Bailey Specialty Cranes & Aerials, a Milwaukee, Wis.-based company, showed off its Brandon Glass Lifter.
GlassBuild America held a promising start at the Las Vegas Convention Center. With exhibitors representing every facet of the glass industry, there’s a lot to see at the show, which runs through Friday.
Transportation and handling equipment has a big presence at this year’s show. Companies lined the exhibit hall with their latest products.
Bailey Specialty Cranes & Aerials, a Milwaukee, Wis.-based company, showed off its Brandon Glass Lifter.
“It can fit through a single door,” said Jeff Bailey, president, “and the tip assembly can be removed to fit in an elevator.” The machine can reach up to 24 feet, and it can carry up to 1,100 lbs.
Rick Meszaros, sales engineer, also added, “We use Woods Powr-Grip, which allows it to have good articulation when we’re installing glass.”
F. Barkow Inc., also based in Milwaukee, had its aluminum glass racks on display, but the focus was on Next Ledge, the company’s new removable upper ledgeboard, which can be added to an existing Barkow rack to double its transportation capacity. It’s made of stainless steel and can carry up to 400 lbs.
“It’s been a great first day so far,” said John Weise, owner. “We’ve sold 10 pairs of these [Next Ledge] today.”
Unruh Fab added to this presence by showcasing its interior flat glass slider base, offered in both diamond and triangular cleats. Robin Donker, sales representative, said the new triangular system has more rubber on its surface, which allows for safer transportation of the glass.
Wakefield Equipment showed off its K-29P vertical stretch wrapper, plus a line of equipment from TigerStop.
Erdman Automation brought its High Speed Parallel Process IG Line to GlassBuild. The machine can produce a unit in less than 19 seconds with only three to four operators, according to the company.
“We use one-fifth the energy of a standard heated roll press,” said Erdman’s Morgan Donohue.
Pro-Line Automation’s Quick Stop QS-10 servo positioning length gauge was a popular attraction. It features a touchscreen for the operator and an adjustable height stainless steel table.
Leading Edge Distribution showed off an innovative disposable racking system made of wood. It’s shipped in six-packs.
“A lot of window companies or glass fabricators will have racks that never come back to them, and some of those racks are worth $1,000 or more,” said the company’s Dave Thoman. “This can be something they take a deposit on and if they get it back they do, or if they don’t, they don’t.”
Leading Edge shared booth space with Integrated Automated Solutions, which showed off its OptiGas gas-filling system for IG units. It also displayed a new glass-loading system that the company’s Ryan McHugh says allows a business to store two to three times as much glass in the same square footage as most current systems.
Additionally, a couple of makers of profile bending machinery, Boschert Precision Machinery and J&S Machinery, were also at the show.
More than Machinery
Adding to the more than 400 exhibitors are those showing tools, hardware and supplies.
International Door Closures had quite a bit to showcase. Making its debut at the show, said Danny DeGott, executive vice president, is the company’s new overhead concealed D200 Series, which won’t be released until January. The product features a spring cap that is now on top of aa closer body, which utilizes a new high-performance O-Ring and epoxy sealed threads.
Quanex’s large booth featured its EnergyQuest line of window profiles for residential applications. The company says the products are engineered to maximize energy efficiency and durability, with an isolated frame reinforcement and unique weatherstrip applications to reduce air infiltration while improving overall thermal performance.
“It’s a product that really hits all facets of the market,” said Saul Schnurman of Quanex. “It can be used for new construction, or it can be used for renovation and remodeling. It’s our top of the line in terms of performance and cost.”
A Solid Start
While the show was just beginning on Wednesday, many exhibitors said traffic was strong early in the day.
“We’ve had a fair amount of traffic so far this morning,” said Todd Tolson of Pro-Line Automation. “We’ve seen a lot of people we don’t know stopping by, which is good.”
Wes Schneekloth of CSE Automation agreed.
“We’ve been extremely busy so far,” he said.
GlassBuild continues through Friday. Stay tuned to usglassmag.com for continuing coverage from the show.
