At the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. a new welding p rocess was researched: Heat treatable steel is welded with an Nd:YAG laser whil e it is heated inductively. This combined process reduces production time because the heat en ergy of the induction hardening can be used for preheating the specimen before welding. Th e layout of the combined processing head is shown in fig. 1. The combined processing head co nsists of an integrated inductor, a laser processing head, and a shower. This head combines t wo work steps: inductive hardening and laser welding. The work piece is heated inductively to austenite temperature (approximately 900 °C). In this preheated part of the specimen the laser welding process is carried out. After quenching the work piece, the heat affected zone and welded seam do not show cold cracks. The heat affected zone and welded seam have almost the same material properties. This part of the work piece can be used as a functioning surface.