Global Insider 02/2010 - Seco-Warwick

FOR US AND ABOUT US
QUARTERLY • ISSUE 2 • 2010
• OUR WAY Y TO FIGHT WITH THE CRISIS
• CLOSER LOOK AT THE CAB TEAM
• OUR PURCHASING DEPAR
ARTMENTS

2/2010
CLOSER LOOK AT THE CAB TEAM
With great pleasure we would like to present an
interview with Piotr Skarbiñski, the CAB GPL.
Piotr Skarbiñski
Who is a GPL and what is his function?
The SECO/WARWICK Group
includes companies with a long-term
technological achievement in the USA, India
and Poland. Recently a new plant in China has
joined the Group. A number of products and
technologies successfully developed on local
(or rather continental) markets constitute the
Group's accomplishment. The point is to launch
these products in other companies of our
Group. It is essential to introduce broadly
defined technical management of individual
products, management which is involved with
all aspects of the Group's activity; in practice -
global management. That is why a GPL (Global
Product Leader) has been appointed for every
product.
Who is the GPL's partner in this task?
This is a very relevant question!
Long-term activity in our trade, beginning with
activity of our mother company SWCorp., and
later SW in Œwiebodzin, has proved that an
organization based on teams is the best
solution. These teams are focused on individual
products. They work on product marketing,
sales, design, quality control and assembly as
well as start-up and service. Shortly speaking,
teams are responsible for fulfilling requirements
and achieving customer satisfaction while
maintaining each projects'
profitability.
When it comes to
the product which I am in
charge of - Aluminum Brazing
Furnaces (CAB), in every
company of our Group there is
at least product specialists for
the team. We have created a
model where teams take
products to their respective
markets and the GPL supervises
the technical and marketing
strategy. This is what the should look like in the
future and how it already works in SWC and
SWSA. In cases where a product is first
introduced, the GPL should have a large
contribution to the training process and
participate in meetings with customers, ensure
support during offers and project creation and
at a later stage, supervise product
manufacturing.
So the GPL's task is to be a global 'master' of
the product?
Yes, the GPL's job description
contains functions like supervision of the
product global marketing, price strategy,
development and research, but also supervision
of offers' technical content, in particular,
guarantees of fulfilling technical conditions and
norms and selection of key materials. The GPL
has influence on the selection of an order's
executor within SW Group, taking into account
not only the costs, but also the technical
capacities of the individual Companies.
It sounds very ambitious, but what does this
look like in CAB practice?
In practice I have performed this
function for a few years now, but during the
SECO/WARWICK PRESIDENTS MEETING,
which took place in April of this year, the rules
and principles for cooperation within the Group
were established in detail, including principles
for the GPLs functions. The rules take into
account the unique characteristics of the
situation and experience between individual
companies. For example, SWC in the USA is the
company who had been the first to develop
CAB as early as the eighties. Chuck Field, who
is the CAB Team Leader in SWC, has the
greatest experience in this product within the
whole SW Group. I have been learning from
him and Jeff Boswell while introducing CAB to
SW in Poland 10 years ago. At present, a
limited market in the NAFTA region does not
require a full expansion of the CAB Team in
SWC, but Chuck along with Mike Jacobs, sales
SWC CAB Team (from the left: Dan Maloney, Mike Jacobs, Bruce Kramer, Chuck Field)
engineer and customers contact project
coordinator, are independent.
In turn, SWAllied is only starting the
development of CAB furnaces. The team that is
formed there does not yet have experience
in aluminum brazing equipment, however, they
have vast general experience in industrial
furnace production. Assistance for Nambiar
Sreenath, CAB Team Leader and P.V. Marydas,
sales engineer, consists of preparation of initial
projects and offers and joint visits at potential
customers. I hope that we will not have to wait
long for the rewards for this work as there are at
least two 'hot prospects' which should result
in orders shortly.
S.Nambiar
P.V. Marydas
A good learning opportunity and a
chance to gain some experience for SWAllied
is the relocation of CAB line from the USA to
India. The main order executor is SWC and
SWAllied will perform the role of a
subcontractor providing staff for assembly and
supporting start-up. I hope that after this task
our colleagues from India will be able to put
their first furnace into service with just a little
help on our side.
What is the situation in China, it is yet the
fastest growing market, also in CAB?
Key market has
received key
support. As
everybody
certainly knows
S³awek WoŸniak
who is the pillar
of our CAB team
in SWSA, is
S³awek WoŸniak
currently the Deputy Director
in SWR in Tianjin. CAB furnaces, next to
vacuum furnaces, are one of the two strategic
products. Thanks to S³awek's presence there we
do not need to waste time on training. The
company has been in operation since May this
year. One furnace has already been shipped to
the customer, the second one is in final
assembly stage, and the third one has been
contracted a few days before our conversation.
Congratulations S³awek!
2
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia

2/2010
At full blast – the Cab Team SWSA
What company operating only for a few
months is able to develop so fast and perform
sales?
SWR operates within the SW Group
and receives support from the CAB Team in
Œwiebodzin. Obviously, market saturation poses
the ultimate external condition. Activity in
China (and not only there) means making a
large quantity of offers. Their preparation must
be preceded by the initial specifications. This is
the role of our CAB Team in Œwiebodzin and
Shwan Zhang, SWR project engineer,
who has a vast experience in this area.
After receiving an order, the technical
specification frequently, the delivery of
key components and technical
supervision of production quality is
performed by Sebastian Brzemiñski
who has also been assigned
exclusively to Chinese projects.
At this point I would like to thank all
of my colleagues from the CAB Team
for their involvement in projects
executed in cooperation with China
and initial projects, calculations,
offers, etc. executed for the needs of
other teams of the SW Group. I think
that we are all aware how significantly this
contributes to the global development of the
product. I believe that the development of CAB
in new companies within the Group will allow
us to maintain our leadership position in new
markets at the moment when 'old' markets are
facing difficult time.
You are also responsible for technical
development of CAB product. What have you
managed to achieve lately in this field?
We have introduced many unique
projects, for example a furnace for brazing
industrial "plate and bar" type heat exchangers
in a vertical arrangement. We know that the
parameters of our furnace go beyond all other
equipment for brazing this unusual product.
Nevertheless, the most significant project of
R&D is the brazing center, which we
established in Œwiebodzin. It is based on three
chamber furnace with semi-continuous
operating mode. This project, for which we
received a European Union subsidy, has a few
objectives. First, it enables brazing of heat
exchangers prototypes for potential customers
who want to commence production line based
on the CAB technology. Second, it allows us to
establish or check the technological parameters
for the brazing process of unusual products,
which in turn facilitates accurate preparation of
initial projects. It is also a place where we can
launch and test construction innovations of our
furnaces.
What are your aims for the future?
Apart from the main GPL tasks, I
would like to continue working on costs. The
SW brand in the CAB trade is known all over
the world. We are perceived as a "top shelf"
supplier and we do our best to keep it this way.
However, in this more difficult time we have to
ensure maintaining competitiveness in relation
to other products from a 'lower shelf' offered by
competitors in the Far East.
Thank you for the interview.
NEW EQUIPMENT IN THE ALUMINUM PROCESS TEAM
In August this year finalized an
agreement to acquire of the IP (Intellectual
Property) from Swedish company - IUT
(Industriell Ugnsteknik Sweden AB) for two
types of equipment that complement the range
of products offered by the Aluminum Process
Team.
The first equipment type, that plays a
crucial role in the SECO/WARWICK
development strategy within aluminum
industry, is a complete technological line for
continuous billet homogenization (Picture 1).
Continuous homogenization furnaces are used
by manufacturers of aluminum alloy billets.
Aluminum billets are an intermediate
product in production of aluminum profiles.
The final product applications include such
popular and diverse industries such as: aviation,
transportation, including the automobile and
railway industry, construction and road
infrastructure and many others. Continuous
billet homogenization lines enjoy continuous
interest on the market to improve material
handling andprocess efficiency. Through the
acquisition of this incredibly advanced
equipment we now belong to an exclusive
group of only a few significant that have the
capability to design and manufacture
continuous lines.
The second group of equipment
acquired by SECO/WARWICK includes vertical
furnaces for saturation (hardening in water or
chemical substances) of elements made of
aluminum alloys (Picture 2), frequently called
drop-bottomsolution heat treat furnaces.
Application of this type of furnace is very
popular in the aviation industry, primarily due
to fast transfer speed of the hot load from the
heating chamber to the quench tank.
This type of equipment is also popular in the
automobile industry. The current market trend,
forcing manufacturers to continuously search
for savings in a car's weight has led automotive
manufacturers to continue to replace steel
components with aluminum.
This undertaking extends our oportunities and
reinforces the market position of SECO/
WARWICK as a global supplier of industrial
furnaces for a variety of many elements
in production chain in aluminum industry.
Jaros³aw Talerzak,
Aluminium Team Director
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia
3

2/2010
OUR WAY TO FIGHT WITH THE CRISIS
"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE IMPOSSIBLE AND THE
POSSIBLE LIES IN A MAN'S DETERMINATION"
TOMMY LASORDA
In times when hundreds of
companies were struggling with the economic
crisis, when recession kept thousands of
people awake at nights and threatened us with
newspapers headlines reporting about further
collective dismissals, bankruptcies of large and
well known companies, I guess all of us were
worried about the future. We were wondering
if we could get any orders, sign new contracts
on foreign markets, whose economies were
falling into stagnation one after another.
Contracts without which none of us could
count on further employment.
„Seco/Warwick Group” has signed a
significant contract with a Scandinavian
manufacturer of subassemblies used in nuclear
power engineering, which opens the door for
new orders within this sector” – said Leszek
Przybysz, the President of the company.
We felt relieved, still with a bit of
hesitancy and doubt.
In today’s edition of Global Insider,
looking from a time perspective, summarizing
one of the biggest projects in the history of our
company, we present opinions and memories
of the people who took part in it. We trace step
by step all of the stages of the project which
not only has brought us prestige and success
but also let us look more optimistic at reality
around us.
- Bartek – I asked the Sales Manager – you had
to work under enormous pressure negotiating
conditions of such a significant contract,
being fully aware that this might be the deal
which would secure jobs of people who you
spend time with, you know and who you
like…
- Obviously the pressure was huge. Luckily, we
worked as a team – Maciek Korecki and
Wies³aw Fujak participated in these
negotiations. Technical support was a
fundamental aspect.
-What was the customer’s reaction to our offer?
- Honestly, it was a hard nut to crack. We
were one of the three companies who were
offering the products. The customer was
completely unfamiliar with our company; he
did not know the country we came from.
Negotiations were also entered into by
competitor Centor from the USA, whose
equipment the customer already owned and
was satisfied with it, and ALD from Germany
who is a quality guarantor, and I have to admit
that competitors’ offer was
more attractive at the
beginning phase.
- Which factor has turned the
scale to our side?
- I think it was our joint
involvement in this project.
We did not let the customer
rest organizing meetings here
and at his side, presenting
interesting and well tried
solutions. We have proved our
potential, experience and
production capacities. We have gained his
complete trust and that was a breaking
moment. This resulted with an immediate
contract; after two days of technical
negotiations we were invited for a business
meeting which ended with the agreement
signing.
Wies³aw Fujak, the Chief Designer of the
Vacuum Team tells us about designs solutions.
- It was the first time that you had to deal with
such large equipment. Which solution never
used before were you losing sleep over, which
one were you concerned about the most and
which one are you proud of?
- The furnace size was definitely something we
dealt with for the first time. We had some
difficulties with heating element suspension,
load supports and thermal expansion of the
heating chambers. After numerous
consultations we came up with new solutions.
Now, after modifications, the load supports
work properly. We are still working on heating
element improvements. Magnetic coupling
turned out to be a bad choice and we
exchanged it with ferro fluid couplings. Which
solution am I proud of? Definitely with the
whole furnace.
I asked Jêdrzej Malinowski, the Automation
Engineer working on the project, about the
control system.
- As far as I know, a typical solutions, which
you never encountered before, were also
introduced in to the control system?
- Yes, this is true. For the first time we used
Siemens Fail – Safe system.
- Can you explain to us what Fail-Safe system
is all about?
- It is the system where all safety and security
functions are programmed within the PLC
system, rather than hard-wired as is typically
found in most industrial furnaces.
The Siemens has patented the system and
gained many certifications, TUV for example,
which guarantees its dependability. Also for
the first time on such a large scale we used a
WIN CC visualization system, also by Siemens.
What caused the most trouble?
- Certainly the size. The whole system can be
divided into a few smaller sub-systems
(furnace, loader, cooling water circuit). All of
the components have to work in harmony, and
that is why for the first time we decided to use
a diffuse system based on ProfiNET protocol
and Ethernet technology.
- Can you tell us about this in a simpler way?
- The use of the centralized system would
mean a multitude of signals sent from the
whole equipment to the central unit. With this
solution, there are a few so called ‘islands’ –
signals from all the ‘islands’ go to the central
unit by means of one Ethernet cable.
- We created a production section where we
manufacture equipment made entirely of high
quality steel, so called „white section” – says
Production Preparation Manager, Rafa³ Komin.
4
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia

FINANSE 2/2010
– We increased our manufacturing capacity.
High quality steel is very sensitive to contact
with plain, so called black steel. The smallest
amount of soil can cause stainless steel
corrossion, which the shell of this furnace is
made of. The most essential factor during
production process of this type is an
impeccable cleanliness, which ensures proper
equipment performance.
-What do you remember best? Co
-Such large equipment is composed of a great
number of small details. There were over two
hundred load supports and a multitude of
other fine elements, such as screws, washers,
sheet metal which we counted in the
thousands. They all had to go through human
hands.
Some of the subassemblies were made by
external companies. I asked Arkadiusz
Tyliszczak, who works in sub-contracting,
about the details of this project.
- Our sub-contractors were fully aware that this
contract is very import ant for us. We worked
together for many years so when, for example,
it turned out that load supports had to be
modified, everybody stay on alert. Employees
of Œlusarek from Miêdrzecz, Matz or Montmet
were ‘pulled’ out of their beds. We worked
together at night. In order to meet our delivery
deadlines, their cooperation was
indispensable.
- Did situation of this kind happen a lot?
- A few times. The second occurrence that I
remember very clearly was an urgent
modification of blowers. That time it was
Elterma employees who did not sleep at night.
But we made it.
-What in this project was new to you? I asked
Jacek Trzpil responsible for the equipment
assembly.
-Size, of course, and solutions like ferro fluid
couplings. It was new to all of us, but the
majority of our employees have vast
experience which they have now enriched.
-What turned out to be a challenge?
-Test samples delivered by the customer – they
were pipes thirty meters long. The real
challenge was to transport them to the
workshop, honestly, for a moment I thought of
making a hole in the wall, but it turned out that
it was easier than we thought at the beginning.
The more serious logistic difficulty was to
transport the pipes to the workshop at £u¿ycka
street at a later stage. We did that at night
because they were oversized.
-What are you proud of?
- The customer is really demanding, as the
norms that he needs fulfill are very strict. I am
proud of the fact that we proved to be able to
satisfy even the biggest requirements.
I asked Bronis³aw KuŸmiak, Production
Director, to summarize the production stage.
- People make the company. They carry out
company’s tasks, often working with great
commitment and determination. For me it is a
pleasure to work with people who are
competent, disciplined and persistent. At this
point I would like to thank all of my
subordinates for the excellent work they have
done.
The time has come for the final test – furnace
commissioning at the customer’s side.
- What did it look like? I asked Wojciech
Giera, who on behalf of service team was
responsible for this job.
- It was not easy. There is no such equipment,
so complex in every aspect that can be started
up just like that – with one switch and that
would work properly from beginning to end
according to expectations and would not play
tricks. It was a valuable lesson to all of us.
Although I think that more exhausting was
furnace testing in S/W. We did shift work,
working Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
under the pressure –the day of final
acceptance tests was coming. Krzysiek
WoŸniak and I worked 44 night shifts.
- Night Shifts in S/W and later a business trip
from April till the end of July. Didn’t your wife
want to evict you from home?
- Maybe she did. But she really did not have a
chance to do that. How can you evict
someone who is never at home? I kind of
evicted myself. And of course I am only joking
here. My wife deserves great compliments and
respect as well as the wives of others ‘longterm’
business travelers. I think our wives
understood the gravity of the situation in our
company. Those were though moments, as it is
not that easy to reconcile your private life with
such a working mode. Some of us know this
well.
- What is the nicest thing you remember about
the whole project?
- Working with Marek Grabowski, a great
colleague from our team, who on behalf of
service was the precursor of dealings with this
furnace. And during the commissioning –gocarts
trip. One day the customer made a nice
surprise for us and took us to a carting track.
That was a great race. Some felt such a will to
fight and to win that they successfully pushed
others aside. I hope that Zbyszek and Jêdrzej
do not bear a grudge against me anymore. We
can always organize a revenge race at
commissioning of further equipment. It really
helped us to relax and for a moment forget
about all the hardship and problems.
Thank you to all who contributed to this
article.
Do you know that:
- The whole equipment has 66,055m
(216.7feet) and is 62 times longer that the
smallest furnace manufactured in S/WSA.
- The weight of sheet metal used for the
production equals 37 545kg (82 773lb) and
the weight of the furnace itself equals 124 tons
(273 374lb) – this is the weight of two medium
sized whales or 20 mature African elephants.
- Total length of all the cables used in the
Project equals 31,5km (19.57miles). We would
be able to encircle Œwiebodzin with them
(10km 2 / 2471 acre). We are just not sure how
many times.
- If one person wanted to manufacture such
equipment, assuming that he would work 8
hours per day five days a week, it would take
him 23 years.
- Cooling system can hold 33000 liters
(1165cf) of water, which gives us exactly
132000 glasses. Isn’t it wonderful that we don’t
have to pour the water with glasses.
El¿bieta Samsel-Czerniawska
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia
5

2/2010
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
WIn an industry that
demands design precision
for an ever-changing
market, Retech satisfies the
requirement for vacuum
metallurgical equipment and
processes that are both
proven and state-of-the-art. Since 1963, Retech
has supplied equipment to Europe, Asia and
North America, with over half of our products
built to service the international market in
aerospace, energy, medical, nuclear, and
powder metallurgical markets. A firm
knowledge of our customers' needs, as well as
an understanding of the importance of
producing cost-effective technologies, is the
foundation upon which Retech is built.
The company was originally formed in
1963 under the name of Schlienger
Engineering, Inc. by Max Schlienger. In 1968,
the company received its first patent for its
Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR) furnace design.
The business was sold to Corning Glass in
1973 and then reacquired by Schlienger in
1975. At which time, it was moved to
Mendocino County, CA, and renamed Retech,
Inc. In 1995, the business was sold to
Lockheed and became the Retech division of
Lockheed Environmental Systems and
Technologies Company. In December 1998,
Retech Services, Inc. was formedas a wholly
owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin
Corporation.
The company became Retech Systems LLC
in January 2001 after a management buyout by
Jim Goltz and Peter Ottmer. In May 2007,
SECO/WARWICK Group and Retech Systems
LLC entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement
to combine resources and expertise to engineer,
manufacture, sell and service Retech's vacuum
processing equipment worldwide. The joint
venture was a very logical step as many of
SECO/WARWICK's customers are also Retech
customers. Retech's equipment is seen in the
melting, casting, and refining processes and S/
W's in the heat treating and brazing operations.
Thus, the complementary equipment that
has been brought together in this alliance has
broadened Retech and SECO/WARWICK's
combined portfolio of product offerings.
SECO/WARWICK has manufacturing
facilities in Pennsylvania, USA and Poland that
are complementary to Retech's USA facilities in
California and New Jersey. Retech has recently
established an office facility in New Jersey
(USA) as the center of excellence for the Retech
Vacuum Arc Remelt product group and to
support joint efforts with the SECO/WARWICK
S.A. Vacuum Team. In 2010 another new
venture was formed in China. SECO/WARWICK
Retech Thermal Equipment Manufacturing
Tianjin Co., Ltd (SWR) in Tianjin China.
With focused support from Retech and
SWSA, SWR will launch aluminum
brazing, vacuum, thermal, and Retech
technologies to the Chinese market in the
very near future.
With approximately 12550m2 of
engineering, manufacturing, R&D and
assembly/test facility, Retech demonstrates
a high level of comprehensive production
capabilities. Our design flexibility allows us
to create custom equipment for any
processes which require close control of
critical melting parameters. Our team of
engineering, manufacturing and research
specialists work with each customer to tailor
relevant, reliable, cost-effective solutions for
the production of specialty metals.
Retech is nestled in the northern part of the
wine country in Ukiah, California, two hours
north of San Francisco. Northern California is
home to Mendocino County, which is
comprised of beautiful natural landscapes
including lakes, rivers, mountains, redwood
groves, rugged coastline and beaches that are
enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.
Besides being the world's leading supplier of
Cold Hearth Melting Furnaces, Retech is also
the most integrated manufacturer of a broad
range of vacuum and controlled-atmosphere
furnaces. Advanced process technologies
offered by Retech for melting, refining and
casting titanium, titanium alloys, and other
reactive and refractory metals include: electron
beam cold hearth melting, electron beam direct
melting, electron beam welding, plasma cold
hearth melting, consumable casting, cold wall
induction, vacuum arc remelt, plasma
consolidation, plasma welding, Rototrode®
(non consumable casting), powder systems,
laboratory systems and custom engineered
systems.
Given the complementary technologies and
combined strengths of Retech and SECO/
WARWICK, our strategic alliance has prepared
us to better succeed in an ever-changing and
fast-growing global market.
Jim Goltz,
President, Retech Systems LLC
6
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia

2/2010
SWR - WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS
It is a very exciting time at SWR. On August
8, 2010, we moved into the brand new facility.
It took two small trucks to move the "fixed asset"
of SWR from the temporary office in the High
Tech building on south center of Tianjin into
the 4800m 2 office and fabrication facility
located in the Xeda Development Zone. We
celebrated the last day of being in the
temporary office, and the first day at the new
location with fireworks, passing red envelopes
and unpacking the most essential items for
operation.
Tianjin is a fast growing near Beijing city
with aircraft, aerospace, helicopter and
automobile part base manufacturing. The
Airbus assembly and biggest helicopter
manufacturer are both located in Tianjin.
Boeing and Airbus also have graphite and
composite material that is manufactured in
Tianjin. Tianjin is one of 5 independent city
with 11 million inhabitants.
The brand new 4200m 2 facility has two tenton
cranes and a pit that is 4 by 6 by 6 deep
meters ( 12x18x18 ft), ready for Retech
furnaces. Everything we are doing counts as
the first time for us. The first visitors of the new
facility are from Tianjin Sanden, our neighbor
that has two furnaces from SWC and is currently
looking into purchasing another one. The first
shipment from the new facility is scheduled for
late August. We are expecting the first order to
be from US base company with present in
China.
Three engineers: Shawn, Eric and Jennifer,
are busy handling four projects with a total
value of 11 million RMB. Legend handles the
administrative tasks and Linda, accounting.
Two production workers with the help of our
subcontract workers are fabricating the
furnaces. Sebastian, Nancy, Anna, Slawek and
I handle every assigned and unassigned task in
our job descriptions just to make sure we are
making progress. The numbers of challenges
are so numerous that it is difficult to place them
all in one place - all aspects of organizing a
new company for the first time are challenging,
but with time and persistence the challenges are
all solved in one way or another. From an
operational point of view the most challenging
is to choose the reliable vendors. Vendors that
you can count on with good quality, delivery
and support are difficult to find and we may
have many trial and error attempts. A majority
of components are sourced in China. All
western suppliers have some sort of presence in
China.
Air Product is located in the same
development zone, so supply of industrial gases
should not be a problem. We have excellent
vessel contractors with Chinese, European
and ASME certifications. Regarding the fitting
for gas pipes connection we have mix
experience. We use many local fittings, but
for a more critical application, we still are
using Swagelok from the USA. For the
cooling water system and the buffer tank we
have a good source. The reliability of the
power supply varies within locations. In
Xeda, we have stable electric, water and gas
supply.
All I hear about in the US media are
China's lack of environmental laws but this will
not apply to a 100% foreign owned operation.
What is accepted practice for the local
manufacturers is not acceptable for foreign
owned operations. Before we start production,
the facility needs to receive approval from the
Environmental Agency. To receive approval
we will need to submit a detailed document
with our production sequence, number of
production equipment and all utilities, gases
and consumables we will be using. For
example, we need to declare how much paint
and what type we will be using to paint our
furnaces. This needs to be an accurate
assessment, so they will not stop our production
within the next 6 months. The China
Environmental Protection Agency will inspect
our facility within next 6 months after we start
production and will compare our production
system and consumables with what we initially
declared in the documents. It was an incredible
journey from December 8th, when the decision
was made, to August 8th, when we first started
operation in the SWR facility. The experience
we have gained in the process is invaluable.
Janusz Kowalewski,
General Manager, SWR
SECO/WARWICK ALLIED OPENS NEW MANUFACTURING FACILITY
The new SECO WARWICK ISSUE Allied1, 2010 hydrogen bell annealing, roller hearth,
As an integral member of the SECO/
manufacturing facility is made up of two
galvanizing, continuous hardening &
WARWICK Group, SECO WARWICK Allied
ISSUE 1, 2010
buildings with over 4,000 square meters of tempering, reheating, bright annealing, bogie shares engineering expertise and provides local
manufacturing space.
Founded in 1971, SECO WARWICK Allied
has over 180 employees and specializes in
hearth, pit pot, rotary and special application
furnace systems along with hot air generators,
fired process heaters and incinerators.
manufacturing services for SECO/WARWICK
Group equipment in India.
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia
7

2/2010
FIRST HALF YEAR - RESULTS. HIGH SPIRITS PREVAIL DESPITE LOSS.
SECO/WARWICK Group ended the first halfyear
with revenues of PLN 65 million (approx.
$22,706,800 USD) and net loss of PLN 3,8
million (approx. $1,327,500 USD). Despite the
loss, it is worth emphasizing, that there has
been a remarkable sales increase (income in the
second quarter was 77% higher than in the
second quarter of 2009), profitability
improvement (at that time the net profit was
USD 191 thousand, compared to losses in the
same quarter of last year) and the recordbreaking
portfolio of orders. The peak backlog
level, which came to USD 49 million in the end
of June, gives us a solid base for income in the
second half of the 2010 and at the beginning of
2011.
The overall result of the Group is that the
SECO/WARWICK S.A. sales are at the level of
USD 12,21 million. SWSA ended the first halfyear
with slight revenue and has secured an
order portfolio worth USD 21,57 million (at the
end of 2009 order portfolio was worth USD 7
million). SECO/WARWICK Allied India and
Retech Systems LLC managed quite well during
tough market conditions, ending the half-year
with minimal income. These companies have
built an impressive order portfolio: Seco/
Warwick Allied India - USD 24,64 million at the
end of June and Retech Systems - USD 29,39
million at the end of July.
Elterma has recorded an increase of sales in
the midyear of 2010. In the first half-year, the
company has received orders for the total value
of USD 16,07 million and generated revenue of
USD 7,21 million, compared to 5,6 million last
year. Although the execution of the orders has
caused gradual improvement in the results, at
the end of June/ Elterma recorded a net loss of
over USD 0,7 million.
SECO/WARWICK Corp. closed the first halfyear
of 2010 with net loss of USD 1,07 million,
despite a sales increase to the value of USD 5,6
million in June of this year, compared to USD
4,6 million last year. In the first-half of 2010, the
company has received orders for the total value
of USD 11,07 million and the backlog at the
end of June was USD 9,1 million.
We present the results of SECO/WARWICK
Group for the second quarter of 2010 with
satisfaction, as they reflect a progressive
improvement of the Group's economic situation
and market growth. The dynamic increase in
the order portfolio since the end of 2009
becomes visible in terms of income, which has
decidedly improved in the past quarter. As we
promised to the exchange investors, the Group
has also regained its profitability. Despite
difficult and long-lasting slowdown of the
world's economy, the Group systematically
executed the development strategy, investments
and dynamic business activities. Our
consistency and determination has started to
deliver positive effects, and this will be even
more evident at the end of 2010.
Presented backlog includes Seco/Warwick S.A., Elterma, Seco/Warwick
Corporation (USA) and SW Retech
Transformation of the Group's sales structure within
2008-2010, according to industries.
JUST IN
Seco Warwick Allied Pvt. Ltd.,
India has recently received a 7.5
million USD order from Hindalco
for supply of Seven Vertical Soaking
Pit furnaces for heating Aluminium
Slabs/Ingots for their Can body
stock manufacturing project at
Hirakud, Sambalpur - Orissa plant.
The furnaces are electrically heated
with maximum charge temperature
of 600 deg C. The furnaces will be
designed for holding 8 nos. ingots
per furnace, maximum furnace
holding capacity of 128 MT.
Hindalco Industries Limited is the metals
flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group,
the world's largest aluminium rolling
company and one of the biggest producers of
primary aluminium in Asia.
8
Poland SECO/WA • USA • RWICK China • POLSKA India • Russia

2/2010
HIGH BACKLOG MAINTAINED THANKS TO NEW CONTRACTS
From the end of August until the end of
September, the SECO/WARWICK Group has
signed contracts for a total value of over PLN 37
million (approx. $13,214,000 USD). The most
significant contracts include: a contract signed
by Elterma for delivery of four high-volume
stations for fire resistance testing for Gildia S.A.,
worth USD 4.65 million and the contract signed
by SECO/WARWICK S.A. Retech Team for
delivery of two vacuum arc furnaces to China,
worth USD 2,6 million.
The total value of contracts signed by SECO/
WARWICK S.A. within the above mentioned
period amounts to USD 7,32 million. Elterma
has signed contracts worth USD 4,65 million
and SECO/WARWICK Corporation - USD 1,25
million. These contracts will be executed in
2011.
Below we present description of the
remaining contracts we have signed:
The Aluminum Team has signed further
contracts with Romanian companies operating
within aviation industry, for the total value of
USD 1,27 million. The first contract is for
modernization of four coil annealing furnaces
for Vimetco Alro company. The second contract
is for delivery of a travelling log
homogenization furnace for UAC (Universal
Alloy Corporation).
CAB Team has received an order for a
continuous line for automotive heat exchangers
brazing. The rated capacity is 160 heat
exchangers per hour. The customer is one of the
leading automotive components manufacturers
and the investment is dedicated
to the Brazilian market. The
contract is worth around USD
2,04 million.
In September 2010, the
Vacuum Team has received two
orders for vacuum furnaces for a
total value of USD 1,43 million.
The first order was from a
domestic customer from the
Institute of Aviation - the furnace
ordered will be used for research
and development and will be
dedicated to complex brazing
processes, primarily for jet
engine subassemblies. The
second customer is a Hungarian
Flame Spray company, which
specializes in production of gas
turbine's vanes used in power
generators. It is the third furnace
ordered by this company.
"The end of the third quarter is
another period when we managed
to secure many good contracts. We
are particularly pleased with the
SECO/WARWICK S.A. contract for
the continuous line for automotive
heat exchangers soldering for one
of the leading automotive
components manufacturers, as it is
a good indication of the expected
return of investments within the
automobile market." - said Leszek
Przybysz, President, SECO/WARWICK S.A.
Management Board.
Travelling log homogenization furnace
Vacuum brazing furnace
THE INDIAN NATIONAL RUPEE (INR) IS THE OFFICIAL CURRENCY OF INDIA
On 05th March 2009, the Indian
government announced a contest to create a
symbol for the Rupee. During the 2010 Union
Budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
mentioned that the proposed symbol would
reflect and capture the Indian ethos and culture.
Five symbols had been short listed, and the
Cabinet finally selected the definitive symbol on
15th July 2010.
The design of the new symbol is by Udaya
Kumar, a student of the Industrial Design Centre
(IDC) at the Indian Institute of Technology
Bombay (IITB).
The symbol is a perfect blend of the
Indian Devanagari script '
(which
represents Rupaiah) and the Roman script
capital 'R' without the stem, to appeal to both
Indian as well as International audiences. The
parallel lines at the top (with white space
between them) make an allusion to the tricolor
Indian flag, with two lines at the top and white
space in-between, and also depict an equality
sign which symbolizes the nation's desire to
reduce economic disparity.
The Indian government will try to adopt the
symbol within six months in the country, and
globally within 18 to 24 months. Prior to this,
the most commonly-used symbols for the rupee
have been Rs., Re. or
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia
9

2/2010
IT HAS BEEN 60 YEARS!
As is traditional in Elterma, the company
picnic took place this year. This time, however,
it was much more festive. On June 12,
employees celebrated the 60th anniversary of
the company. One would want to say '60 years
have passed and it seems like it was only a
day…'
It all began in 1950. Back then nobody
expected that the company would outlast that
long. Only a handful of local residents believed
in the company's growth. As we can see now,
the faith can work miracles. Despite the fact that
during these 60 years technological possibilities
and customers' needs have been changing,
ELTERMA has always kept pace with all the
changes, adjusting production quality to the
demands of the global market. It would not
have been possible without the staff and their
involvement in the company's development
and acquisition of new markets. Thanks to our
employees we are now among Europe's leading
manufacturers of controlled atmospheres heat
treatment equipment.
It is hard to believe that some of our
employees have worked here for over 40 years!
During the official part of the anniversary
celebrations, employees who have worked here
the longest were honored. Representatives of
local authorities, member of the
Seco/Warwick S.A Board of Directors - Witold
Klinowski, and a former Elterma's director of
1982-1990 Tadeusz Jarmal joined us on this
special occasion. In accordance to organizers'
promise, there was a lot of fun for the children
as well as for the adults, for example,
performances of a music and acrobatic group
from our local high school. The star of the
picnic was the ¯uki band, who played rock
music from the 60's and the 70's. Traditionally,
our colleagues played a volleyball game. At 8
p.m. another music band showed on the stage.
Shortly after sun set, the evening sky was lighted
up with a fireworks show. We partied till the
break of dawn.
We will meet again next year!
SWC PROFILE: MEET JOANNE PEARL
Every SWC
employee
knows that if
you need an
answer to an
accounting
issue, you can
count on Joanne
to get the
answer. Jo has
expanded her
role in the
accounting
department from
Accounts Payable to include many other
functions. She has assumed the responsibilities
8
Poland SECO/WA • USA • RWICK China • POLSKA India • Russia
previously held by two accounting staff
members, streamlining processes and
performing these functions with both efficiency
and trademark good humor. Her boss Art Russo
says, "needless to say, this added pressure [of
assuming extra responsibility] has not changed
the way we know Joanne. She still makes every
effort to assist you, and generally with a smile
on her face."
Co-worker Stacey Bieneo writes about Jo: "Her
stellar personality and performance is unique.
Her personality shines and she is always
laughing. She is very helpful and will assist her
department at any given time. She is excellent
in the Accounting field."
So, we asked Jo….
What do you like the best about working for
SWC?
The People. Not only the people in my
department, but company-wide
What do you like the least?
Year-end financial audit!
What would people be surprised to know
about you?
This past spring, my husband and I started
raising baby chickens!
Beth Ryan

2/2010
THEY ARE NOT MEMBERS OF ANY SUPERVISORY BOARDS
Nie They are not members of any
Supervisory Boards, they do not occupy leading
positions in organizational structures. They
certainly do not posses such technical
knowledge as designers and do not know
markets and customers as good as sales people
do. Yet, it is their involvement, negotiation skills
and will to fight that substantially influence
prices of equipment we offer on worlds markets,
which is directly related to our competitiveness
and financial results of the organization.
Purchasing departments - this is who we
have in mind here - are teams in our companies
composed of just a few people, whose main
task is to purchase materials at sufficiently low
prices within short periods of time. It might
seem like a piece of cake, however, it is a
never-ending maze, where new possibilities,
new purchasing markets, new conditions, new
suppliers as well as new problems, tasks and
challenges, etc. appear on every path.
We often do not realize that purchasing
departments within individual companies of the
Seco/Warwick Group manage tens of million
zlotys per year.
If we added up the value of purchased
materials and cooperation services in the whole
Seco/Warwick Group in 2009, which for many
companies was not the year of optimal sale and
revenue, we would up with a huge amount of
56 million USD. This means that last year our
purchasing departments managed a portfolio
worth 56 million.
In view of such enormous amounts of
money, great opportunities have appeared for
optimizing materials expenditures in purchasing
departments. For many years of our activity
SECO/WARWICK GROUP PURCHASING DEPARTMENTS
SWSA
Currently, there are 5 people working in the
SECO/WARWICK S.A. purchasing department.
employees of these departments have
learned how to buy at low prices, how
to negotiate successfully and how to
properly organize logistic service. For
many years our purchasing departments
operated separately and independently.
The first integration of SW SA and
Elterma purchasing departments took
place only a year ago. From a time
perspective and many years of
experience we can say today that the
work put into joint activities within
purchasing and logistic of Elterma and
SW SA have brought significant savings.
Based on this experience and the
mandate to improve our global procurement
efficiency, the Global Purchasing Team was
established a few months ago. The team's
activity includes all purchasing departments of
the Seco/Warwick Group and the members are:
Kathleen Goss from Retech Systems LLC
Steve Balombini from SWC
Anna WoŸniak from SWR
Janusz Strzelecki from Elterma
Anna Wróblewska fromSW SA
S³awomir Wachowski from SW SA
Katarzyna Kowalska from SW SA
The main GPT tasks include cuting prices of
materials in the whole Group, purchase
co-ordination, acquisition of new suppliers
and making the most of purchasing potential in
the whole Seco/Warwick Group.
The first meeting of planned GPT meetings
series took place in June 2010 and
representatives of all purchasing departments
Economic crisis from the last year caused
employment decrease in our department, but
we still have a lot of work. During the last 3
years, we have placed 11700 orders with our
suppliers. As it lies in a woman's nature, we
spent substantial financial resources, but not
without tough negotiations. With the purchase
level more than 11 million USD per year, we
are saving around 1,7% of all expenditures.
Annually, we participate in around 100
business meetings with our most important
suppliers, during which we negotiate business
conditions and make every effort to secure
adequate prices for materials used in the
production of our furnaces. We take advantage
of technological trainings offered by
manufacturers and our designers as it is the best
and the cheapest way to acquire more technical
were present. The purpose of the meeting, apart
from establishing friendly relations, was to set
strategy and operation plan for the next few
months. Main points include:
1. Savings of 1,5 million USD by the end of
2011
2. Expansion of co-operation on local suppliers
markets
3. Identification of Chinese market in terms of
new, high quality and cheap materials
4. Serial meetings, conference calls during
which experiences and information will be
exchanged, assignments will be reported and
the operation plan will be updated and
extended.
Due to varied locations of our companies,
cultural differences, dissimilarities resulting from
diversity of local suppliers markets, these
assignments will not be easy, nevertheless,
taking into account the benefits we can
achieve, they are worth our joint effort.
Katarzyna Kowalska,
Organization & HR Director, SWSA
knowledge.
Our small team is one of the fastest-growing
in the company: during the last 4 years 3 babies
were born in our families: Miko³aj, Marcel and
Micha³ (all of them are boys - the balance must
be maintained).
This year we plan to put an increased
emphasis on the information exchange and
cooperation with the other purchasing
departments within the SECO/WARWICK group.
The potential here is huge. Until now we
mainly worked with our closest neighbor -
Elterma, but we will extend our contacts with
our US based companies and those operating in
the Asian markets. We have high hopes,
especially in terms of cooperation with our new
venture in China - SWR company.
Poland • USA • China • India • Russia
9

LET'S GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
SECO/WARWICK GROUP PURCHASING DEPARTMENTS
The purchasing department in ELTERMA
consists of 7 people and noone complains for
the lack of assignments. Janusz Strzelecki is the
manager from August 2009. Mariusz Sroczyñski
is the deputy manager. He is working in the
company since 2004 and is responsible for the
purchase of materials, electric and pneumatic
subassemblies, sensors, bearings, etc.
Katarzyna Stankiewicz is one of the two ladies
in our team. From 2009 she is specializ in
purchasing of castings, chemical materials,
fittings, hydraulics, etc. Andrzej Figiel is our
most experienced employee. He working in
Elterma from1988 and takes care of the
metallurgical and welding materials, pipelines
fittings, etc. £ukasz Jakiel - he is with us from
2009 and his tasks include insulating materials,
chain wheels, probes, gases, etc.
Teresa Góral, who is with the company since
1987, is responsible for the main warehouse.
Krzysztof Góral, is in charge of the insulating
materials warehouse. He is employed since
2005. In terms of the number of projects, this
year is definitely better than 2009. Since
January until the end of July 2010 the value of
orders came to 4.402.000,00 USD.
The core Purchasing Group at SECO/
WARWICK Corp consists of two Buyers and a
Manager. Senior Buyer Kandy Davis procures
mostly electrical/electronic components,
insulation materials, valves and regulators,
office supplies and major buyout subsystems
like ovens. She has been with the company for
quite a few years and has handled a number of
functions including that of internal auditor for
ISO 9000. She is an aerobics instructor, officer
in a local Rails-to-Trails communities
organization and just hitting her stride as a
proud grandparent! Senior Buyer Jim Sheriff
handles all steel/alloy, mechanical, outside
machining and fabrication subcontracting
purchasing. Jim has been very involved in local
youth sports organizations and enjoys his time
"out in nature" wither hunting, hiking or floating
down a river. Jim is also experiencing the joys
of being a grandparent to several very active
little people. The manager of the group is Steve
Balombini who has held several positions in the
company during his tenure. In addition to
being available to the buyers for problem
resolution and guidance, Steve also buys all
stock materials, maintenance and energy needs.
Steve is not yet in the grandparent mode; but is
kept busy maintaining a small "gentleman's
farm" raising pygmy goats and plenty of fresh
vegetables. In addition to the primary project
purchasing done by this group, Karen Malone,
Senior Administrative Coordinator handles a
majority of Field Service purchases to support
our technicians on the jobsite, including
booking travel arrangements. There are also
two individuals in our Renewal Parts Team that
handle most of the purchasing in response to
customer spare parts requirements. Both John
Hughes and Robert Ryan are tasked with
satisfying customer requests from initial phone
call to assuring successful completion of the
order. All individuals, both directly and
indirectly involved in the procurement function,
are familiar with all the commodities we need
for our products and can pitch in to help if there
is an overload in any one area...communication
and commitment are the keys to a successful
outcome.
The Procurement Group at RETECH SYSTEMS
LLC is comprised of two Buyers and a Manager.
Although the Retech Team tries to balance the
daily work load, which means dividing the
work assignments by buyer, not commodity, our
Buyers do tend to specialize in certain areas.
Senior Buyer, Susan McLeod
procures raw materials, most Sub
Contract work, as well as cross over
into electrical and hardware. Sue
has been with Retech about 2-1/2
years and lends a hand in accounting
and operations configuration
management when they need help.
A proud grandmother of five, Sue is
lucky enough to have all her
grandchildren living nearby.
Buyer Bee Roberts has over 17 years
experience with Retech and brings
her knowledge of the business and
operations to the group. Her primary
assignment is electrical, hardware and purchase
requisitions. Bee has seven grandchildren and,
as she puts it, 2-1/2 great grandchildren. In
addition to her years of service with Retech, Bee
enjoys rodeo events, especially watching her
husband participate in team roping.
Kathleen Goss is the Procurement Manager.
A Retech Associate for nearly 3 years, she
brings outsource metal and machine
fabrication, as well as contract management
experience to the Team. Kathleen is the
grandmother of 4 teen-aged boys - so there's
obviously a lot of outdoor activity involved in
her life. Her after business life includes
owning and managing a small sheep farm in
Northern California.
The Retech Procurement
Team is proud of their
commitment and discipline
to their orders - claiming a
year-long average of
98.5% supplier on-time
delivery. Due to the
implementation of a strong
database system in 2008,
the procurement team has
reduced their staffing level
from 6 to the total 3 current
buyers.
All remarks and suggestions are very welcome, please send themto a.czerniawska@secowarwick.com.pl