Remember how we had a little news item about Unitrat Heat Treatment in Brazil and their beginnings? Well now we can tell you the rest of the story which would appear to have a happy ending, this story is told by Marcio Magalhães, General Manger of the company. As part of a small business we can say that we are impressed by the determination this group has.

The end and the beginning; After Bodycote announced its decision to leave Brazil, all of the Plant Managers in Brazil had the difficult task of closing the company’s activities within 3 months, informing customers, employees and suppliers. We were told though that if there was a proposal to buy the business, this could be evaluated. In a personal effort led by Cassiano Horta we visited several competitors asking them if they would be interested in acquiring the business here in Brazil. At the end there was an agreement with a National group to acquire all the sites in Brazil and we worked with this group for a short period.

Acquisition of Unitrat; As you know, Unitrat is a commercial heat treater focused on Quenching, Normalization, Carburizing, carbonitriding and Austempering in Continuous Furnaces which was closed for two months in total bankruptcy. Due to outstanding debts we were able to acquire the company fairly quickly. We did not have much capital, in fact our money would only be sufficient for the first 3 months and with that we used loans from banks, friends and family and contradicting all expectations and predictions  we went to work. After 3 months we had 8 customers and the 3 largest were in default. With no money it was a very difficult year.  Despite these great challenges, we recertified the plant to ISO 9001, adapted the equipment to CQI-9, implemented VDA 6.3 actions and involved the team in daily production meetings using a methodology learned at Bodycote and the SQDP Board.

Results; Today Brazil is still experiencing a strong economic recession and the number of unemployed exceeds 13 million. Even with all the difficulties, after 1 year and 5 months we have gone from 8 to 45 customers. Billings have increase unbelievably 150% compared to 2016 (this year was already better than 2015 even with the plant closed for two months), and our customers are forcing us to increase our production capacity. All debts are being renegotiated with resources that the business itself is generating. In 2017 we will double the capacity of the Plant in Vargem Grande Paulista and there are plans to install more equipment. Only one thing has not changed, we still have no money, but today we can say that we have a healthy and expanding Comercial Heat Treatment.

热处理展-工业炉展-2018第十九届广州国际热处理、工业炉展览会-中国效果最好的热处理工业炉展--巨浪展览—The 19th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Heat Treatment, Industrial Furnace Exhibition