Responding to the customer and market needs has been a key focus for many of the exhibitors at this year’s GlassBuild America show, taking place this week at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Whether it’s helping improving safety, increasing efficiencies or reducing costs, exhibitors have a lot to offer to help their customers meet their needs and demands.
Dow was highlighting two new sealant developments, Dowsil 1550 fast-cure sealant for door and window manufacturing, as well as Dowsil 3363 US insulating glass sealant. According to Stanley Yee, building design specialist, both products were developed in response to customer needs. The 1550 product is designed to enhance the fabricator’s efficiency rate, allowing them to apply the sealant and move the product off the assembly line quickly. The 3363 product was developed in response to customer needs to enhance the durability of their insulating glass units.
He says there’s always a customer-centric approach to developing new products. “It’s all about what the customer wants—from the end-user/owner to the architect, subcontractor, etc. We address those needs along the way.
C.R. Laurence was also responding to customer needs for a variety of interior and exterior glass and glazing products. These include the Fallbrook Office Partitions, which features an ultra-narrow aluminum door frame that helps create a unique and contemporary visual. The Fallbrook is a front load, dry-glazed system that is easy to install. The Fallbrook XL Series is made with 1-inch insulating glass to help with sound control.
Another feature for CRL is its three prototype shower door hinges. Bob Plush, general manager of the US Horizon division, said they are reinventing the shower door look with these new hinges, which provide a clean, minimalist design.
“We are re-inventing the [shower door] business and bringing innovative products to market that no one else is doing,” he said.
On the machinery and equipment side, Intermac was busy highlighting and demonstrating a variety of its products that address customers’ needs for more automation. One example is the Movetro system for glass storage and handling before the cutting process. According to Davide Mistrello, managing director for Movetro glass technologies, the equipment helps save space, increases productivity of the cutting line, and improves safety and labor costs. He added that all lines are custom made according to the customers’ needs.
Testing equipment manufacturer EDTM shows up each year with a new tool—this year included another developed in response to the growing demand for bird-friendly glass, a handheld device that detects the presence of bird deterrent coatings on glass. But co-owner and vice president Mark Imbrock says his company is also at the event to gather input for EDTM’s next inventions. “Our ideas start here,” he says, of trade shows.
“It’s amazing what those guys come up with,” says Leigh Anne Mays, regional architectural manager east for Guardian Glass.
Millet Glass, which is headquartered in Mexico with sales operations in Florida, has been increasing its presence and focus in the U.S. market, offering architects and contract glaziers another option in fabricated glass. The company’s capabilities range from tempering, laminating and insulating glass production to specialty glass fabrication, such as screenprinting, digital printing and more. The company recently completed a 500,000 square foot addition to its operating footprint to focus on the U.S.
“We want to duplicate in the U.S. what we’ve done in Mexico,” said U.S. representative Greg George.
GlassBuild America ends today in Atlanta. Stay tuned to usglassmag.com for our continuing coverage of the show.
