CIC Pittsburgh congratulates our company founder and long-time president, John Hayes, on his recent induction into the American Galvanizers Association (AGA) Hall of Fame! This honor recognizes long and meritorious service to the AGA and the after-fabrication hot-dip galvanizing industry, honoring leadership, commitment, and performance.
John Hayes spent a full career as a passionate supplier to the Hot Dip Galvanizing industry. After spending many years at other furnace companies, he started CIC Pittsburgh in 1999 with the primary aim of supporting Hot Dip Galvanizing. His emphasis on customer service was the distinction that led to his success. He grew the company from a 1-man operation to a team of 6 people who shared in his vision and values.
During his time in the industry, John Hayes has been an innovator, as well. In addition to the development of end-fired, high velocity furnaces, he was also instrumental in developing and promoting a number of other key technologies on the hot dip galvanizing furnaces, many of which have become generally used practices throughout the industry:
• Pulse-fired combustion, which distributes the heat in the combustion chamber and ensures optimal burner heat release patterns and efficiency.
• Flue temperature control, which also improves efficiency and kettle life, not to mention providing a measurable tracking of the melt-out process.
• On-kettle thermocouples, which are more reliable and have longer life than in-bath thermocouples.
• Moving away from brick lining to ceramic fiber lining in the furnace.
• Using a castable pad under the kettle instead of brick.
• Alloy steel kettle support rods to replace previously used brick kettle supports.
• Cover plate and alloy support designs that greatly facilitate kettle changes.
• Application of high performance coatings on the ceramic fiber insulation, which improves heat transfer and protects the fiber lining.
Please join us in congratulating John Hayes on this tremendous and well-deserved honor!