Classic Industrial Services Inc.

Classic Industrial Services Inc. (CIS) is a specialty subcontractor firm that works exclusively in the industrial market. The company’s main lines of service include thermal insulation, scaffolding, refractory fireproofing and architectural siding. CIS predominately serves the power generation industry and industrial markets such as paper mills, chemicals and refineries. The company has been in business for 24 years and over that time has developed a massive work force of over 300 employees. CIS is based out of Baton Rouge, La., and while most of its projects are in the southeastern region of the United States, the company has also completed work as far as away as Maine, the state of Washington and Arizona.

Roy (Flip) Bourgeois, vice president of CIS, explains that his company delivers on what clients want most: projects that are finished in a safe and timely manner. The majority of CIS services are on the backend of a project, when other trades may have pushed the project off-schedule. For this reason, CIS often has to be overly conscious of a project’s schedule, and has the resources to perform safely and expediently. “We have a reputation for getting the job done within extreme schedule pressure,” Bourgeois says.

Having a company such as CIS that can consistently be relied upon to complete a project on time is invaluable to a general contractor or project owner. The firm is able to achieve its high rate of efficiency by providing every project site with consulting, engineering, estimates, inspections, installation labor, material supply, pre-contract budgeting, scheduling and a safety record that exceeds national standards.

Solar Work Ahead of Its Time

One of the company’s most recent projects was a solar field endeavor in Florida, for which CIS completed the installation work. Bourgeois details the intricate process surrounding the project:

“This is where a company takes mirrors and they reflect sunlight into synthetic oil. After, the synthetic oil is heated up to 785 degrees. All that piping has to be insulated, which we also do. We feel completely confident with this type of work. About 30 years ago, we did some solar projects out in Southern California when they were first being done. It was the same technology – mirrors, heat the oil, pipe it over to a central station, use heat exchanges to create steam, steam creates electricity – nothing has changed in 30 years.” Even though such solar work is thought of as new technology, CIS has the track record to show how it’s always been ahead of the times.

Fuel-efficient Coal Use

Bourgeois states that CIS also completed a number of noteworthy United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects. Currently, CIS is working on one of the EPA’s largest projects, which is to insulate the equipment that claims exhaust gas in existing coal fire power plants. CIS has performed installation work for Luminant, an electric utility firm based out of Texas. The project consisted of outfitting a brand new power plant that utilized two coal fire units.

Bourgeois explains, “What made this unique was that they utilized a relatively new fluidized bed technology. The coal is injected in the furnace, and it uses a bubbling air system to make sure all of the coal is burnt. The technology has been around for 40 years, but it hasn’t been utilized that much. The technology allows you to burn lower-grade coal, which is cheaper and it gives the coal total combustibility. Every spec of coal is burnt. This is a new emerging market. You can take a fuel that was disregarded a few years ago and now, burn it, produce electricity, and do it in a clean way.”

Currently, CIS is working on another large coal fire unit in North Carolina. The company is also continuing to seek out new environment projects for cleaner air and refineries, and hopes to conduct more solar work in the future. All services at the company are self-performed, and CIS uses a set network of suppliers that are integral to the success of the business according to Bourgeois.

“Without materials, we cannot work,” he explains. “We work with suppliers, the same way that our customers work with us. We basically use the same suppliers all of the time. We let them know what our expectations are. For us, it’s real simple. If they meet our expectations, we continue the relationship. If they don’t meet them, we switch to someone else.”

That mantra – being clear about and meeting expectations – is what Bourgeois, who has been in the industry since 1975 and with CIS since the company’s inception, states doing good business is all about. “We have a great reputation and we are not going to do anything to jeopardize that,” he emphasizes.

Classic Industrial Services Inc. continues to be a leader in the industrial arena through dedication to safety, excellence and high-quality workmanship delivered within time and budget constraints.