JCI: Still cool after 150 years
Nestled southwest of Gettysburg and about three miles above the Mason-Dixon Line, Waynesboro, Pa., is a quiet town with a rich industrial history.
George Frick became part of that history when he started Frick Mfg. in 1853. Back then the company manufactured steam engines, boilers and saw mills. Thirty years later the first Frick ammonia refrigeration unit was installed in Baltimore.
The family-owned business was sold to York International in 1988, and Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) bought it from York in 2005.
More than 150 years after Frick started the company, the JCI facility in south-central Pennsylvania is an industry leader, shipping and installing refrigeration units worldwide.
And the 300 members of UAW Local 1296 are part of that longevity.
You may not be aware of their handiwork: Cooling systems built for the English Chunnel, the tunnel from England to France. Icemakers that drop ice down African diamond mine shafts to cool off workers. Units that cool down oily pellets used to make those ubiquitous plastic patio chairs.
Operating off blueprints and schematics, highly skilled welders build industrial refrigeration units for pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies, to cold storage containers, natural gas production and breweries. These vessels, as they’re known, vary in length and can weigh up to 20 tons.
“I worked on one recently that was 12 feet wide and 23 feet long and weighed
30,000 pounds,” said Roy Shaffer, an assembler-welder for 15 years.
The fabricators weld a wide range of metals, including carbon steel to stainless steel pipe and soldering copper pipe to carbon pipe. Then they lay out, cut and fit the parts to meet product specifications.
“It’s a challenging job,” said Ioan “John” Grigore, a 17-year welder who
immigrated to the United States from Romania in 1979. “When you work on one project
at a time, it’s a good feeling to finish it and move on to the next one.”
They also pressure-test units for leaks and any necessary repairs, evacuate moisture from inside the units and perform tests to make sure the pump is functional. Once they clean the piping of any contaminants, it’s ready for the paint booth.
With an overhead crane, the journeyman rigs, weighs and moves the unit to the wash and paint booth. When units are ready for shipment, they rig and load them onto flat-bed trucks.
“It’s essential that the journeymen understand the operation of the valves, fittings and controls of the unit,” said Charlie Plank, a veteran 20-year skilled tradesman who builds them and is also Local 1296 president.
Plank said with the recent retirement of two veteran tradesmen — each with more than 40 years of service — it’s important to continue the cycle of learning.
“These are skills that get passed down, and we learn from the senior guys as we come in. They teach us, and we build on that,” he said.
Fortunately, business is booming, and over the next two years Plank said more skilled tradesmen are expected to be hired.
“It takes all of us to make the company a success and keep work here in the United States,” added Plank.
