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At GIW Industries, we are not only a slurry pump manufacturer; we are in the transportation business. We can move just about any material you specify and move it quickly and efficiently. Our pumps have been used to pump phosphate rock in Florida, tar sands in Canada and hundreds of different materials in between -- everywhere in the world. We’ve learned our most valuable lessons through down-and-dirty applications that have taken us around the globe, wherever mining, dredging and industrial companies demand systems that expand the limits of moving slurry. GIW has been designing pumps and moving slurry for over 90 years.
KSB has presence in 100 countries with sales organizations, offices and 30 manufacturing sites. History Today, the company is comprised of two manufacturing facilities, one in Grovetown, GA and the other in Thomson, GA. These foundries and machine shops are used for manufacturing and assembling pumps and for casting a variety of abrasion- and corrosion-abrasion-resistant alloys and polyurethane elastomers. Here is a brief history of GIW, from 1891 to present day. 1891 - 1947: The Perkins Era 1892: Stockholders voted to change the company's name from The Perkins Manufacturing Co. to Georgia Iron Works Inc. In 1914, GIW began manufacturing spare parts for the solids-handling pumps for the Florida phosphate fields. Its first pump customer was International Agricultural Corp. of Mulberry, FL.. Today, the company is called IMC Fertilizer Company and is still a customer. 1947 - 1959 The Beginning of the Hagler Era In the late 1940's, a phosphate company received a directive from their home office to use slurry pumps constructed with component of "hard" or "white" iron, as opposed to the conventional gray iron, which was then the standard product. GIW began experimenting with Ni-Hard, the patented product of the International Nickel Company. To obtain the Ni-Hard license, GIW had to meet certain qualifications in equipment and operation. Many early castings were scrapped, but eventually, GIW produced the Gasite® family of white irons. Thomas Hagler Sr. came up with the name, Gasite: "Ga" for Georgia Iron Works and "site" because it sounded like hard metal. This registered trade name is recognized around the world. In the 1950's, GIW converted to total electricity. Alvin Postell, who was with the company 38 years before he retired in 1986, recalled that when he was employed in 1948, the company mostly operated off water power from the Augusta Canal. In use since around the turn of the century, the water wheel's turbine turned a large beveled gear that was submerged in the canal. Through a series of shafts and gears it turned a continuous rope that extended from the top of the water wheel tower to the top part of the machine shop, and there, with flat belts it, drove a series of pulleys and shafts, and in turn, powered the machines. It was part of Postell's job to splice the rope. When the water power from the canal was unavailable, the company would switch to electricity. In 1955, Thomas W. Hagler Jr. joined the company. He became president in 1971 and chairman of the board and CEO in 1987. He retired in 1996. 1960-1969: The Move to Grovetown, Ga. Also in the 1960's, John "J." W. Lee, who had married Tom Hagler Sr.'s daughter, came to work for the family trucking interests. Tom Hagler Sr. believed that the future of the company was growth and they needed the space in which to do it. His only stipulation was that the property secured had to be on the Georgia Railroad line. (At the time he served on the railroad's board of directors.) When a site was found near Grovetown, Mr. Postell approached the owner, who was a widow. She was willing to sell 40 acres with an option for 60 more to Mr. Postell. There was, however, a peculiar stipulation: the widow, who sold pots and pans as side income, insisted that Mr. Postell also buy $350 worth of these utensils. Mr. Postell purchased the property and the pots and sold the land to GIW in 1964. The Grovetown foundry was completed in 1964; the machine shop, 1965. 1970 - 1979: Challenges and Growth In 1971, GIW became one of the first foundries in the U.S. to successfully convert to an 100 percent chemically bonded sand system. This tremendous technological advancement made it possible to remove the green sand system. Later, a decision was made to build the Thomson, GA., plants. Thomson Machine and Fabricators was completed in 1974, GIW Thomson Inc. in 1975 and the pattern shop and urethane plant in 1976.
In 1976, the GIW Hydraulic Testing Laboratory was constructed to water performance test centrifugal slurry pumps. A year later, another addition allowed the company to test slurry with a means to measure slurry density, pipe friction and deposition velocity. In 1977, GIW held its first "Transportation of Solids Using Centrifugal Pumps" course. It would become an annual event. 1980 - Present Day In 1986, Tom Hagler Jr. and J. Lee acquired GIW Industries and became its sole owners. The Board of Directors included Billie Hagler, Tom's wife, and Alice Hagler, J. Lee's wife and Tom's sister. 1988: KSB purchased 25 percent ownership interest in GIW Industries. GIW has manufacturing licensees in KSB manufacturing plants worldwide. 1993: KSB purchased 26 percent ownership interest in GIW Industries, bringing its total ownership interest to 51 percent. 1996: KSB purchased 100 percent ownership interest in GIW. As a member of KSB’s Worldwide Pump and Valve Group, GIW now offers single-source solution for both water and slurry pump problems for customers worldwide. But its basic operating philosophy remains unchanged. GIW will continue to partner with its customers, solve problems that other manufacturers won’t even attempt, and stay ahead of the slurry curve.
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