US Glass News---Oct. 27, 2019

Here is the what the glass news for, October 27, 2019, would look like if written by a blogger that has way too much time on his hands and a mind that wanders.

Singapore. CR Laurence, the sprawling Los Angeles based supplier of everything for the glass industry opened their 265th distribution center, located in Singapore. Don Friese, Chairman of CRL Worldwide, was on hand for the ribbon cutting. The famous CRL catalog is now available in 35 languages, serving the 54 different countries where CRL has a warehouse.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PPG denied the rumor, again, that the glass division is up for sale. The offer from the government of China was made public this week on the glass channel, a large industry-specific cable/satellite channel, available in over two billion homes across the world. PPG, the innovator of bio-luminescent paint has seen glass sales slip to 1% of their company's two and half trillion dollars of sales. The Chairman of PPG said, "Now that PPG Bio Paint is used in every home in the world, glass has slipped a little in focus, but we will not forget our past." Most outsiders agree that if the price were right, the glass division would be sold.

New York City, New York. The Freedom Tower has been given it's building permit by the City of New York. The Tower, clad in standard three-inch IG, made with Blast-Resistant, ninth generation Low-E, should be ready for occupancy by 2021, in time for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

Owatonna, Minnesota. ViraArch has announced the purchase of the Grayson Glass Company from Cleveland. The new company will be called ViArGra. The officers of the new company have promised a hard effort to please their customers and stockholders.

Cleveland, Ohio. Speaking of Cleveland, the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is still made of glass, and that is the only news from Cleveland.

Toledo, Ohio. The Mayor of Toledo wants to know why we are speaking of Cleveland; isn't Toledo the glass capital of Ohio?

Midland, Michigan. Dow Corning has announced their newest silicone product. Each tube of Dow 34567 has three colors in each tube, so you never have the wrong silicone with you on the truck. Dow is working on a new name for the tri-colored silicone. VanChocStraw Silicone has already been passed over.

Dublin, Ireland. Oldcastle has announced that the glass division now makes up over 50% of the company's revenue. The purchase of the entire glass production of Japan has been credited with helping the glass division's growth.

Somewhere in New Mexico. The giant (249 sq mile) solar collector which will supply electricity to the Southwest US has continued its construction on schedule. With the glass front plate being delivered from Viet Nam, about 10,000 sq ft per day is being assembled. At this rate, it will only take 1,902 years to complete the installation. The owner's rep has commented that with the low costs of labor, the Vietnamese glass is cost effective for this type of job.

Garisonville, Virginia. US Glass Magazine has announced their participation in the ear chip program. This allows US Glass readers to have a computer chip embedded in their scalp to continuously receive the US Glass News, and highlights from the glass channel 24 hours a day, with limited commercial interruption. The chip will be free to qualified readers.

Miami, Florida. Max Perilstein's two hour, daily, show on the glass channel has received the award for excellence from the Florida ASPCA, for Max's in-depth story on how some Florida Marlins lived through a vicious attack by some Pirates from the Pittsburgh area. We know Max's love of fish stories.

Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Paul Bieber's glass blog continues to hit new lows with bad jokes and weird columns. This has been an ongoing trend for many years, and looks likely to continue.

Why Did Bieber the Blogger Go To Cooperstown?

Why did Bieber the Blogger go to Cooperstown?

I am here to tell the glass universe that there is indeed glass in the Baseball Hall Of Fame. This is a pure research mission in my quest to learn more about the uses of our great product.

And, if you believe that....

My wonderful wife, Elaine, gave me a three day trip here as a gift for a recent birthday. I feel like a kid in a candy shop. Just about everyone who know me knows that I enjoy baseball, and since Cooperstown is the center of the universe, here we are.

Elaine and I arrived here this morning, spent the day looking at old baseballs and uniforms, and I can tell you, it just doesn't get better than this.

So, since this is supposed to be a glass blog, here is what I have to report:

• Not a darn thing!

I'll catch you next week with a real column about glass; until then, Elaine and I are on vacation. See you soon.

Lyle Hill Should Have Won The Nobel Peace Prize

He's from Chicago; people read what he writes; he has negotiated a peaceful settlement with the all the union trades in the glass industry; he was disappointed when the Olympics went south; who is this super man?

It is really Lyle Hill who should have won the Nobel Prize.

The comments after the announcement could fit either man to a "T":

"Why Him?"
"Maybe he will do more in the future."
"It was done with smoke and mirrors."

I have learned that Lyle's cadre of fiendish friends stuffed the ballot box in Oslo. You know who they are--led by the Mooch. They went by the hundreds to vote for Lyle. They even had his name written down on their shirt sleeves so they wouldn't forget it. They sneaked into the room with the ballot box and opened the ballots. That's when the panic ensued. Lyle's name was not on the ballot, and there was no room for a write-in. They looked at each other and said that since President Obama was from Chicago, that would be close enough. Everyone would know that if someone from Chicago won, people would know it really would be Lyle. So they voted for President Obama.

The right-wingers have all complained about the President getting the prize, but not a one of them has suggested an alternative. We have to start a "Substitute Lyle For Oslo" campaign. We need to put this on billboards along Lake Michigan, and shout it from the top of the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier. Every email you send should include the "Substitute Lyle" mantra.

If you rearrange the letters in Rush Limbaugh's name, it spells: "Lyle Hill is the best guy to ever come out of Chicago and he deserves the prize." (Rush has a long middle name that not many know!)

During the last century, at a Cubs game, Lyle bought some Cracker Jacks, and pulled a prize with two parts. It was his first 2-piece prize, and ever since then, he knew this Oslo based thing was his destiny.

Let us all come together to support a peaceful man, in our peaceful industry, from the non-partisan city of Chicago.

P.S. If Lyle does win, he gets $1,400,000 as a gift from the Nobel Institute. I hope that Lyle will donate this to the new owners of the Chicago Cubs to help them sign pitching. Thanks, Lyle.

Author's Note: I am very proud that our American President was honored by the Nobel Committee. The world hopes that President Obama will lead us to a more peaceful earth.

There Is Always Next Year

I am a Mets fan. I have been a Mets fan. I will continue to be a Mets fan. "There is always next year" is my mantra. With the season ending on Sunday, I have spoken these words yet again. It's easy to speak these five words for a baseball fan; a glass shop owner can't say them. You don't get an off season to regroup and practice. Next year starts when the alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning. So, let's look at some easy and quick ideas to start turning things around.

Scenario: Your accountant just told you that you lost money during the last quarter.

Buck up and say thank you to the accountant. You can't recapture the money, so moping around won't do any good. Have the accountant tell you where you lost the money...was it selling too low, was labor too high, was your overhead climbing too fast? A good accountant will be able to see this easily. Then, sit down that evening and look at why the problem area occurred and make a list of ten or more possible solutions to the problem. Now, go to sleep. In the morning, look back at your list with a fresh focus, and you will see that three or four ideas are just plain silly, one or two will cost more than they save, and one or two may just work. That's your target.

If you don't have any ideas, reach out to your second in command at the shop, sharing the problem and asking for solutions. Ask your accountant, your lawyer or any business advisor you have. Maybe another glass shop across town will be glad to talk with you.

Write a program that fixes your problem, based on the two ideas that you kept. Sleep on it again, and if it still looks good, then you start to implement.

Great words, Paul, but what are the possible fixes if you lost money last quarter? Most of the people I have been talking with have their payroll as low as it can go. People have time to shop around, so you are probably buying at good prices. The most common thing I hear is that selling prices are so low that no one is making any money. How then, can you raise prices when the market is soft?

Bid on work that can go to any bidder, not jobs that are required by law to go to the lowest bidder. This may cause a change in your business plan, and that is OK, the economy has changed, and you can change with it.

Give your potential customer, Sam Geecee, greater value. When you give a bid, list all of the extra points your company will include:

• Washing every window you install;
• Do the work on the evenings in an office building so they won't be displaced from their normal work effort;
• Eat any small extras, up to a preset value, telling Sam that you are a service company;
• Stress all of the warranties you are passing through from your vendors, give a warranty of a year or two on all of your work;
• Stress the high quality of the materials you use for sealants, piggyback on the good will of the name brands, avoiding the bargain stuff;
• Explain how your glass and metal is energy efficient, assist Sam with understanding LEED points, show how much Sam will save in energy costs;
• Build a small mock-up, when Sam didn't ask for one, to make sure everyone is on the same page;
• Always look clean and neat in every contact with your potential customer, sure you have work clothes on but your shirt is tucked in, your hair neat, and your paperwork doesn't have coffee stains;
• Take them on a tour of your glass fabricator's plant, if nearby, showing the quality of the product you will be installing;
• Promise Sam his punch list will be done promptly, and then do it promptly--this is what you will be remembered by;
• Offer to take Sam around to other similar installations you have done to verify your skills;
• Promise that your employees will always look presentable on the customer's job site

OK, here are a few great ideas, and a few that are a real stretch---that is exactly the point. Some you throw out, some you implement.

This can help raise your selling prices by maybe a point or two, so, let's try it.

Glass Show Seminars I Would Like To See

The big show is coming to Atlanta. I was looking over the list of seminars, and while they looked very interesting and informative, there were some I thought were missing. Since I can see the future, here are some seminars from a glass show of the future:

• How To Read The Calendar (Section I)--For Glass Shops---learn how to smudge dates on purchase orders; how to prove your fabricator was late and can be back charged; discover why your vendor's payment terms of 30 days really equals 75.

• How To Read The Calendar (Section II)--For Fabricators---learn how to easily add a week for delivery and keep most of your customers happy; Why does saying Monday really mean Tuesday, in English and Spanish; How to blame: a) the fax machine b) the clerk you fired yesterday; 10 surefire excuses for missing delivery dates

• How To Order Chinese Glass--It Is Easier Than You Think---Pick a building owner planning to sell the building within six months, eliminating concern with impossible re-orders; prepare a press release saying you believe in the international economy for all peoples; Have the glass delivered at night in plain, unmarked crates

• A Seminar On The Many Uses For Failed IG Units---Our speaker told us he had nothing to discuss...we will reschedule this for next year

• A First Timer's Look At Tempered Shower Doors---They are so easy that any glazier can do them; Why the phrase "out-of-square" means nothing; How to measure doors to a 1/4" tolerance; How to order a Mickey Mouse notch without out the need for the Goofy drawings; 5 ways to place your own tempered logo on annealed glass

• A Presentation on Sexist and Racist Jokes That Are Acceptable In Every Glass Shop---Our presenter will tell you how to offend everyone without breaking the law; Why sexist jokes work better with props; Telling racist jokes in multiple languages

• How Smoking Pot On The Job Will Help You Lift Those Heavy IG Units---(There is an additional $20 fee for the hands-on section of this seminar) Smoking pot gives you super-human feelings...How to channel this energy to productive work; Sharing the good stuff so every one can work at the same pace; The timing of giving pot to your customers...before the final inspection or with the presentation of the invoice; Discover the list of employers who don't drug test

• Fashions Of The Glass Worker---10 different blue jean styles that will show the top of your butt; Wearing T-shirts with foul language and obscene pictures actually makes you feel better; Why changing your clothes at least once a week will be good for business

• Why The Wage And Hour Laws Don't Apply To You---Paying taxes restricts your rights; Overtime laws are for sissies; The proper amounts to offer as bribes for various situations

A Eulogy for Cheshire

This is an odd blog. I lost an old friend this past week. The passing was quite unexpected, but then again, I hadn't seen the reports prior to the death announcment. Oldcastle Glass announced the closing of their plant in Cheshire, CT., which was one of the plants I was involved with for twenty years at Floral Glass, and then with Oldcastle Glass.


This one hit home with me. This is not some statistic. I hired or promoted many of the people there, worked with them, praised them, and when necessary, took them to the wood shed. It was a simple plant, back in the day. Our parent plant provided a lot of their material, and they did a good job redistributing tempered and making IG. They were a dominent force in southern New England, more based on the personality of the players than on the glass pricing and service levels. This was a plant based on people's interactions with customers.


And yet, things must change, must move on. Oldcastle Glass invested heavily in this plant, placing a modern tempering line and handling equipment there. They upgraded the computers, and trained folks in the Oldcastle Glass systems. So, with great people, and new equipment, what happened?


Damned if I know. Oldcastle Glass does not have me on their speed dial list any more. They didn't ask my permission to close this plant. In fact, they probably blamed me somehow. Such is life. The scuttlebut I heard was that the profitablitly of the plant just wasn't there, and the number crunchers had to make a tough decision.


I hope this was a tough decision. I hope they considered the forty or so families that this impacted. I hope they debated this for quite a while in the home office, maybe came up with ideas to hold on somehow. I guess, in the long run, they didn't come up with that magic idea that would change the economy around Cheshire, CT. There was on going conversations with a local union and this might have had some impact. Who knows. We are not supposed to know. America is based on private enterprise, and Oldcastle Glass has to do what is in the best interest of their stockholders. It is just that I knew these people who lost their jobs.


If you are in the glass industry in central Connecticut, keep your eyes open for a lot of good employees who are looking for work. Dig around, they are there, and are really good people.

Are You Ready For The End Of The Recession?

"Hey, Bieber, what are you talking about...I'm not worried about the end of the recession...I just want to survive during the recession." So I said to Negative Norman, "You have to look ahead, and here is what you can do."

First, accept the fact that the recession will end. They always do. Your job is to decide when it will end for your business. You want to be taking actions three to six months before the business turns around. When will it turn around? Look at the leading indicators in your business area. Are there building permits being pulled? Are the drafting services starting to get busy? Are the architects calling for specs? Is there a new Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks going in the area, or being renovated? Watch the big companies, and you don't need your own economist to advise you.

Once a month, call the human resources office at the biggest company in your area and ask if they are hiring. If they say no for the next two months, and in the third month, they say yes, that can be your signal.

OK, you feel the economy may start growing again, what do you do?

• Get all vacations out of the way now. You don't want people taking time off when you want to respond to business.
• Get your trucks fixed up, painted, cleaned, and ready to roll each day.
• Finish painting and decorating your showroom; people will be coming in. Replace the burned out light bulbs and update your displays!
• Finish the computerization you have been working on. You don't want any distractions.
• Meet with your vendors to get current pricing on your main products, with the intent of increasing volume. Most glass fabricators are hungry and will respond well to this.
• Look at a few new items to carry in your showroom...maybe a wood or vinyl window, how about a sandblasted shower door.
• The hottest thing I keep seeing is color infused glass. Lear more about this from your fabricators.
• Get current literature and specs on the products you currently work with. Be ready to quickly respond to architects and builders about the energy-efficiency numbers of low-e.
• Spend a couple of bucks and get your crew new T-shirts. Nothing spells success like a sharp looking installation team, and nothing is worse than a poor looking team when someone walks into your shop.
• Get rid of the trash around your building. Customers don't want to buy from a junk dealer, and if they do, they are not the customers who will be spending the big bucks.

The single most important thing you can do? Set your attitude to positive. Let your employees know how you feel, and make it infectious.

You may be off by a month or so; so what. The economy will turn, I personally guarantee it. I just don't know when for your area.