Sandmeyer Steel Blog

Robert F. Giles, Retired Sandmeyer Steel Company Executive, Passes Away at Age 86

Robert F. Giles, 86, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully with his family by his side Thursday, March 29, 2018.

Bob grew up in the McKeesport, Pennsylvania, area graduating from McKeesport High School class of 1950. He joined the Air Force and was eventually stationed at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, where he met the love of his life and future wife, Jackie. They loved to travel with their children, from snorkeling in the Bahamas to an adventure-filled three-week European vacation. Their love of travel continued with many trips to France and Italy, bringing along friends and eventually students from Jackie’s cooking school.  Bob loved good food and wine and was the ultimate entertainer.

Bob joined Sandmeyer Steel Company in 1956 as a sales correspondent.  He rose through the ranks and was named Vice President – Sales in 1964, leading Sandmeyer’s sales team until his retirement in 1993 after nearly 37 years of service.  “Bob was one of the pioneers of our Company, working closely with my grandfather Paul and my father Ron Sr. in the early years of our history,” stated Ron Sandmeyer Jr., Sandmeyer Steel’s current CEO.  “He was the consummate sales professional who knew our markets, our products, and our customers better than anyone.  We are eternally grateful to Bob for his many significant contributions to the growth and success of our Company.”

Bob is preceded in death by his wife of nearly 60 years, Jacqualin L. (nee Martin) Giles, his parents James and Virginia Giles, and his grandson Michael Giles.  He is survived by his children Jim Giles (Sandy), Jared Giles (Peggy) and Christine Hutkin (Michael), nine grandchildren, his sister Judy Ricciotti, and brother James D. Giles, and several great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Services will be held Saturday, April 7^th, at Reed & Steinbach Funeral Home, 2335 Lower State Road, Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901. Friends may call from 10-11 am with a service to follow at the funeral home. Interment will be at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery at a later date.

Sandmeyer Steel Company was founded in 1952 by the late Paul C. Sandmeyer.  Family owned and managed, the Company is recognized as a leading producer of stainless steel and nickel alloy plate products used in capital equipment for the chemical and other process industries.  The Company services customers throughout the world.

Fred Buttler Retirement Celebration

After a total of 47 years of service, Fred Buttler retired from full-time employment here at Sandmeyer Steel. Fred began his career with Sandmeyer in 1970 working in the Machine Shop.

To celebrate Fred’s retirement, we held a dinner on Friday, March 23^rd.

We had a great time congratulating Fred and reminiscing on his time at Sandmeyer Steel Company.

Retirement Ceremony

After 19 years of service, Jim Keba retired from Sandmeyer Steel Company today.  In the course of his time here, Jim was responsible for many of the operational improvements and changes that have helped move our Company forward.

To mark this occasion, we held a ceremony with a cake to show our appreciation for his years of service. We wish Jim all the best in retirement!

2304 Used in Pulp and Paper Industry

Our customer, a manufacturer of pulp and paper equipment, ordered this specialty-cut piece from us. It’s made of 1″ thick 2304 and was cut on our waterjet machining center.  Many pulp and paper mills use Sandmeyer Steel Company’s stainless steel and nickel alloy plate products to avoid iron contamination of the paper and to resist process corrosion.

Piece for Beverage and Bottling Industry

Our customer, a manufacturer of filler machines based in the Northeast, recently ordered this large cut piece from us made of 3/4″ thick 316L. As always, we delivered this piece on-time and with accuracy according to our customer’s specifications. This project is a small part of the service we provide to the beverage and bottling industry worldwide.

Philabundance Day

As part of our mission statement of “Making significant contributions to the communities in which we work and live,” our Sandmeyer Serves team visited Philabundance to help sort and box fresh fruit for distribution.

We were able to box up 5,240 lbs. of “good and edible” clementines, or 262 – 20 lb. boxes of this fruit which will go out to the community.

Thanks to the team for your hard work and to Philabudance for the opportunity to do service!

Additional Complex Pieces for a Loyal Customer

Our customer, who specializes in industrial pipe support systems, continues to order complex pieces that we delivery to them quickly. Here are some pieces made of of 5″ thick 304L that we cut on our waterjet machining center. Our customers come back to us time and time again because they know we have the inventory in stock, and can rely on us to deliver a quality product on-time.

Tube Sheet & Baffle Drilling

Sandmeyer is utilizing our Quickmill Annihilator machine to ramp up production of tubesheet and baffle drilling. We can offer single piece drilling of our vast inventory in thicknesses of 6″. We can even supply holes with expansion grooves. All our products are delivered to customer specifications with accuracy on-time, every time.

4-inch 304H Waterjet Cut Piece

Our customer, who specializes in industrial pipe support systems, recently ordered 2 pieces of this unusual shape. It is made of 4″ thick 304H that we cut in our waterjet machining center.

Retirement Ceremony

After 27 years of dedicated and loyal service, Helen Adams retired from Sandmeyer Steel Company on Wednesday, January 31, 2018.  To mark this occasion, we held a ceremony with a cake and a gift to show our appreciation for her years of service.

We wish Helen all the best for her retirement!