Commercial Commentary

Toward the end of my post last month, I noted that our industry’s journey toward delivering increasingly efficient glass solutions for new buildings will most likely require the application of new and emerging technologies. Staying innovative in this way is something fabricators can’t lose sight of, despite some of the other challenges our industry has faced for the past year and a half.

There’s something else there I left unexplored. Adopting cutting-edge technologies to meet new codes and keep up with demand requires certain skill sets to leverage that new technology. Making a switch from metallic spacer systems to high-performing warm-edge systems, for example, requires the right knowledge to fabricate high-quality commercial insulating glass (IG) units properly. The installation of a high-speed line and shifting from manual to automated production require a similar shift in thinking and skills. Proper education is necessary to make sure these types of solutions are brought online correctly—because even if you’re utilizing high-performing components, they’ll only perform up to standard if they’re implemented correctly.

Developing these kinds of skill sets requires an organizational commitment to continuous education and training among your workforce. Training can, however, sometimes feel like a necessity that’s impossible to keep on top of. Considering the rates of plant floor turnover these days, it’s possible only 50% of a line operating team you trained in April is still working on your plant floor. You may have needed to fill the gaps with temps, or perhaps your supervisors have jumped in to perform some of the manual assembly work.

But no matter who is assembling units, it’s essential those people are equipped with the necessary skills to do so effectively. Some of my recent conversations got me thinking about a few things commercial fenestration pros should be considering as we head into the winter months:

Train your entire teams. Shop floor technicians and line operators are your first line of defense against poor quality, so it can be easy to focus training initiatives largely on these teams. But investing in training for all of your plant staff, including supervisors, can be a good insurance policy.

Here’s why: Instilling a greater depth of technical assembly knowledge among your supervisory staff means they’ll be able to teach new recruits properly and will be able to reliably step into an assembly role if the situation calls for it. Additionally, investing in training for your supervisors makes longer-term sense, given that these are roles that are not as vulnerable to high turnover as line operators. By making sure you’re thoroughly training your higher-level staff on the best practices of IG assembly, you’re ensuring that the right knowledge is already in place even if it’s been tough to staff your line reliably.

Use downtime strategically. Given the pace of demand in recent months, “downtime” may seem like something strange and foreign to many commercial fabricators.

But it does happen. We’re entering the winter months, a traditionally slower period for building and construction. Or perhaps you’re waiting longer than expected on a glass shipment. These are opportunities to build knowledge throughout the shop floor. Here, nothing formal is necessarily required—maybe it’s a quick 30-minute refresher on spacer application. Perhaps it’s a lunch and learn, where your staff will appreciate a hot meal along with the opportunity to grow their skill sets. Or maybe it’s a cross-training exercise, where teams from two separate departments gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to carry out the tasks of their counterparts.

All of these can be valuable, particularly as your organization looks to bring new technologies online and rapidly innovate to succeed in an evolving industry. If you have any training tips you’ve found to be successful on your shop floor, I’d love to hear them. Drop me a line at Joe.Erb@Quanex.com.

Joe Erb is a commercial sales specialist for Quanex.

We’re in the midst of hurricane season. I’m sure you saw the headlines as Hurricane Ida, the most notable storm of 2021, swept into the Gulf Coast and moved across the Eastern Seaboard, leaving significant damage in its wake.

As a commercial construction professional, extreme weather events like these often get me thinking about our industry’s responsibility to deliver building technologies that can withstand whatever Mother Nature throws their way while protecting inhabitants. I’ve written plenty in this space before about thermal efficiency, aesthetics and glass’ ability to create more desirable interior environments— resiliency and weatherability are just as important as any of those things.

The intersection of these capabilities is especially critical as large-format glass grows in popularity. New multi-family and mixed-use architecture, for example, increasingly demands large windows and even multi-panel sliding doors to maximize indoor-outdoor visibility. In these kinds of applications, larger glass panes demand strong framing that can support their weight; thermal performance requirements will also dictate the use of double- and perhaps even triple-paned insulating glass. Depending on where they are used, these units’ abilities to withstand harsh weather conditions are also critical.

Balancing these performance criteria may require new solutions. High-performance vinyl options—like the Quanex 5400 (K2) Sliding Patio Door System that our teams showcased at this year’s GlassBuild America show—are an option here, with their ability to provide the required mix of structural strength and thermal performance. Combined with the right IG package, large, efficient and resilient glass system solutions are attainable for a range of commercial applications.

I expect we’ll continue to see increasing adoption of high-performance, non-metallic framing materials in the near and long-term future. As my colleague Doug Hauck noted in a recent column for DWM Magazine, a USGlass sister publication, on the new draft version of Energy Star 7.0 for residential windows, energy codes and requirements never go backward:

Energy Star Version 7.0 is just an indication of what’s to come. As the saying goes, at some point, you can’t kick the can down the street any farther. So, as we work to make the best of the day-to-day and seize the opportunities right in front of us, we must continue to look forward for opportunities to future-proof our businesses and to stay ahead of the curve by adopting new energy-improving designs.

These lessons are applied just as well to the commercial space. Our journey forward will be a continued push to deliver increasingly efficient glass solutions for new buildings, and it will require the application of new technologies to get there. Close collaboration with technology suppliers, who can help identify the right ways to meet performance targets, will remain important. And while significant challenges that we’ve been busy confronting since the start of the pandemic remain, it’s important that we never lose sight of making progress toward a more efficient and resilient future.

Joe Erb is a commercial sales specialist for Quanex Building Products.

For me, 2021 has flown by, and once again, tradeshow season is upon us. Last year, we dealt with canceled events, pulling together last-minute virtual options and many other unknowns. This year, we’re that much smarter and better prepared for what is ahead of us, whether we get to meet in person, remain virtual or find a combination of both.

That said, many fabricators and window and door companies are in a conundrum that has nothing to do with associations’ decisions for tradeshow events. They are scrambling to meet unprecedented demand, supply chain issues and the ever-present labor shortage and are unsure if they have the time to dedicate to days out of the office for an event.

I think one of the greatest lessons through all the ups and downs our industry—and the economy in general—has weathered is to remain flexible to the variables we can’t control and focus on what we can control. Here are four considerations as we navigate through the rest of the year:

• Find a way to offer both in-person and virtual options. This goes for anything from tradeshows to customer meetings to employee gatherings, if possible. Events and restrictions out of our control may change, but people may also have varying levels of comfort meeting in person as we move into the fall and winter months and our typical flu season. You don’t have to invest thousands in expensive platforms. Video platforms provide excellent options for talking to customers virtually, and there are even some free services to create online tradeshow booth experiences.

• Meet your audiences where they are. At Quanex, we service everyone, from smaller regional shops to large corporations, working with people right out of college to baby boomers. As of 2021, four generations are active in the workplace: baby boomers, millennials, Generation X and Generation Z. While the latter generations tend to be more comfortable with technology and working independently, baby boomers are known to thrive in more team-oriented environments and face-to-face settings. Generational preferences should be accounted for when communicating with both your customers and your internal teams.
• Take care of the demands now while also preparing for the future. The current demand in the building and construction industry can take all your energy to meet, so be sure to carve out time to help your company plan and prepare for what’s to come. For example, the potential of Energy Star 7.0 upping demands for energy efficiency may require a second look at your processes, increased automation or even new technology. All of this takes planning, investment and preparation. The more you prepare on the front end, the better off you’ll be on the back end.

• Stay positive. Though a lot of the future is up in the air and out of our control, remaining nimble to change is imperative. And selling virtually in the B2B world is becoming more and more mainstream. In fact, 70% of B2B decision-makers say they are open to making new, fully self-serve or remote purchases in excess of $50,000. Keeping options open for customers to make decisions in-person or online will provide a more well-rounded and satisfying customer experience.

For now, I’m looking forward to meeting you in person, or virtually, at the coming tradeshows. I’d love to hear your thoughts at Joe.Erb@Quanex.com.