The MTI Management Trainees Tour Solar Atmospheres
Solar Atmospheres was honored to host students from The Metal Treating Institute’s (MTI) Young Executive Series Management Training Program (Y.E.S.) for a plant tour earlier this month. The 36 members of the class of 2013 traveled to Solar Atmosphere’s corporate headquarters in Souderton, PA from as far away as Mexico and California. John Swartley, a QA Technician at Solar, is participating this year and following in the footsteps of many other employees who are graduates of the program.
MTI CEO Tom Morrison notes, “Part of the mission of the Y.E.S. training is to give the executives an opportunity to see how other heat treaters and manufacturers do business. We always enjoy visiting Solar because they have both Solar Atmospheres (heat treating) and Solar Manufacturing (furnace manufacturer). This particular tour gives the Y.E.S. team a chance to talk to one company who sees things through both the user and supplier. It is definitely a valuable tour for the executives in the program.”
The visit kicked off with a luncheon and introduction by Roger Jones, corporate president of Solar Atmospheres who noted, “We are happy to see so many people taking advantage of the excellent educational opportunities provided by MTI.” The students learned more about Solar Atmospheres’ business and 30 year history as one of the largest commercial heat treaters in the world.
Joined by Trevor Jones, Principal Engineer, Jamie Jones, VP Operations and Tim Steber, Regional Sales Manager the group proceeded to the freshly renovated Metallurgical lab where they examined new Struers precision cutting, mounting and polishing equipment and cabinetry. This state-of-the-art equipment provided a close-up examination of samples prepared for micro hardness evaluation.
Out in the busy plant, students saw a variety of vacuum furnace types in operation. They learned more about the different processing capabilities of each furnace and gained a firsthand look at how those processes are performed.
Next door at sister-company Solar Manufacturing, attendees got an inside look at how vacuum furnaces are constructed from the ground up. Engineers and technicians demonstrated and described how each part of the furnace is assembled and how each furnace is designed to meet the customer’s specifications.
Solar thanks MTI and the Y.E.S. students for a great day of learning. You don’t need to be a Y.E.S. student to enjoy a tour, simply contact your sales representative to set a date.