Conductive post-furnace heating of sheet for hot forming

A system for producing components by hot forming, comprising:

• a furnace constructed and arranged to receive a blank;
• a conductive post-furnace heat station constructed and arranged to receive a portion of the heated blank from the furnace;
• a computer system that comprises one or more physical processors operatively connected with the furnace and the conductive post-furnace heat station, the one or more physical processors being programmed with computer program instructions which, when executed cause the computer system to:
• control the furnace to heat the blank to a temperature that is below AC3 temperature, and
• control the conductive post-furnace heat station to heat the portion of the heated blank to a temperature above the AC3 temperature by thermal conduction;
• and
• a press constructed and arranged to receive the post-heated blank from the conductive post-furnace heat station and to form the post-heated blank into the shape of the component.