With Adam Larson, Ipsen Manager of Project Management
Whenever a new furnace purchase order has been signed, the process of transforming the sale from a set of drawings to a fully operational furnace begins with Adam Larson and the project management team.
It’s Larson’s job to take the furnace from drawings and specs on the page to the teams that will interpret the specializations and customizations, find the right combination of systems that deliver the outcomes desired by the customers, and assemble them into exactly what the customer ordered.
“The furnaces we make range from standard equipment like the TITAN, to high-end, highly technical, completely customized furnaces built for the aerospace industry. At Ipsen, we have customers that could order the furnace equivalent of a classic pickup truck or a highly tuned Formula-1 race car,” Larson explained.

Building the Blueprint for Success
The process starts when Larson receives the order documents from the sales team. These documents can range in sizes comparable to a three-page brochure or an annotated dictionary.
“As soon as the sales team has all of the corrections and updates from the customer on the purchase order, I’ll go through every page of the document, make my notes, and then set up a kickoff meeting with the build team,” Larson explained.
For some builds, this process can take anywhere from a couple days to a week. “Between the buy notes, the purchase order, sales documents the technical specifications, and any compliance review documents, there’s a lot to consume. The larger projects can happen two to three times per year,” Larson explained, “but not every order is as complicated. Most standard equipment sales, like most TITAN sales, can see our build team kickoff meeting scheduled between 48 and 72 hours after the PO has been received.”
The build team typically includes Adam Larson, along with the internal sales lead, engineering manager, operations manager, production manager, quality control manager, purchasing manager, and production control coordinator.
Progress is tracked weekly for every piece of equipment, with reports from the team leaders on Tuesdays to recap the previous week and report what the week ahead has to offer.
“We mandate that anyone who is actively working on a project review their status, from the technical design to engineering, from order to assembly. Leads from the mechanical, electrical, and software engineering teams receive and give feedback, the head of production gives a quick overview, and the QC technician reports the latest test findings for any furnaces undergoing quality control.”
Reports are broken into phases of assembly – hot zone, chamber, structures, pumping systems, water systems, gas systems and electrical. The project manager tracks each assembly phase by its percentage of completion to ensure all projects remain on schedule.
Navigating Bumps in the Road
Not every road follows a straight line. While standard equipment comes with scheduled sign-offs from the customer, highly customized work can require significantly more check-ins and sign-offs. And one result of a check-in might include changes that need to be made during the build process.
Check-ins and sign-offs exist to make sure the furnace meets the customer’s needs, so that the customer can rely on the fact that their new furnace will have all the necessary functionality as soon as it’s installed on the factory floor. Needing to make an aftermarket change to a furnace once it’s been installed can cost the customer both in downtime and in service fees. Making those calls while the furnace is still in assembly helps reduce the costs that would be associated with an aftermarket upgrade, but there are still additional cost and time considerations that factor in.
It’s important to consider the possibility of delays when reviewing delivery target dates. While additional sign-offs may cause unforeseen delays, they are often a necessary part of delivering a highly customized specialty furnace. To help minimize delays, customers can play a key role by staying proactively engaged and involved throughout the process. Several resources are also available to other stakeholders who need a better understanding of vacuum equipment and processes such as Ipsen U, the Knowledge Center and Ipsen Connect. “Building a base knowledge of vacuum furnaces using these available resources can go a long way in answering the most frequently asked questions,” Larson suggested.
“It’s important for our customers to know that we’re a boutique company that builds custom equipment to meet their unique needs. There’s no huge assembly line, we’re not mass manufacturing equipment. What we do is build a niche product that many companies rely on,” Larson explained. “The products that our customers process in Ipsen furnaces are everywhere. No one can commute to work without touching something that’s been run through a heat-treating furnace.”
Ensuring Quality and Readiness for Delivery
As the furnace passes through assembly and gets ready for testing, customers are often invited to inspect their new furnace. That’s also a great time to review the steps necessary to prepare for delivery and installation. “It’s important that the customers can see their furnace and validate that it meets their expectations before it leaves the shop. We can review the order, compare it to the completed work, and make sure to catch any overlooked options or clarify any misunderstandings before it ever goes onto the truck,” Larson said.
Once the customer has signed off on the completed furnace, it’s disassembled and sent to paint, then partially reassembled, packaged for shipping, and readied for loading.
After the furnace has left the shop, the project is turned over to the Ipsen Field Service Team to work with the customer on the delivery and installation.