This time last year, National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) launched a campaign to encourage more people—builders, remodelers, architects, individual homeowners and others—to not take the state of their windows for granted. The campaign has had success with several national organizations, industry groups and magazines, and a few manufacturers are joining the effort. But there is […]

“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, […]

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 […]

I was in the woods in my hunting blind earlier this week and, of course, checking my emails when all of a sudden, my cell phone died. I plugged it into my portable charger only to discover that battery power wasn’t the issue. It was just plain broke. I was hunting alone, so this made […]

Safety remains as critical as ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Cook, director of corporate safety for Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope (OBE) shared some safety tips in his session, “Safety Awareness in the Pandemic,” during the second day of the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) 2020 Virtual Fall Conference. Cook explained how companies operated in January […]

Safety, security and acoustic performance—all are benefits of laminated glass. But what happens when someone in hurricane-prone Miami, for example, in a busy neighborhood, wants glazing that combines sound control with the required hurricane performance? That’s somewhat of a challenge, said Steve Bennison, a technology fellow with Kuraray, who discussed a new laminated glass technology […]

The employees at Quanex Building Products will never forget the importance of safety. Partly because it’s built into their culture, but also because they lost employee Tim Harris several years ago who was killed when visiting a window plant. Mike Burk will never forget either. Partly, because he has devoted much of his career to […]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an updated National Emphasis Program (NEP) instruction on amputations in December 2019 as part of efforts to identify and reduce amputation hazards in manufacturing industries. “Amputations are among the most severe and disabling workplace injuries that often result in permanent disability,” reads the OSHA Safeguarding Equipment and […]

Quanex Building Products’ Cambridge, Ohio, facility recently achieved more than 1 million man-hours worked without a lost-time injury—a significant milestone that is a part of the company’s overall safety culture, according to the company. “At Quanex, we’ve seen a reduction in accidents and injuries that can be attributed to a great safety culture that starts […]

Improving jobsite safety is a priority of many door and window, as well as glass and glazing companies. Creating a safety culture that is integrated into a company’s culture of quality workmanship is an effective way to get workers thinking about safety throughout the project. In the webinar “Finding Gold at the Intersection of Construction […]