Applied Process Inc. was incorporated in 1984 as a division of Atmosphere Group Inc. Its mission, was to commercialize the Austempering of larger components, especially castings and forgings. The company grew rapidly and in 1996 moved to its current location in Livonia, Michigan. In 1994 Applied Process became a "stand alone" company with John Keough as President and CEO. Applied Process added a technical licensee in Australia; ADI Engineering. As demand grew, particularly for Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI), a second facility was added in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. That company, AP Westshore Inc. started operation in 1995. A British licensee, ADI Treatments was added in 1996. As North American ADI applications topped 50,000 tons per year it became apparent that a third facility would be required. These are the origins of AP Southridge Inc.

After breaking ground in August of 1998, AP Southridge opened for business in January of 1999. The latest, in the Applied Process family of companies, AP Southridge is a 38,000 square foot facility incorporating the latest in Austempering technologies. Designed to address the growing Austempering needs of customers in the Midwest, Southeast and mid-South, the plant is located at the intersection of Interstate 65 and the Kentucky Parkways. The plant currently operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with two, independent Austempering lines. The facility’s maximum design capacity is five lines, (or 50 tons of Austemper processing per day).

AP Southridge is designed to be a fully automated, environmentally friendly facility. It employs updated versions of the batch Austempering systems that have been developed and enhanced at AP facilities in Wisconsin and Michigan. These systems are more labor, and energy efficient than conventional heat treatment systems. Additionally, the new facility requires NO waste water permit: a significant development for the heat treat industry. The process is controlled and monitored by an edge-of-the-art computer process control system that is bar code driven, user configurable and fully data based. The quenchant, a mixture of molten nitrite and nitrate salts, is 100% reclaimed and recycled.

AP Southridge is fully supported by the Applied Process Inc. Technologies Division in research, marketing and administration. AP maintains a full time, fully funded internal research and development effort that assesses better, faster, and more cost effective ways of processing materials. Additionally, AP’s staff specializes in technical marketing; directly assisting the customer in their sales efforts.

The Austempering process includes Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI), Austempered Gray Iron (AGI), and Austempered and Carbo-AustemperedÔ steels. The Austempering process produces ferrous components that are (in many cases) stronger, tougher, lighter, quieter and more wear resistant than other conventional material/process combinations. The ADI process in particular has created opportunities for ductile iron foundries to compete with forged steels for material strength and aluminum for component weight.

The AP Southridge team achieved QS9000 certification within 10 months of start-up and is currently servicing customers in the foundry, forging, stamping and machining industries. They specialize in ADI and can help you convert aluminum and steel forgings and castings to high performance ADI. President Mel Ostrander and his crew stand ready to serve you. Give them a call at 270-234-0404 or visit them at www.appliedprocess.com for all of your Austempering needs.