International espionage

We’re always told that the UK and USA have a ‘special relationship’. A bond perhaps, or a friendship. At Joseph Ash Galvanizing we decided to put this theory to the test when we crossed the pond on an international mission to meet fellow galvanizers…

Hill & Smith is the parent company of Joseph Ash Galvanizing, and V&S Inc. is our sister company in the US, also owned by Hill & Smith. To foster international relations and see what we could learn from each other, five members of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing team recently travelled to America to visit V&S Inc. plants and meet with V&S Inc. colleagues.

The five members of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing team were:

• Robert Nelson (Senior Technical Manager at Joseph Ash Galvanizing)
• Stuart Whitehouse (Director of Business Improvement at Joseph Ash Galvanizing)
• Mark Payne (Assistant Divisional Manager at Joseph Ash Chesterfield)
• Robert Mohan (Technical and Development Director at Premier Galvanizing Corby)
• Alex Camp (General Manager at Premier Galvanizing Hull)

The chosen team visited V&S Inc. plants in Lebanon in Pennsylvania, Perth Amboy in New Jersey, and New Castle in Delaware.

They studied the galvanizing practices in the plants and came away with some useful learnings about galvanizing processes and controls.

It’s always good to watch what other companies are doing in the same industry, and it was useful to spend time with a sister company.

In the interests of fostering the ‘special relationship’ some of our colleagues from V&S Inc. will be visiting some of the Joseph Ash Galvanizing plants in the Autumn. We look forward to welcoming them here!