Czech commercial heat treatment specialist CZECHmetal s.r.o. has invested in advanced vacuum furnace technology from SECO/WARWICK, selecting a custom-built horizontal, two-chamber CaseMaster Evolution vacuum furnace equipped with an oil quenching system and vacuum carburizing capabilities.
The new system will be installed at CZECHmetal’s production facility in Olomouc, Czech Republic, replacing an older furnace and significantly increasing the company’s heat treatment capacity. The investment is expected to improve production efficiency, process cleanliness, and repeatability while enabling the company to meet growing customer demand for advanced heat treatment services.
The supplied system is a two-chamber CaseMaster Evolution-D (CMe-D) vacuum furnace featuring SECO/WARWICK’s FineCarb vacuum carburizing technology and low-pressure carbonitriding (LPCN). The furnace includes a specially designed heating chamber measuring 700 × 1200 × 700 mm, enabling installation within the existing production space without requiring modifications to the plant’s infrastructure.
The furnace design incorporates a heating chamber and a charge loading and unloading vestibule with an integrated oil quench tank. The system offers dual cooling capabilities, allowing components to be cooled either dynamically in inert gas above the oil surface or directly immersed in quench oil, ensuring greater process flexibility and efficiency.
“The Czech Republic is a very important market for vacuum technologies. We see increasing demand for modern carburizing and hardening processes, particularly in the machinery, automotive and tooling sectors,” said Maciej Korecki, Vice President of the Vacuum Segment at SECO/WARWICK. “We are pleased that CZECHmetal is joining the group of our partners in the region.”
The furnace is equipped with advanced process technologies designed to deliver precise control over steel surface properties and achieve high-quality carburized layers. Its heating system enables rapid and uniform heating of loads, even at lower temperatures, significantly reducing cycle times. Additionally, a high-performance oil circulation system ensures excellent load penetration and uniform quenching.
“This solution combines the proven design of our CaseMaster Evolution furnaces with customization for customer needs,” said Łukasz Chwiałkowski, Sales Manager at SECO/WARWICK. “The non-standard chamber made it possible to fit the system into the existing production space perfectly while maintaining all the advantages of our technology – process stability, high efficiency and operational reliability.”
For CZECHmetal, the investment represents a strategic step toward enhancing operational efficiency, reducing order lead times, and delivering greater consistency in heat treatment processes.
“From the very beginning, our development has been based on investing in technologies that enable us to offer increasingly advanced heat treatment processes,” said Adam Petrecký of CZECHmetal s.r.o. “The new vacuum furnace will allow us to increase efficiency and introduce even more precise carburizing technologies. Excellent cooperation and a real response to our needs best summarise this project.”
The order also highlights the growing adoption of premium vacuum technologies among commercial heat treaters across Central Europe, particularly in the machinery, automotive, and tooling industries, where advanced heat treatment capabilities are increasingly becoming a key competitive differentiator.
