Fereastra - Portal de afaceri - revista de specialitate pentru furnizorii de sisteme si producatorii de tamplarie din PVC, Aluminiu si lemn stratificat cu geam termoizolant. Aici gasiti informatii utile despre: ferestre, usi, pereti cortina, termopane, geam termopan, etc.

Parte a grupului Guardian Industries, Guardian Glass este unul dintre cei mai importanti furnizori mondiali de sticla float. Compania, cu sediul central in Auburn Hills, Michigan - SUA, implementeaza in mod constant o strategie orientata spre crearea de valoare pentru clientii sai si punand accent pe inovare, privita ca principala parghie pentru dezvoltare. Portofoliul de produse include o gama diversa de modele de sticla pentru aplicatii arhitecturale, tehnice, de design interior si transport. Solutiile Guardian caracterizate printr-o inalta performanta energetica, din gama de joasa emisivitate (Low-E), sunt proiectate pentru a indeplini cele mai exigente cerinte de tehnice si estetice. In continuare, Guus Boekhoudt, vicepresedinte al Guardian Glass, Europe & Rusia si Managing Director, Guardian Europe, se refera pe larg la noutatile incluse recent in portofoliu, oferind, totodata, detalii interesante cu privire la strategia de dezvoltare a grupului nord-american pe piata europeana.   

 

- How would you describe the current situation of the international flat glass market for architectural applications? Please, briefly refer to demand and supply, the balance between these elements, the business environment, competition etc.
- In Europe, glass demand is growing and expected to continue to grow. We can point to several trends that drive this growth. One is the ongoing shift from double to triple glazing, especially in Europe, for more energy-efficient commercial and residential windows. Another is represented by the general trend to increase natural light in residential and commercial buildings to improve occupant health and wellbeing. Also, is visible a general economic recovery in many countries which spurs construction and innovation. When we look around the world, we are seeing fairly positive economic growth in Brazil, driven by construction sector and modest construction growth. North America continues to be strong fueled by both robust construction and automotive industry. There is an economic slowdown in China that is mildly affecting the rest of Asia Pacific and the confidence in the Asian region, but this can also create opportunity. Guardian benefits by having a strong diversified global footprint so we are able to adapt at all regional uncertainties as they arise.

 

- What were the measures implemented in your company to align at the new trends in the industry, in terms of digitization, Industry 4.0 etc.? To what extent those measures have contributed to the current development of Guardian Glass?
- We constantly strive to improve our productivity and the quality in our operations and Industry 4.0 is only one way to do so. During the past year we implemented an internal sales department transformation across the company. The transformation aimed to further align the customer service model with the regional business model of Guardian Glass in Europe, organized around customers, regions and segments. The aim of this transformation is to improve customer service by standardizing and streamlining processes and making them more effective, based on constant knowledge sharing, and scalability.

 

- List the strengths and weaknesses of the company in the last year? Which one of these do you think was most important?
- We believe that the role of business is to make lives better and glass is a perfect example of that. We want to become the preferred partner for our customers and as a result of this we must understand their needs for the future, which will help to develop glass solutions that will continue to enhance window systems. In this regard, one of our strengths is our focus on continuous improvement and innovation in both the products we deliver and in our internal processes. Two recent examples are Guardian Vacuum IG™, our vacuum insulated glass product that has already proved successful in commercial refrigeration, and our new cost-effective dynamic shading solution for windows and doors. The dynamic shading solution is clean, adaptable and is completely self-contained within a double or triple insulating glass unit. With no mechanical parts, this new shade solution isn’t subject to the same mechanical failures commonly seen with other integral blind solutions. It is an excellent application for homes and can be easily activated. Initially, it will be available in a fully integrated ‘blackout’ shade version, followed by privacy and solar glare control versions. In terms of weaknesses, it has been a real challenge to keep up with demand. Supply is indeed tight for Guardian, but we are investing in the future to help manage it: two of our furnaces went through a repair that allowed us to increase capacity by around 20% and 25%. The construction of an additional float and coated glass manufacturing plant in Poland has already begun. It is expected to start operations in early 2020 and it will pull 1,000 metric tons of glass per day and will have a capacity of 16 million sqm of coated glass. We also have a new laminated glass production line in Hungary, operational for a few months now.

 

- Offer some details about the financial performance at the group level and in Europe.
- We are enthusiastic about the current state of our business and encouraged by what we think will be a growing increase in glass demand for the foreseeable future. However, the margins on our products are under pressure mainly due to the increase of energy, raw material and transportation costs. We will end this year with a revenue growth of approximately 10%.

 

- In this context, which would be the main action plan which your company will implement on short and medium term?
- As previously stated, we continue to increase production capacity, building a second float line in Poland and are also proceeding with plans to construct a pilot facility in Europe to launch our new dynamic shade solution, which is expected late in 2019. To become our customers’ preferred partners, it is essential that we constantly innovate and transform ourselves. We need to follow our customers in their own transformation and anticipate their needs for today, tomorrow and beyond.