Airplane Reading

Air travel provides a really great opportunity for me to do something I don’t get to do enough: read. One of my favorite airplane reads is Real Simple magazine. I only buy it when I’m traveling, but I really enjoy it. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a magazine that provides articles on making life a bit easier … you know … organizing tips, easy recipes, green living, that sort of thing.

So yesterday I flew from Atlanta to Las Vegas and, yes, I picked up a Real Simple to read on my 4+ hour flight. I was enjoying the articles and one in particular grabbed my attention. “Going Green,” the magazine spread read. It was about how a couple in California transformed their home to be eco-friendly. I was intrigued; I mean glass is certainly green, so surely they upgraded their windows.

Here’s some of what the article talked about: They made their house more energy efficient with GreenFiber Cocoon insulation, which is made from recycled newspapers treated with borate. They use fireplace logs made from recycled coffee grounds. They used paint with no VOCs. Efficient appliances, composting, water aerators and more.

This is all fabulous, but what about the windows? All that the article mentioned was that they used “inexpensive cotton thermal drapes” that “leverage solar heat by blocking it in the summer and catching it in the winter.” Really? Doesn’t glass do the same thing? And if you’ve got to keep these thermal drapes over the windows, don’t you then have to turn lights on, which means you’re using up more electricity. Just a thought.

On another note, I also read a “Green Scene” article in the Delta Sky magazine. This one did talk about the benefits of windows. The article references the book You Can Prevent Global Warming (and save money!): 51 Easy Ways, written by Jeffrey Langholz and Kelly Turner. It talks about how insulated curtains and shades work, but the best option is an EnergyStar window which can “save 50 percent more energy than 10-year old windows and insulate five times better than single-pane windows.”

Maybe someone should pass that info on to that green California couple.

All in th Family

If I had followed either of my parents’ career paths I would today be in the auto parts business (Dad) or working as a nurse (Mom). Instead, I decided to follow my own path and I became a writer. And of that I am glad because I have little interest in knowing anything about cars and I can’t stand needles. That tells me I would not have been much too successful in either of their chosen fields.

But following the career of a parent is not unusual in the glass industry. Actually, it’s quite common. Many glass shops and businesses are family owned and operated, passed down from father to son, father to son, father to … daughter? Yes daughter. A lot more businesses are now being passed on to daughters and these women are managing glass shops and contract-glazing firms.

I was lucky enough to spend time this past week talking to a few of these women who serve as president/CEO of contract glazing companies started by their fathers – Letitia Haley Barker from Haley-Greer in Dallas and Robyn McGinnis from Sierra Glass & Mirror in Las Vegas. I am not going to say anything else about them now, because you will be able to read more about them in an upcoming issue of USG. Patience, patience, patience, please.

Let’s talk more about the family business instead. There are so many out there and I’ve had the opportunity to visit and learn about a lot of them over the years. I think there’s something you find in a family business that you don’t necessarily find in a big corporation. Is it that people care more about the business? Do all the employees become part of the family, making them want to be a part of the business? For all you family businesses out there, what is it for you? What do you think are the distinguishing qualities of a family-owned glass business? Post your replies or send me an email.
Have a great weekend!

A Glassy Distraction

This past Wednesday night the Republican presidential debate was held in the Air Force One Pavilion of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, Calif. Like all good Americans, I’m sure many of you watched it, and like all good glass people I’m sure the first thing you noticed was the structural glass wall system, right?

Being that you read this blog every week oh so religiously, I know that you know how nutty I am about glass—especially structural glass. I find it intriguing so much that a few years ago I wrote an in-depth article for USGlass about the popularity and growth of point-supported and other types of structural glazing. If you missed the article you can read it by clicking here: http://www.usglassmag.com/USGlass/2003/0309/psg.html.

So considering the fact that the most exciting part about the debate was the location, I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I simply had to find out more about that wall.

I found an article in the December 2004 issue California Construction that talked about the expansion of the Reagan Library with the Air Force One Pavilion, which today houses Air Force One No. 27000. The entire construction project was completed in 2005. You can read more about it here: http://www.707sim.com/.

Here’s what the article, written by Greg Aragon, had to say about the glass wall:
“The pavilion’s grandest feature may be a giant 200-feet wide by 80-feet tall glass curtainwall through which the nose of the jet peers … the $2 million wall will give guests a memorable view of Simi Valley and the illusion of flight if they are looking out from the plane.” The article went on to say that the curtainwall is a 11,280-square foot expanse of glass made up of 15 12.5-feet long by 5-feet tall, 625 pound panes.*

(*the writer’s word, not mine. We all know it should have been "lites.")

In addition, “60-feet tall vertical-bow trusses with spider hardware and structural silicone at each intersection connect the [lites] to each other.” Glass for the project was provided by Viracon.

Walters & Wolf was the contract glazier on the project, working closely with Mero Structures Inc., the company that did the design, engineering and installation of the wall. Norm Shane, vice president of Walters & Wolf, said the massive size of the wall made it an extremely challenging job, combined with the fact that it was such a historical structure.

“The fact that it was a presidential museum made it a significant job,” said Shane. “It’s a monument to one of our presidents and it’s striking to view.”

Striking indeed. Check out these pictures that Norm from Walters & Wolf sent me:

If you want, take a minute and tell us about a significant project for your company, and why it was so meaningful.

Top of the Game

It’s no secret, females in the glass and glazing industry are clearly a minority. Personally, I’ve been to many, many conferences, seminars and meetings where I was one of maybe a handful of women in the room. However, over the past few years it does seem like the number of us attending these meetings is increasing.

In the glass industry and many others, women are leading the way for some of the country’s biggest names in business. With that in mind, let’s talk about powerful women for a moment. eBay, Yahoo and Google have more in common than an online domain. High-ranking executives from all three were listed in Fortune magazine’s 2007 list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business:

Rank Name Company Title
3. Meg Whitman eBay President/CEO
20. Sue Decker Yahoo President
29. Sheryl Sandberg Google VP Global Online Sales & Operations

Also making the list (and close to my heart) was Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines. I just love a magazine … and when they’re about my own personal indulgences (shoes and clothes, as found in Harper's Bazaar), well that’s just fine by me.

But what about the glass industry women leaders? There’s more out there than you may realize. Women serve as presidents and/or CEO of more than half a dozen contract glazing companies in the United States. You’ll be able to read about some of them in the March issue of USGlass, which will feature our annual Big Book of Lists.

And if you know a woman who’s running a glass business, it’s still not to late for you to tell us about her. Just click this link http://usglassmag.com/bigbook/ to download the form. Send it in and help us recognize these great leaders.

The Skinny on Lean

One of the things I like most about my work is how I'm constantly learning. I still have those "Ah! I never knew that!" moments. And I think that's true of everyone out there; you have to keep learning. I mean, it's impossible to know EVERYTHING, right?

For me, my latest "aha!" learning experience was finding out how common it is to customize fenestration and even glass processing equipment. I never knew. Until recently I guess I figured that when Company ABC goes to buy a line from Machinery Company XYZ, they would buy exactly what they see before them. Instead, more often than not, individual companies are changing those lines up to meet their specific production needs. And one of the big reasons for customization is lean manufacturing.

Even in the simplest of ways, I try and apply some kind of "lean thinking" to my own everyday routine. For example, I keep my sneakers with my gym bag in the closet where my coat is. That way when I'm heading out to the gym I don't have to go to three different closets. Instead, everything is in the closet by the door, so I can grab it and be on my way.

In my office, I keep paper right beside my printer so that when I run out it's all right there. Pencils and pens are beside a notepad that's right beside the phone. I'm not saying everything is perfectly neat and organized; I've certainly got my share of clutter. But the more you can do to eliminate waste--anything that keeps you from working efficiently--the better off you'll be.

Over the years I've visited a lot of different glass plants and so many of them do really have a flow to them. Glass comes off one line and it's easily moved on to the next. Whatever form of lean manufacturing they are following, I've yet to speak to anyone who said it hadn't improved their production process.

Tell us about some of your lean tips and ways they've helped make your company more efficient and more productive.

Rhyme Time

When I was in high school I took two years of creative writing. And yes, it was the class that truly helped me know what I wanted to do with my life. I’d always loved to write, but the course, along with a really great teacher (Mrs. B., as we called her) helped cement my goals.

One assignment we had was to go through the newspaper find an interesting little news clipping and then write a poem based on the story. For the life of me I can’t remember what I wrote or my news clipping, but I can remember one of my classmate’s (the first couple of lines anyway). She’d clipped a story about some guy stealing a few cases of beer from a local store and her poem started like this:
“Could it be possible? Could it be true? Someone has stolen two cases of brew.” That’s all I remember; it was so catchy it just stayed with me all these years.

Anyway, I started thinking about some of our news items this past week on USGNN, and while there was no mention of stolen beer, there was a story titled “Security Glass Foils Attempted Robbery.” (Here's the link: http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=7595789&nav=menu86_2) That got me thinking and so I put together this little ditty about security glass. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Security Glass Wins Again

The day would soon be ending.
The teller watched the clock tick, ticking.
Counting down the minutes, the time it was descending.

But then something did happen.
A man walked in the bank.
Moving closer to the counter, beside the large fish tank.

The teller smiled politely.
And the man did do the same.
But the reason for his visit, cannot be taken lightly.

A glass wall was between them.
He thought so little of it.
When he reached into his pocket and slipped across the note.

The teller took the paper.
She chuckled at this caper.
Her back she turned to him and then she walked away.

The man he stood there puzzled.
Not sure what had just happened.
And when his hand, it hit the glass, his fist was left a’hurtin.

The glass it was so heavy, nothing light and flimsy.
“I can’t break this! I’m sure to miss. There’s nothing left to do.”

So he turned and left the bank.
For glass had foiled his plan
“I never knew,” the thief did think, “ that glass could be so tough to break.”

Hello 2008!

If you’re like me, the first week of January is always a tough one. Not only do you still have leftover Halloween candy in the pantry, but plenty of other sweet treats leftover from the past two months worth of holiday celebrations are still calling your name. So we resolve to eat less and exercise more … at least until mid-February when Valentine’s Day and chocolate covered everything comes around. So forget the resolutions of eating less and exercising more (that should be an everyday, all-year, way of life anyway).

The other thing about early January, at least for me, is finding inspiration. It’s cold outside and snow is all over the ground. I’m sitting here wanting to write about something new and exciting and all I see is snow!

But then today my husband sent me this link: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19869/page1/
It’s interesting to me because just a few weeks ago I wrote about how the glass box architecture of years past is becoming rare in terms of what we’re seeing today. I liked reading this article and seeing the images of so many worldwide buildings.

I look at these images and the glass the buildings display and I can’t help but be impressed. Not only was someone creative and genius enough to design such structures, but glass has a part—in many of them a major part—in defining what type of structure each building is.

The nearly all-glass Gherkin (see the image at left, © from www.freefoto.com), for example, has “an aerodynamic profile that reduces wind load and creates a difference in air pressure between the inside and outside that draws cooler outdoor air in through the panels in the façade.” The article explains that this unique feature, along with “abundant” natural light (made possible by glass) means the building consumes as little as half as much energy as other office buildings its size.
Images like these bring a certain level of inspiration to what I do. When I see what’s possible to create with glass it’s exciting to think about what we’ll see in the ten years … perhaps even sooner.