Clear Impact Podcast

Chris Hewitt and I discuss our internal quality testing using a water wall at our PGT Venice facility. Our quality teams choose to far exceed the testing requirements set in place by AAMA, and are intentional about the depth, detail, and frequency of this testing. We cover the details of how this test is performed, and why it’s important for our customers and homeowners.

With about half of our PGT production being vinyl, we wanted to be sure to discuss how vinyl gets its color. How do we keep our products from fading, cracking and chipping? Why don’t we do a full black extrusion? What is cap stock vinyl? How do we meet the expectations of our customers for long-lasting, high-quality products? Listen to Chris Wolf as he shares details about vinyl extrusion color.

Chris Wolf brings his experience as our Supplier Quality and Development Manager, working with our suppliers to chat about our aluminum extrusion finishes. What is the best coating for your windows and doors? Is it anodized or liquid paint or powder coat? How does an aluminum product look like wood? And what is a paint farm? This is a great conversation, and you’ll learn a lot!

Bobbi Jo Henry returns to discuss the sourcing of extrusions and hardware for our products. When demands fluctuate, aligning those demands with capacities of our vendors, is where the science of forecasting comes in. Aluminum, vinyl, colors, and varying lengths for our extrusions, plus thousands of pieces of hardware, make for some large spreadsheets. Maintaining great vendor relationships helps us keep what is needed to meet our customers' demands.

Did you know that there is no such thing as a perfect piece of glass? Chris Hewitt and John Baumgartner and their teams work hard to exceed the industry standards (ASTM) and certifications (SGCC and IGCC) to provide the best quality possible in our products. We discuss testing, which includes breakage tests, measuring, distortion, and suction cup marks. This is a fact-filled conversation that will educate you regarding glass quality.

We know supply chain challenges can disrupt things, right? Fortunately, we have an amazing team, led by Bobbi Jo Henry, who makes sure we have the glass we need for our custom orders. They serve our production teams using a variety of suppliers. Calculating demand and capacity, purchasing in advance of the actual orders makes this function mission critical for our production.

With energy efficiency becoming a bigger focus, providing insulating glass is a necessity. Joe Marozzi shares about our world-class equipment, including a TPS system that is top of the industry. It actually chemically bonds to the glass, along with a secondary spacer. This system ensures that seal failures just do not happen in our products, at least in the last 8 million units.

Each kind of glass, colors, thicknesses, and Low-E all need to be treated differently when it comes to heating. As a custom manufacturer, we meet the demands of our customers and offer so many varieties! Each option needs its own recipe, and our very own Ronnie Sopcich is known in the industry as "The Recipe Master". His work helps our Glass Operation to process glass as efficiently as possible.

Today we learn about XYZ cutters, cranes, auto seamers, and glass washers. Ryan Smith shares a bit about this critical process and why efficiency is so vital to our operations. Different thicknesses, coatings, color, texture options, as well as custom shapes keep things interesting for him and his team.

Jason Anderson is a bit like an orchestra conductor at our Glass Operations, but his official role is Production Manager. He helps make sure that our glass keeps moving in the right direction at the right time. Jason also helps with our customer tours while keeping his eye on the big picture.