In the context of a modern, globalized and highly digitalized world, the success of glass processing plants to a great extent depends upon how well they embrace the latest IoT-based technologies. The amount of automation and smart data enabled by IoT are two primary factors that define a company’s efficiency, operating speed, and ultimately, competitiveness. No wonder the most progressive glass processors are looking for ways to tap into this particular niche.
Before we can look forward into 2020, time for one more look back at 2019 and specifically at my predictions for the industry posted one year ago. Let’s see how I did!
Happy New Year! We are off and running in 2020, and I am excited about all to come this year. Each year on this blog I start off with reviewing my predictions from the previous year, and then I go to my predictions for the year ahead. Next week is when I’ll look back, and the week after is when I’ll make my “money back guaranteed” predictions for 2020.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Michael and Valarie Gomm, the husband-and-wife team behind the new The Glass Guru franchise in Wichita, Kansas. Michael and Valarie first became aware of, and interested, in the franchise when they experienced a failed window of their own. We discussed Michael's background in the aerospace industry, Valarie's work as the family "CFO," the recession--averse nature of the community-based glass business, and more.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” sounds great, and I’m not one for presumptions. However. If I am honest, I’m guilty. I judge some things positively, and others negatively, but I have noticed these days my judgement is routinely related to websites.
This year, I had the opportunity to participate in a leadership conference—and yes, it happened to be geared towards women working the construction industry. However, I would say that the key takeaways I got from this two-day conference and networking event would benefit not just women, but anybody in our industry.
Project management is many things. The term project management is a broad category. It can be defined and manifested in many ways. There are key aspects and processes to the role of project management that need to be executed in order to achieve success. Project management in one company differs from that of another, yet there should be some common ground, some similarities, across all of project management in the AEC industry.
Do you recognize this scenario? An employee armed with pen and paper wanders through the warehouse checking supplies. If supplies are low, the employee returns to the office inputting an order via telephone, email or fax. Valuable time is lost jeopardizing delivery dates.
I was recently turned onto a podcast called The Rewatchables, which features a round table discussion of movies the hosts can’t seem to stop watching. This show is insightful without being boring, and the cast is hilarious. Recently I listened to an episode where they broke down the 80s classic, “Top Gun.” Like most people, I believed that I already had a pretty good take on the movie. But the podcast made me look at “Top Gun” in an entirely new light.
Within the shower enclosure world there is a constant debate on what is truly a frameless enclosure. It’s interesting that industry professionals would have different opinions about what is and isn’t frameless.