RESOURCES

Many businesses are unaware that their products might be linked to modern slavery. The complexity of multinational supply chains can obscure this harsh reality. This article will help you recognize warning signs in your suppliers' practices, especially in areas and industries where the risk is higher. Read on to find out how your sourcing decisions can make a difference.

After two years of pandemic, the glass and glazing industry has good reasons to be optimistic. However, this positive outlook comes with several challenges that will affect the decisions of all glass and glazing professionals in their aim to continue to grow profitably.

Architects and engineers are constantly pushing the limits of what architectural glass and glazing systems can do.

While we don’t know what the future holds, we’d like to draw your attention to seven key trends and their impact on the glass and glazing industry. Some had already caught our attention in 2020, while others are a direct consequence of the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Glass Build America is truly a great event to connect and learn for everything and all in the glass and fenestration industries. This edition was once again a great success and here are a few trends on the commercial side that we came across both on the floor and during the education and demos.

Traditionally, the role of procurement has essentially been to cut down costs. This makes sense in a commoditized market where price is the ultimate differentiating factor. But today’s industry trends have forced manufacturers to provide more advanced glass products.

Supplier consolidation is a great way to reduce costs and improve supply chain effectiveness, but it doesn’t come without risks. Disasters around the world often expose the global supply chain to risks and threats.

Whether launching a new product line, improving an existing product’s performance or reducing manufacturing costs, manufacturers of curtain walls and architectural glass and glazing go to great lengths to create new or improved extrusion designs.

Ask any engineer in the glazing industry their main criteria for selecting suppliers and the answers are likely to be along these lines: “We only work with innovative suppliers. We have to be ahead of industry trends. Product quality matters, and it has to meet the specs.”

In today’s innovative, technologically advanced glazing world, very few single parts can possibly handle all of the relevant applications, particularly when it comes to glazing products. Somewhere down the line, you’ll be forced to compromise. How do you choose between a standard of custom part? What do you need to know to make the best decisions?

Stay current in the commercial space for curtain walls and facades. We have done the trend research for you, so you can dive right in and start heading in the right direction.

Let’s assume for a moment that you have unlimited resources and could meet all your customers’ requests. Should you? Probably not.

Customer representatives are indeed the front line of your brand’s reputation. Treat unhappy customers badly and they’ll go from simply annoyed to full-on angry. They’ll share their criticisms with colleagues, leave you, or vent their frustration on social media platforms and online review sites. Whatever the reaction, it hurts your business.

In an ever-changing business environment with fierce competition, managers need to constantly seek out new ways to improve their products or components. Continuous improvement is an important ingredient for innovation, which in turn ensures staying competitive and profitable.

Sustainable and responsible business are no longer merely buzzwords or a concern only for large corporations looking to improve their reputation or win-over more customers, it has become crucial to the strategy of any size company who strives to remain competitive in this complex market environment.

Any manufacturing organization knows that keeping excess inventory is costly. A proven way to keep it low? Just in time (JIT).

As more and more manufacturers struggle to survive, this white paper reviews the challenges of competing on price while maintaining acceptable profit margins, and explores the benefits of active collaboration between engineering, manufacturing, and procurement.

The greatest misconception about cost management in procurement today is that price reductions equal cost savings. To help you make better informed sourcing decisions, this white paper reviews the danger of placing too much importance on unit costs and the benefits of working with a supplier who truly understands all the factors that influence the supply chain’s effectiveness and efficiency.