FeneTech’s 13^th Fenevision User Conference opened in Cleveland on Monday with a rundown of some impressive numbers from Ron Crowl, president of the software company that serves every aspect of the fenestration industry.

A total of 86 attendees – the most ever in the history of the conference – were on hand for three days of learning and networking at the Marriott Key Center. They came from 42 companies evenly divided between 21 door and window manufacturers and 21 glass firms.

Ron Crowl, president of FeneTech.

Geographically, 26 states and Canadian provinces were represented, as well as five foreign countries, including Norway and Estonia.

Attendees are taking part in 72 sessions covering all things related to the door and window industry, from managing production, inventory and shipping to taking orders from customers. The sessions were divided into four tracks – FeneVision Basics, Glass Focus for Advanced Users, Window & Door Focus for Advanced Users, and Ask the Experts, which invites FeneTech customers to bring questions or just sit in on discussions with FeneVision users and developers.

“The whole conference is very interactive,” said Crowl. “We want to hear your feedback and your ideas, and we really like that interaction.”

Crowl recognized three companies – Intigral, Vista Window and Sunrise Windows – for attending every user conference since 2002. He then turned the podium over to Matt Batcha and Dave Miller of FeneTech, who gave an hour-long update on what’s new with the software.

“A lot of the value is for the customers to come here and interact with other customers,” Crowl said. “Every year it gets a little bit bigger and a little bit better.”

Dave Miller of FeneTech.

He also said the company is doing well amid the ongoing rebound in housing.

“We’re getting more inquiries now than prior to 2008, so that tells me the economy is bouncing back in a strong fashion,” he said.

One attendee said the conference was exceeding his expectations.

“I’ve already picked up several things I didn’t know existed or that they were working on,” said FeneTech customer Toby Nichols of Wincore Window in Parkersburg, W.Va. His company will be upgrading to the latest version of FeneVision, called FeneVision Max, later this month.

Fenetech, which launched in 1996, has expanded internationally, and its software now supports eight languages.  The company received the Crain’s Leading Edge Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011 for innovation and value creation.