History
Early Days
Dale Swanson founded Pyrotek in 1956 in Spokane, Washington, USA on an idea. Dale’s concept was to use fibreglass fabric technology to create a filter designed to capture impurities in molten aluminium.
In June 1968, Dale partnered with Allan Roy when Allan joined Fibrous Glass Products, a small manufacturing company making cloth filters to clean molten aluminium. In 1976, the company changed its name to Pyrotek and Allan’s responsibilities evolved from Vice President, Technical to encompass management and administration. In 1995, Allan was named President, then CEO in 1998. In 2003, Allan became the sole owner of Pyrotek Inc.
Today
From humble beginnings, Pyrotek now has offices in 35 countries with over 300 sales engineers. Pyrotek operates globally wherever aluminium is produced and processed and is now a world leader serving the aluminium industry with equipment, products and services. The original filtration system on which Pyrotek was founded is now a global standard. Pyrotek also produces solutions for glass, steel, zinc, advanced materials, and acoustic and thermal insulation.
Timeline
2016-Present
- Breaks ground on new manufacturing plant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Celebrates 60th year in business
- Completes construction of plant in Aurora, Ohio, USA, moving operations there from Solon, Ohio
- Expands facility in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada
- Rigid Glasweve filter product for die casting launched
- Establishes presence in Saudi Arabia
- Launches redesigned website
2010s
- Moves global headquarters to downtown Spokane, Washington, USA
- Chief Operating Officer Don Ting named Pyrotek's President
- Ceramite® line of refractories is acquired
- Opens second plant in Blansko, Czech Republic, and expands soundproofing manufacturing there
- Heated launder system receives European Aluminium Award
- Relocates Canastota plant to Cortland, New York, USA
- Acquires Merlyn Products Pty. Ltd., of Australia
- Installs first zinc-recovery system in India
- Buys Bahrain-based Gulf Temperature Sensors (GTS), adding to its global thermocouple offerings
- Hosts Casting Confidence with Wagstaff, a metal quality conference for aluminium companies who use Wagstaff equipment
- Overflow transfer pump (OTS) introduced
2000s
- Opens facilities in China, USA, Czech Republic, Bahrain, and India
- Celebrates its 50th year in business
- Founder Dale Swanson passes away
- Holds first Melt Quality Workshop for customers in Madrid, Spain
- Thermally formed combo bag for metal distribution introduced
- Begins selling DuPont™ Vespel® parts to container glass industry
- Receives funding from U.S. Department of Energy to develop Sanborn, New York, USA, plant and graphite technology for the electric vehicle market
- Buys several businesses:
- Cowan Furnaces in New Zealand
- Thermal Systems America, of New York, USA
- Canada's Cerminco, from which it had licenses to manufacture Wollite insulation, Pyroglow artifical logs, and more
- TAB Refractory Services
- Metaullics pump business
- EMP electromagnetic pumps
- Zinkoff Oy, of Finland, adding zinc-recovery systems
- New Zeland-based Latimer Acoustics
1990s
- Receives patent for reinforced fibreglass material (RFM®), a composite that is nonwetting to molten aluminium
- Hires first employee in China
- Opens plants in Germany and South Africa
- Purchases facilities in Melbourne, Australia; Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada; and Salisbury, North Carolina, USA
- Expands Sierre, Switzerland, plant
- Acquires various businesses and technologies:
- Evansville Refractories in Indiana, USA
- SNIFTM in-line desgassing systems business
- Aluminium business unit of Burmah Castrol's Specialty Chemicals Foseco operation, adding SIVEX ceramic foam filters to its product offerings
- Neco, a premium continuous casting tip material
- Woodstown Machinery, a New Jersey, USA, manufacturer of products for the container glass industry
1980s
- Opens facilities in Venezuela; Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada; New Zeland; and elsewhere
- Begins selling in Eastern Europe
- Buys a CNC machine, the company's first computer-controlled equipment
- Begins manufacturing ISOMAG rigid insulation board in Canada
- Acquires a number of businesses:
- Its Australia distributor, Glenco Products Pty. Ltd.
- F.J. Neve, a UK distributor of fiberglass filtration fabrics, incluing Glasweve
- Canadian ceramics distributor Noret Sales
- Australia-based Soundguard Industries Pty. Ltd.
1970s
- Builds plants in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, and Trenton, Tennesee, USA
- Company name changed to Pyrotek
- Enters the South American market
- Receives E award from President Richard Nixon
- Buys Los Angeles, California, USA-based distributor of filtration products, Ken Ger Products
1960s
- Current Chairman and CEO Allan Roy joins founder Dale Swanson in the company as a partner
- Company expands product range
- Begins selling across the USA and into Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe
- Establishes plant in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA
1956
Pyrotek founded as Fibrous Glass Products in Washington, USA. The company sold one product: sewn fiberglass bags to capture impurities in molten aluminium.