Anniversary

Yesterday was exactly 5 years since I finished at Bodycote. Is this something to think about? Maybe so, but is it worth going back in time? These five years were followed by 10 years in ZEZ Praha and Uniterm Liberec, in research and development of progressive heat treatment methods, such as plasma nitriding, low pressure carburizing (LPC) or PVD coating. And another 26 years followed in HT-PROGRES with a continuous continuation in Bodycote, where we realized every day that theory and practice may not always be in line. And what were the main milestones of this life of mine?

I tried to map them in this cycle of my life…

I think it’s a good story for one heat treater life. Personally, or with a large personal share, I built 5 new heat treatment plants, and on the contrary closed next five. All for the benefit of the cause. Today’s Kingdom of Bodycote with a dominant market share in CZ and SK would not have been created without me, and if it was, with a completely different character. The Liberec operation still belongs to the “golden” treasure of Bodycote worldwide. And because we built it really well with Vláďa Procházka, today it is very difficult to surpass this masterpiece of ours from the past.

Fig. 1 – Vladimír Procházka, my partner and later plant manager of Bodycote Liberec and his award in 2012.

Today, my memories of this time have not completely disappeared, but new experiences and activities have silenced many things in my head. But the characters of that time have disappeared. Some left before me, others are no longer with us. And those who remained, like me, they too changed.

They remained true friends, but many of them turned out to be only coulisse in some theatrical episode that had already ended. It would make interesting sociological research.

I’ve never suffered much from nostalgia, but now I have the added problem that I don’t even have time for it. And since my beloved daughters are the highest priority, I hope I am also granted the highest happiness, without the need to mourn for something or someone.

Fig. 2 – My amazing familly 

And so, I will end with a quote from Jan Ámos Komenský:

It is better to be someone than to appear to be someone

April 1, 2023

Jiří Stanislav