Tailor hardening of such as a cold stamped vehicle door pillar using advanced high strength steel to exhibit each of hard, transition and soft zones

A process and assembly for heat treating portions of a steel article, such as an advanced high strength (AHSS) steel or Gen3 steel, in order to create each of hard and transition zones in a nominally hard steel stamping, such as in a vehicle's structural stampings including a pillar, in order to design deformation zones during a collision event. In an initial operation, the invention provides for positioning of heating elements at locations along such as a blank shaped steel article. Following an initial heating, a suitable forming or stamping operation is employed to bend or reform the article with the heated zones defining the bend axles or points within the article. Following the initial heating and bending/stamping operations, additional heating elements can be positioned, such as against outer flange locations of the previously stamped article, following which a subsequent trimming or final fabricating step is employed to complete the article.