GlassBuild America has entered America’s heartland for the first time in its history, as the show rides into Dallas. The three-day event runs until Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. It features more than 500 exhibitors showcasing machines and products throughout the glass, glazing and fenestration supply chain.
For several door and window exhibitors, Dallas was the perfect location for this year’s event.
Thumbs-Up for Dallas
“We like Dallas,” says Rich Brevik of Argon Filling Systems (AFS) Inc. “It’s nice to have a change from Atlanta and Las Vegas. I think people will be happy to have a little break.”
“It looks like it’s going to be a good event,” says Donald McNier, director of sales (retail and OEM) for ODL. “It’s a nice facility. There are a lot of vendors showing up. We’re hoping to have a good attendance.”
Having customers visit a more central location is more helpful than visiting the East and West Coast, McNier says.
“So far, it’s good,” says Aaron Holschbach, field service manager of PDS IG Equipment. “Good venue, good space and good hotels nearby. The show looks good. If we pick up more business in Texas that would be great.”
James Meeks, director of sales for Nova Plastech, applauds the new location. “We’re looking at a lot of booths and great attendance so far,” Meeks says. “We’re expecting a large crowd. The mood seems to be really upbeat. We have a lot of business in Texas, as Houston is a hub. This is an excellent venue for us.”
What’s on the Menu?
“We’re showing our Argon machines,” says Brevik. “We have a couple of AFS 4s and an Eco series machine as well for smaller plants that do lower volume of insulating glass units (IGU). On the Glasspro side, we’re showing our Iso-tech spacer, a single-seal, warm-edge spacer and some semi-automatic equipment for sealing and completing the insulating glass (IG) process.”
“Our newest product here is our Blinds + Glass XL,” says McNier. “It’s an extra-large blind that can go up to 28 square feet. That allows us to reach a light commercial market with larger-sized glass openings. We just introduced it this year. It’s going well. We’re looking to get placement with customers. There’s a lot of interest.”
“We are showing our spacers,” says Holschbach. “We make our own spacer for single-spacer dual-pane windows and produce slit-spacers for triple-pane glass. We have all the equipment that produces them, full IG lines and trimers for vertical glass. We’re also showing some new vertical trimmers and IG lines.”
An Eye toward Dockworker Strikes
Meeks says the International Longshoremen’s Association’s dockworker strike will likely impact Nova and the import and export of goods across most industries.
“We’re a manufacturer in Thailand,” says Meeks. “We do container direct sales to key customers, such as Quanex and ODL. We’re a tier-one sub-supplier.”
According to media reports, the strike would include around 45,000 union members demanding higher wages. The strike could last weeks and shut down ports throughout the United States. It is the first strike by the union since 1977.
“We’re just waiting for the hammer to fall,” says Meeks.
He says that when the strike rumors started, Nova started shipping goods from the West Coast, specifically through Los Angeles, for anything west of Tennessee. The company used to send ships through the Panama Canal up to the U.S. East Coast.
In the meantime, Meeks and other exhibitors are looking to get all they can out of the show.