glassblog

I live in New York City, and Sandy was my first hurricane.  I am one of the very lucky.  Except for rattling windows and worry, we were spared the worst of the storm.  We never went dark, never cold, never hungry.  

John Swanson, Window & Door's associate publisher,  lives and works about 90 blocks south of me, and the lights went out.  He came to my apartment last Wednesday to get WDweekly out and charge cell phones and laptops.  He then decamped with his family to his mother's house in Massachusetts for the rest of the week.  

On Saturday afternoon, I walked around Greenwich Village, where the power had just come on. Building doormen commented about the ghost town atmosphere.  Some people I talked to hadn't yet seen the endless images of destruction on Staten Island and Atlantic City, among many others.

As is true in any disaster, where you are relative to the epi-center can mean life, death and degrees of destruction.   For some glass companies in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut last week, scrambling even a few hours before the 'worst storm ever' hit was the difference between maintaining some power and connectivity to the world or none at all.   They were also among the lucky semi-prepared in the face of Sandy’s onslaught.   We're still hearing about others who have lost their homes, their glass business or both.    

To be sure, there are lessons to be learned as mayhem continues in some areas, and clean-up and rebuilding starts in others.  For those of us safe and sound in other parts of the country, as you reach out to help those in need, think, too, about helping yourselves for a future calamity—whatever form it takes. 

As I searched for articles on disaster recovery planning (stay tuned, you’ll see a lot more), here are six steps to start thinking about and implementing now:

1. List events that may cause lost data or technology
2. Safeguard  company data
3. Safeguard the network
4. Safeguard staffing
5. Test the plan
6. Have a recovery plan

You can read the full article, “Disaster Planning in Six Quick Steps,” on Inc.com and also this one, “Disaster Recovery Planning 101.”

It will be a long road for some in our industry to get back to installing glass.  The National Glass Association is reaching out to its members in the affected areas.  We'll update our coverage as we know more.   

Harris is publisher of Glass Magazine and vice president of the National Glass Association. Write her at nharris@glass.org.

One of the many remarkable things about the world’s largest glass industry trade show is how all-encompassing it is. Every means of transforming glass into value-added products is found in glasstec’s nine halls and the booths of its 1,162 exhibitors. This includes flat glass, container glass and even art glass.

Another thing is who you meet. It’s a reunion of American one-week ex-pats I see only in Germany every two years. This year, I was fortunate to also meet several interesting locals, among them, Dr. Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk, curator of the Glass Collection at the Museum Kunstpalast. He invited me to an after-hours tour, which given my show schedule, was the only way I could have seen 3,500 years of glass-making.

A description of this beautiful collection could fill many glassblogs, but the unique thing about it was the new addition of American cut glass. You see, Dr. von Kerseenbrock-Krosigk was once the curator at the Corning Museum in New York and believes that including representative examples from America into a timeline of EMEAI glass art is important (judging from how often I heard this acronym, which stands for Europe, Asia, Middle East and India, it's now the de rigueur reference). 

The next day back at the show, it struck me that America was also uniquely represented at this year’s glasstec. There were several “new” exhibitors, among them Corning, which showed construction-sized Gorilla glass, the super thin, super strong surface you have touched many times over if you own a tablet or smartphone.

Then there was GED, with its “new to Europeans” Intercept line, and also its ATLAS equipment for producing dual or triple IG units. Triple-glazed units started in Europe; the penetration for which may be at 100 percent in Scandinavia, Joe Shaheen, told me with a big smile on his face.

"Re-newed" might be a better description for two other American exhibitors, Guardian and Quanex. Guardian’s “stand,” which is how Europeans refer to exhibit booths, was jammed with customers and worldwide reps all four days of this mega-show. This was, to say the least, a dramatic departure from the float producer’s previous glasstec no-name quarters in Hall 13. Re-branding beyond commodity takes space to display new products like SunGuard, ClimaGuard and InGlass.

Known in the European market as Edgetech, the Quanex Building Products business unit announced a third warm-edge extrusion line for its still relatively new Heinsburg, Germany, plant. The company estimates it will produce 1 billion feet of product by 2013, forecasting 30 percent growth in sales this year. “We have a very simple philosophy, said Andy Jones, managing director of Quanex’s European operations, “when we get to 80 percent capacity, we add a new line.”

Of course, there’s a darker side about capacity in the worldwide glass business. I spoke to one European veteran of glass recessions past who listed the 12 most recent European float plants in cold shut down or on hot-hold. A hot-hold, or slow production/under repair facility, is these days likely to become a cold and permanent shut down. All the float glass manufacturers—AGC/Glaverbel, Guardian, NSG/Pilkington and Saint-Gobain—are affected.

But as I learned at the Museum Kunstpalast, the glass ribbon of history that stretches across the centuries is marked by economic, political and social change—and human ingenuity. Back at the NGA/Glass Magazine co-hosted North American pavilion where 20 of the 57 North American exhibitors met with customers and prospects the world-over, Doug Canfield, Casso-Solar Technologies, Pamona, N.Y., was busy working up quotes for the steady flow of prospects he’d met with. And for Stewart Engineers, it matters not that in the past five years 80 float lines have been taken out. For this North Carolina specialist in float glass facility engineering, where one goes cold, there’s another about to be fired up.

Post-Sandy P.S.—Listening to New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, on the morning news, it’s clear that glass companies in the path of the storm will be dealing with the aftermath for some time.  Let us know what you hear. 

The week ahead features the largest glass show in the world with the opening of glasstec in Germany. glasstec takes place every other year, and it will be interesting to see if it continues the very positive trade-show trend that has been in play throughout 2012.  What we have seen in last several months is that the hunger for information and networking that the trade-show scene brings is strong, so it leads me to believe we have some encouraging steps taking place in our world. 

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.

It is my opinion that the presidential election on November 6 will be a life-changing event. Others are watching it too. Last week, the Dodge Momentum Index report specifically focused on the election as a reason for the results. The index slipped in August and has been struggling recently. Analysts basically blamed it on the election and the uncertainty stemming from it. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the result of November 6, no matter what it is, will have a major effect on our industry and how we go forward. Will the closure that comes from the election make a difference? I am hearing yes and no. From some sides, it’s a resounding yes; but others believe that the gridlock and malaise will continue no matter what.

Elsewhere…

• Last week, Glass Magazine's Jenni Chase had one of the best glassblog posts of ALL TIME. Her piece on being a glass geek was excellent, and if you missed it, please check it out here. My geek story is from the opening of the Pittsburgh Airport in 1992. It featured TONS of glass, and it was the first airport to feature a mall in it. Since it was pre 9-11, you could meet people at the gates, and you could shop while you waited. Anyway, my brother and I went out there right after it opened, just to look at the glass...and see all the logos. We were on our knees looking at logos on the glass by the automated walkways, and craning our necks to see logos up high on an all-glass storefront. Needless to say, we looked like we were either idiots or casing the joint. Anyway, Jenni’s piece, and the great comments that came from it, were excellent reading.

• Yet another reason I struggle with the Department of Energy: last week, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review ran a story about athletes getting special breaks from the government, and the good ‘ole DOE was at it again. From the story:
  
  Agassi's Las Vegas nonprofit took $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to help erect the "Alternative Energy School of the Future." According to the agency, the money was earmarked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, solely for the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education -- no other schools need apply.
  
  Wow. Now politics aside, why is the DOE giving $1.5 million to anyone for something like this? And is a tennis player’s charity the right place for that amount of money? Really? The rest of the story can be found here, and it’s infuriating.

• For those of you who have been in the industry awhile, the name Jim Bradford is familiar. He is the former president of both AFG (before it was known as AGC) and the old United Glass Corp. Bradford left the industry way back at the start of the last decade and has been successful in his ventures. This past week, however, he made news when he was embroiled in a mini controversy at Cracker Barrel, where he is a board member. Here’s the Cracker Barrel side and the very intense response from their largest shareholder, who is not happy.

• Last this week, the poor Washington Nationals. Man, who would think me picking them for the World Series would jinx them in the 9th inning of game 5? Now it is obvious there is no more fortunate/clutch team in the world than St Louis. Wow. And as for the Yankees, losing Derek Jeter surely isn’t a good thing. Ouch.

Read on for links and video of the week...

The author is founder of Sole Source Consultants, a consulting firm for the building products industry that specializes in marketing, branding, communication strategy and overall reputation management, as well as website and social media, and codes and specifications. E-mail him at MaxP@SoleSourceConsultants.com.

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Glass Association, Glass Magazine editors, or other glassblog contributors.