (HTS) is a family-owned commercial heat treating provider performing thermal processing and blast cleaning on ferrous metal components supplied by large-volume manufacturers and machiners of rough castings and forgings. The company runs four Michigan production facilities with 200,000+ square feet and over 64 million pounds per month of capacity, offering oil quench and temper, normalize, multiple annealing variants, stress relief, carbide removal, age hardening, and in-house metallurgical testing, plus drop shipping and transportation logistics for clients' supply chains.

Product overview

Heat Treating Services (HTS) is a family-owned commercial heat treating service provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of thermal processing solutions for ferrous metals. The company operates four production facilities with over 200,000 square feet of space and 64 million pounds per month capacity. Core offerings include oil quench and temper, various annealing processes (atmosphere and non-atmosphere sub-critical, isothermal, normalize, spheroidize, inter-critical), stress relief, and blast cleaning services. The portfolio includes value-added services such as EDI, bar coding, drop shipping, and full-service transportation. The company's sub-brand Trojan Heat Treat (Plant 4) specializes in non-quench heat treating operations. Quality assurance is supported through in-house metallurgical testing, hardness testing, and microstructure evaluation services. The company serves automotive, heavy truck, military, energy, mining, agriculture, and railroad industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Oil Quench and Temper Heat treatment process that enhances hardness and mechanical strength of metal components, particularly for critical automotive gears and engine components, by improving wear resistance and toughness. Offered to ferrous metal manufacturers across HTS production facilities.
• Atmosphere Sub-Critical Anneal Controlled softening of materials under atmospheric conditions, ideal for railroad components requiring precise ductility and enhanced formability.
• Non-Atmosphere Sub-Critical Anneal Controlled softening of materials without atmospheric control, enhancing machinability and relieving internal stresses.
• Isothermal Anneal Heat treatment process that achieves uniform microstructure, crucial for aerospace alloys exposed to extreme temperatures, eliminating distortion and improving dimensional stability.
• Normalize Process that improves machinability and dimensional stability by refining grain structure and relieving residual stresses in heavy truck components such as axles and transmission parts.
• Normalize and Temper Combined heat treatment process that normalizes material while adding a tempering step for enhanced mechanical properties.
• Stress Relief Heat treatment that reduces internal stresses in metal components, ensuring structural integrity and preventing premature failures in mining equipment, automotive, HVAC, and agricultural machinery.
• Sub-Critical Anneal Annealing process performed below the critical temperature range, relieving stresses induced during manufacturing processes.
• Carbide Removal Specialized process for removing carbide deposits and managing carbide-related issues in metal components, particularly for energy industry applications.
• Tumble Blast Cleaning Surface cleaning process using abrasive blast media in a tumble configuration to remove scale, rust, and other surface contaminants.
• Blast Cleaning Surface preparation process using high-velocity blast media to clean and profile metal surfaces.
• Critical Range Anneal Annealing process performed within the critical temperature range of the material to achieve specific metallurgical properties.
• Modified Spheroidize Annealing Specialized annealing process that creates spheroidized microstructures in high-carbon steels to enhance machinability.
• Atmosphere Spheroidize Anneal Spheroidizing annealing performed under controlled atmospheric conditions for materials requiring specific hardness and ductility characteristics.
• Atmosphere Iso-Thermal Anneal Isothermal annealing performed under controlled atmospheric conditions for uniform microstructure development.
• Inter-Critical Anneal Annealing process performed between the critical temperatures to achieve specific phase transformations in the material.
• Protective Atmosphere Normalize Normalizing process performed under protective atmosphere to prevent oxidation and achieve clean, scale-free surfaces.
• Neutral Oil Quench and Temper Oil quenching and tempering process using neutral oils to achieve desired hardness while minimizing distortion.
• Age Hardening Heat treatment process that increases hardness and strength of certain alloys through precipitation hardening mechanisms.
• Microstructure Evaluations Metallurgical analysis service to assess material microstructure, grain structure, and phase composition for quality assurance.
• Hardness Histograms Statistical analysis and reporting of hardness test results using histogram distribution to ensure process control and conformance.
• Spectrographic Analysis Chemical composition analysis using optical emission spectrometry to verify material specifications and alloy composition.
• Drop Shipping Direct shipping service to deliver processed parts to customer's customers, streamlining supply chain operations.
• Full Service Transportation Fleet Comprehensive transportation and logistics services for pickup and delivery of customer materials across the North Eastern United States and Canada.
• Trojan Heat Treat (Plant 4) Non-Quench Heat Treating Non-quench heat treating services delivered from a 50,000 square foot facility in Homer, MI with 8 furnaces, specializing in normalize, stress relief, sub-critical anneal, temper, and isothermal anneal processes. Operates under IATF-16949 and ISO 9001 certifications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Consistently ranked in Top 5 Heat Treat Companies in the U.S. by Metal Treating Institute (MTI)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bodycote plc: Global market leader in commercial heat treating services with extensive North American operations. Offers the same outsourced thermal processing (annealing, quenching, tempering, normalizing) for automotive, aerospace, and industrial customers that HTS provides, with broader geographic coverage.
• Solar Atmospheres: U.S. commercial heat treater specializing in vacuum heat treating and brazing services for aerospace, medical, and industrial markets. Comparable outsourced service model with strong quality certifications, complementing HTS's atmosphere furnace capabilities with vacuum expertise.
• Ajax Manufacturing: Erie, Pennsylvania-based commercial heat treater and metal processing provider. Offers annealing, normalizing, and other thermal processing services to industrial manufacturers in the U.S. Northeast, overlapping with HTS's geographic catchment.
• Paulo Products Company: St. Louis-based commercial heat treater serving automotive, heavy equipment, and industrial customers with similar furnace-based processes. Comparable Midwest U.S. footprint and customer verticals to HTS, including tier-1 automotive qualifications.
• Nitrex Metal Tech: North American commercial heat treatment services provider with multiple plant locations. Offers outsourced nitriding, nitrocarburizing, and heat treating services to industrial customers, directly competing for outsourced heat treat volumes.
• Euclid Heat Treating Company: Ohio-based commercial heat treater providing outsourced thermal processing for automotive, heavy equipment, and industrial customers. Similar mid-sized regional service model with comparable customer verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsen International: Established manufacturer of heat treatment furnaces and atmosphere ovens, with a smaller commercial heat treating services arm. Provides the equipment category that HTS operates and competes for outsourced service work in adjacent processes.
• SECO/WARWICK: Global manufacturer of heat treatment furnaces and metallurgical processing equipment serving industrial customers. Equipment-side comparability to HTS's furnace operations and a participant in the broader heat treating ecosystem HTS serves.
• Surface Combustion: Long-established U.S. manufacturer of industrial heat treating furnaces and thermal processing equipment. Provides the process heating equipment underlying HTS's service operations and a broad portfolio player in the same industrial thermal processing ecosystem.

Emerging players

• ALD Vacuum Technologies: Provider of vacuum heat treatment furnaces and specialized thermal processing services, including low-pressure carburizing. Overlaps with HTS in advanced heat treating processes for high-spec industrial customers, with a stronger vacuum-process focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Heat Treating Services