Commercial Commentary

In my conversations with commercial fabricators and architects, there still seems to be a sense of optimism about market health amid the pandemic. While jobs have decreased in size and there has been some softening, work is steady.

Regardless of current circumstances, it pays to stay optimistic and keep moving forward because times of adversity often springboard us toward something greater down the road. We’re learning a lot about ourselves as individuals and as companies. And we’re learning about our own resiliency and how to act quickly to turn perceived challenges into long-term opportunities.

I’m lucky enough to get to work with a wide range of companies serving commercial construction—and here are three ways I’ve seen for us to take advantage of the times in which we live:

1. Widen your virtual circle. In 2019, which seemed like a century ago now, we had to go through approvals to schedule in-person meetings. For some, travel costs or time made it prohibitive to get together with colleagues or suppliers, limiting our interactions to a smaller circle. Unless there was an association meeting or tradeshow, it was rare to have suppliers, architects and glazing contractors all together in the same place.

   One of the many things that 2020 has taught us is how to use remote collaboration systems out of necessity. We’ve become experts in this technology, removing the barriers to collaboration that might have once existed. This is the perfect time to widen your circle of collaborators online and facilitate conversations across the supply chain not only to meet the needs of projects, but to look proactively for ways to share ideas that will help us shape the future of the industry.

   The architectural and design community is also settling into a new norm of remote work—and many are using it as a chance to earn their needed CE credits. Now is a great time to reach out, educate and help them fulfill their educational needs virtually.

2. Take steps toward automation. If implemented correctly, automation has the power to improve quality, efficiency and product consistency. It can also help to offset the effects of the labor challenge and facilitate the physical distancing needed in plants and in the workplace. However, a move to full automation might not be feasible in this economic climate. If it’s not in the cards at the moment, companies can take more cost-effective steps toward realizing their automation goals.

   It’s a good time to explore options to gain efficiencies whether it’s through manual means, semi-automation or full automation. This is not an all or nothing deal. There are “in between” steps that can be made and added to as the future allows. The best thing is to reach out to your suppliers, discuss your goals with them and find incremental means that will help you with whatever challenge you are having now and prepare you for what comes next—think of it as an opportunity to explore solutions that you can grow into.

3. Enrich your company culture. The labor issue isn’t going to go away anytime soon, so retaining your current employee base has become paramount. For most—if not all—companies, health and safety have been top priorities for years before the pandemic hit. We’ve all implemented measures that reduce or eliminate threats of personal injury in the workplace. But in today’s world, we must take them a step further to include ensuring a proper work-life balance.

   Everyone has been affected by the pandemic differently, either directly or indirectly. Like many of us, employees are playing the role of parent, partner, caregiver, teacher, chef—and so much more. Providing balance and flexibility when possible can mean more to them than any other benefit that can be provided. So, when it comes to retention, be sure to build balance into your culture in some way. It can make a big difference and go a long way in keeping your existing workforce intact and ready to tackle the next challenge that comes your way.

Take the time—it will be worth it.

If you’re like most professionals out there, you’re thinking that a lot of this is easier said than done. Every day you are presented with a new set of challenges that keep you from thinking beyond the day, the week or the month. But, as the old saying goes, if you do that you won’t be able to see the forest for the trees. The biggest thing you can do right now is step back and look at the big picture and see what small steps you can take now to create a more sustainable future for your company.

And if you don’t know where to start, reach out to your suppliers and colleagues for inspiration and to see how other companies are flipping the script in 2020.

What challenges have you turned into opportunities this year? Let’s talk about it. Email me directly at Joe.Erb@Quanex.com.

There are plenty of reasons why automated production has gained significant traction in the commercial glazing industry over the past several years.

One of the biggest has been the ongoing labor challenge. Finding good people and training them with the right skills to build consistent, quality commercial glass products has been a major headache for plenty of glass producers, and the ongoing pandemic has only exacerbated these issues for many organizations. For those reasons, automated equipment for IG manufacturing has become an increasingly critical solution for fabricators to meet demands while operating with fewer people. It also has the added benefit of helping organizations comply with social distancing safety measures, helping to keep employees properly separated and healthy.

Whether you’ve invested in an automated line already and are waiting for your new equipment to arrive in the coming months, or if you’re considering making the investment sometime soon, there are a few things that should be kept in mind to maximize your return.

Perhaps most critically, you need to prepare the reliable workers you do employ for the coming changes on the plant floor. Here are a few ways to do that:

Take time for onboarding. Changes on the manufacturing floor may cause some alarm bells to go off in the heads of shop employees. Primarily, they may wonder whether or not their job is safe. For managers, a critical task here is to get ahead of that mindset and reassure their teams that bringing in automated equipment will be beneficial for everybody. Because automation isn’t about eliminating labor—it’s about maximizing the labor that’s already in place.

Create buy-in by properly communicating that new equipment will make it easier and more effective for your employees to do high-quality work. Also make it clear that, implemented properly, this kind of investment will put your company in a better position to operate cost-effectively, delivering consistent, high-quality products for the long run.

Make everyone’s role clear. Implementing an automated IG line has far-reaching impacts across the entirety of the shop floor, and therefore, it will impact every floor employee’s job. It’s not just the men and women on the existing IG line—everyone plays an important role in successful implementation.

Early engagement, before your new equipment arrives, is key to success once everything is up and running. Work collaboratively with your teams on how to avoid bottlenecks that can result from higher-volume production capabilities. For example, does your glass cutting station have enough capacity to keep up with available production? Will your inventory teams be ready with enough raw materials? Is there enough storage space on the plant floor to keep units moving away from the line once they’ve been complete? Are your shipping teams prepared to get these completed units out the door efficiently?

These are all questions you should be asking before automated IG equipment arrives on your shop floor. Work collaboratively with everyone throughout your plant to work out the answers.

Keep maintenance in mind. It’s also important to consider the ongoing needs of your new equipment once in operation. Proper maintenance procedures, helping ensure that your equipment is running at maximum efficiency, will be key to success.

Don’t wait until your first planned maintenance event to get started on planning for the new maintenance activities that will be required for your equipment. Develop processes and schedules, and familiarize your teams with the upcoming changes early on in the process. Some of your suppliers of IG components, like your spacer systems, who have experience with automated equipment may be able to help you get started.

In the end, getting the most from your equipment requires a solid plan and engagement with your workforce. Preparing your teams and doing your homework can go a long way.

Questions or comments? Contact me directly at Joe.Erb@Quanex.com.

Since March, our industry has been grappling with the changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most significant changes has been the necessary implementation of unprecedented safety measures in working environments to minimize viral spread, helping to keep employees safe while we maintain our commitments to customers.

As autumn approaches, I’ve been seeing a trend among customers I’ve spoken with recently. While safety measures remain in place, the industry is as busy as ever. Orders are up—manufacturers are navigating new operational challenges associated with social distancing and other strict protocols, while commercial construction jobsites face some of their own constraints.

The fenestration industry always rises to a challenge. How can glass and glazing professionals keep pace while working differently than they ever have? Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about recently:

New shop floor safety concerns. Shop floor safety now comes with a new wrinkle, with social distancing measures requiring workers to remain 6 feet apart from one another while assembling finished units.

This can be somewhat of a challenge. Perhaps it’s solvable with automation. For example, a high-speed IG line does away with several touchpoints needed to assemble a finished unit and keeps line workers the appropriate distance from each other. Any manual processes that can be automated have the same benefit, with fewer touchpoints and different steps required for final assembly. This not only helps from an efficiency standpoint, but reduces situations where workers need to come into direct contact with each other.

To be sure, this is likely to be our new “reality” for a while. And while the need to keep your shop floor socially distanced might not be reason enough to make this kind of capital expenditure in and of itself, an investment in automation might pay off sooner than you think. Consider a scenario where one worker in one of your critical areas of production gets sick; proper protocols will require any workers who interacted or worked closely with that person to stay home and quarantine for at least a few days. This could be a major hit to your productivity and could keep you from fulfilling an important order.

Keeping your workers safe and socially distanced can help prevent this scenario from playing out in the first place—but if it does happen, it’s important to be able to adapt if you suddenly find yourself down a few employees. Automating key parts of your production can be helpful from both perspectives.

Simplifying the jobsite. Installers and construction professionals have a slightly different set of challenges.

Social distancing and other COVID-19 prevention measures still apply here, often limiting the number of people who can be working on a jobsite at once. So, what happens today when a job runs behind? In the past, it was possible to catch up by adding more workers to complete construction—but today, exceeding a maximum allowed number of people on a given jobsite could increase the likelihood of sickness and, depending on the municipality, can lead to a fine or other consequences. Contractors are already feeling some ripple effects. Construction Dive recently reported that “implementing COVID-19 safety preparations and protocols at jobsites has led to a decline in productivity, which is eating into [contractor] profits.”

One solution to some of these new hurdles might be eliminating some of the work that necessarily has to happen on-site. For example, prefabricated or unitized glass and curtainwalls, which can be assembled off-site in a more controlled manufacturing environment, might begin to gain more popularity. Once on the jobsite, installation can be performed more quickly and with fewer required people.

I’ll be keeping my eye on these trends in the coming months. Our industry has the opportunity to explore new solutions like these in the face of unprecedented challenges, and it could bring significant change to how we achieve high-quality glass and glazing.

Joe Erb is commercial sales specialist for Quanex Building Products.