Contract heat treatment, brazing and engineering services for industry, automotive, medical technology and aerospace
Härterei Gerster AG
Egerkingen · Agno · St. Gallen · La Sarraz · Wetter/RuhrNew on Amplifa
About Härterei Gerster AG
Härterei Gerster AG is a Swiss family-owned company founded in 1950 with its headquarters in Egerkingen (canton of Solothurn) and performs contract heat treatments and brazing services for industrial customers. The range of processes includes surface hardening (induction, flame and laser hardening), furnace processes such as annealing, hardening and precipitation hardening in protective gas or vacuum, case hardening, carbonitriding, nitriding, nitrocarburizing and boriding, as well as the company's own special process family HARD-INOX® for stainless steels. In addition, Gerster offers flux-free high-temperature brazing in a vacuum furnace and induction brazing, straightening, shot blasting, crack testing, and heat treatment of additively manufactured (LPBF/SLM) components. Materials treated range from steel and stainless steel to titanium and aluminium and on to copper and brass. With around 100 heat treatment installations, its own laboratory, Gerster Support Services, training courses at the Alpenblick seminar centre and the subsidiary Gerster Deutschland GmbH in Wetter/Ruhr, the company serves industries such as automotive, medical technology, aerospace, defence and general industry.
- Site
- Egerkingen, Switzerland
- Processes
- Induction hardening, Flame hardening, Laser hardening, Annealing, Hardening in protective gas / vacuum (furnace processes), Precipitation hardening in protective gas / vacuum, Case hardening and carbonitriding, Nitriding and nitrocarburizing
- Materials
- Ferritic stainless steel, Martensitic stainless steel, Austenitic stainless steel (V2A), Austenitic stainless steel, Titanium alloy Ti6Al4V (Grade 5), Titanium α alloys, Titanium α+β alloys, Titanium β alloys
- Certificates
- ISO 9001, ISO 14001, IATF 16949, ISO 13485, EN 9100, Pilatus Aircraft Certificate of approval
- Founded
- 1950
- Industries
- Automotive, Medical technology, Aerospace, Defence, Industry (general)
- 01
Enquiry and order management, technical customer support
- 02
Materials and process consulting
- 03
Heat treatment / brazing (surface hardening, furnace processes, HARD-INOX®)
- 04
Further processing: straightening, shot blasting, crack testing
- 05
Laboratory: hardness, crack and spectral testing, metallographic examinations
- 06
Logistics, customs clearance and delivery
Locations
Egerkingen
CHHeadquarters, heat treatment, laboratory, Alpenblick seminar centre
- Materials
- Steel, stainless steels, titanium, aluminium, copper/brass
- approx. 100 heat treatment installations
- Induction hardening shop
- Vacuum furnace for brazing
- Laboratory (metallography, hardness/crack testing, spectral analysis)
Agno
CHDrop-off and collection point (Ticino, Punto Tempra)
St. Gallen
CHDrop-off and collection point (Emil Egger AG premises)
La Sarraz
CHDrop-off and collection point (c/o Brocard SA, Trempe Express)
Wetter/Ruhr
DESubsidiary Gerster Deutschland GmbH, heat treatment Germany
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Induction hardeningHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Steel, Stainless steels |
| Flame hardeningHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| Laser hardeningHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| AnnealingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | – |
| Hardening in protective gas / vacuum (furnace processes)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | – |
| Precipitation hardening in protective gas / vacuumHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Aluminium, Titanium |
| Case hardening and carbonitridingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| Nitriding and nitrocarburizingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| BoridingHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | Steel |
| HARD-INOX®-P (SolNit-M), surface hardening of stainless steelsHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | 1.4016, 1.4104, 1.4021, 1.4112 |
| HARD-INOX®-S (diffusion surface treatment of austenitic stainless steels, 10–30 µm, 900–1400 HV)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | 1.4301, 1.4435, 1.4404, 1.4571 |
| Brazing (high-temperature brazing in a vacuum furnace, flux-free)Joining | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brazing using induction heatingJoining | – | – | – | – | – |
| Combination of brazing and heat treatment in the vacuum furnaceJoining | – | – | – | – | – |
| Heat treatment of additively manufactured components (LPBF/SLM)Heat treatment | – | – | – | – | – |
| StraighteningHeat treatment | – | – | – | – | – |
| Shot blastingSurface | – | – | – | – | – |
| Crack testingTesting | – | – | – | – | – |
| Furnace surveys (calibrations, TUS, SAT, instrumentation inspections)Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Validation of heat treatment installations and testing equipmentTesting | – | – | – | – | – |
| Metallographic examinations, failure investigations, hardness testing, spectral analysesTesting | – | – | – | – | – |
| Materials and heat treatment consulting, training courses, plant operation at the customer's siteEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
3 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat treatment installations (total) | – | 100 | – | – | Egerkingen, Switzerland |
| Induction hardening shop | – | – | – | – | Egerkingen, Switzerland |
| Vacuum furnace for brazing | – | – | – | – | Egerkingen, Switzerland |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality & Certifications
Gerster works according to a zero-defect strategy with quality planning, control and inspection after order acceptance and systematically determines the causes of deviations. The in-house laboratory performs hardness and crack tests, metallographic examinations, spectral analyses and failure investigations; certifications include ISO 9001, ISO 14001, IATF 16949, ISO 13485 and EN 9100.
| Evidence | Egerkingen |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 | |
| ISO 14001 | |
| IATF 16949 | |
| ISO 13485 | |
| EN 9100 | |
| Pilatus Aircraft Certificate of approval |
History
- 1950
Founding of the family-owned company Gerster
- 2026
Winner of the Solothurn Entrepreneur Award 2026 (award ceremony on 8 January 2026 in Derendingen)