Process Control & Quality Track: Key Takeaways at FNA 2026 in October

In heat treating, quality and profitability are directly connected to how well you control the process. FNA 2026 has 10 educational tracks over two days.

The Process Control & Quality Track on October 13 at Furnaces North America 2026 will give attendees practical insight into improving safety, furnace atmosphere control, operational visibility, troubleshooting, uptime, and compliance.

Here are the key takeaways attendees can expect:

Improve Furnace Safety and Reliability

Attendees will gain a better understanding of flame detection and its critical role in industrial burner management systems. The track will explore different flame detection technologies and the operating conditions that can impact their effectiveness.

The goal is to help heat treaters make better technology selections, avoid common application mistakes, reduce nuisance trips, and improve overall furnace availability.

Gain Better Control of Furnace Atmospheres

You can't effectively control a process without accurately measuring what is happening inside the furnace.

Attendees will learn about today's most common atmosphere sensors and analyzers, their limitations, how to select the right technology for specific applications, and how to correctly interpret the data they provide.

The practical benefit is the ability to use sensor information more effectively for troubleshooting, atmosphere control, and process development across neutral, carburizing, nitriding, and FNC applications.

Make Furnace Operations Simpler

As experienced operators become harder to find, furnace control systems need to help people make better decisions faster.

This track will explore how simpler controls and improved operational visibility can create more intuitive workflows, help operators troubleshoot problems faster, reduce downtime, and give operations and maintenance teams better information.

Attendees will also learn how existing furnace operations can potentially be modernized without requiring a complete system replacement.

Improve Quality and Maintenance Decision-Making

Better visibility isn't only important to furnace operators.

When operations, maintenance, and quality teams have access to clearer information, they can identify problems sooner and make more informed decisions.

Streamlined reporting can also provide better insight into equipment performance and quality trends, helping companies move away from constantly reacting to problems toward identifying and addressing issues earlier.

Simplify Compliance Across Multiple Standards

Heat treaters operating under multiple customer and industry requirements know how complicated compliance can become.

Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of the quench oil testing and reporting requirements within CQI-9, NADCAP, and AMS 2759-G, including where the standards are similar and where they differ.

Most importantly, the track will provide insight into how companies can comply with all three standards simultaneously.

The Bigger Takeaway: Better Control Creates Better Results

The common thread running through the Process Control & Quality Track is simple:

Better information leads to better decisions. Better decisions lead to better processes, and better processes lead to better quality.

Attendees will walk away with ideas that can help their operations:

• Improve furnace safety and reliability
• Achieve better atmosphere control
• Reduce troubleshooting time and downtime
• Make furnace controls easier for operators to use
• Improve operational and maintenance visibility
• Modernize existing equipment
• Strengthen process consistency
• Simplify compliance with multiple quality standards

Why Attend FNA 2026?

The real value of Furnaces North America 2026 is discovering ideas you can take back to your plant and put to work.

One improvement in furnace control could reduce downtime. One better approach to atmosphere troubleshooting could prevent scrap. One new understanding of a quality requirement could simplify an audit. One modernization idea could extend the productive life of an existing furnace.

The Process Control & Quality Track on October 13 gives operations, quality, maintenance, engineering, and management teams an opportunity to step outside their daily routines and discover practical ways to make their operations safer, smarter, more consistent, and more productive.

At FNA 2026, the goal isn't simply to learn what's new. It's to discover what you can do better when you get back to your plant.

CLICK HERE to see full details for schedule, hotel, and registration.