In 45 years of general and engineering management, I’ve compiled an extensive list that seems to work to improve innovation at all levels of a company. In a recent article, I found it noted that innovation and new products and services are down 14% compared to 2020. I also hear from our industry friends that […]

“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.”– Theodore Levitt At the recent Fenestration & Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) Annual Conference in San Diego, we held the second annual session on Innovation, titled “Embracing Innovation in the Fenestration industry,” where I served as facilitator. Three award winning organizations presented their innovations in this session. These companies shared […]

“The best way to predict the future is to create it!” — American computer scientist Alan Kay As 2023 gets rolling, we need to take a moment to recognize and realize that the last 30 months have been bizarre for our industry. We battled against deadly viruses, shutdowns, limited start-ups, and then full-go, massive inflation, […]

During the last week, many of us crafted a final response to the EPA concerning the Energy Star Version 7 for windows, doors and skylights. Our last letter to EPA in March ’22 asked for nine changes to be made to the proposal, and EPA accepted one. While it is unlikely that EPA will make […]

Every window and door manufacturer is doing all they can to automate their build and assembly process. We all understand the labor challenges will continue, and we want to make the most of the great people we have now. The real application of innovation is needed to make automation succeed, and the real challenge is […]

“Ownership is the path to innovation, growth, and retention.” Of all the things we must do in ’22, my view is ownership must be the focus at our companies. Why? The core reason is team building. At the end of the historic year of 2021, did you know that 4.2 million workers quit their jobs […]

“It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look farther than you can see.”—Winston Churchill After attending GlassBuild last week and reviewing innovations that can help improve thermal performance, I’m encouraged! The new low-E coatings and combinations of coatings, along with some new work on thin triples, advises us that we can achieve lower […]

Our challenges are many, but our focus is clear: We must continue our quest to keep our teams safe and our customers supplied with essential doors and windows. The strange concurrence of low labor availability with a high unemployment rate and high product demand are at best difficult. There are some innovative basics that will […]

This year has shaped up to be a time of great change—change that is causing upheaval everywhere and is part of a process. During these times, we have great hope in the future of our communities and companies, even though much of what is reported is negative. Positive optimism is the cure for these negative […]

We must “know ourselves” to be better people and better Innovators. During the current challenge, our focus must remain on innovation. Our economy has only seen 10% unemployment for a total of four months over the last 20 years, with one month in 2009 and three in 2020. But we will continue to innovate our way […]