The Power of a Steady Hand

Above: Worker in glass manufacturing facility. Photo courtesy of Quanex.

Late last year, Glass Magazine published its 2025 forecast, and it didn’t pull any punches about the potential challenges that the commercial glass and glazing industry faces now and in the near future. From the piece:

The industry faces persistent difficulties in attracting and retaining talent, ongoing supply chain disruptions fueled by geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainties, higher interest rates, economic uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and shifting regulatory hurdles in response to natural disasters and evolving building codes and environmental regulations.

The report isn’t without optimism. Experts expect a continued increase in construction spending, with a more than $10 billion jump in commercial construction starts. By the time you read this column, we’ll be a few months deep into 2025, and I’m confident that our industry will have begun to tackle the year as best we can to grow our collective success.

I think one of the most important parts of doing so is to develop and grow meaningful partnerships throughout the value chain. Amidst volatility, solid relationships between vendors, fabricators and glaziers are essential to capitalize on the potential of commercial construction this year. Let’s explore a few reasons why.

An increasing need for scalability

Another trend in the wider fenestration space is a rising number of significant mergers, acquisitions and consolidations among companies. (And I speak from personal experience—Quanex recently completed its merger with Tyman and they are in the process of fully integrating this year.) There are a variety of implications here, but I’ll focus on one of them: When a company grows larger, it needs ready access to more resources to effectively scale and meet its full potential.

That means you need vendors that can effectively meet your growing needs. Commercial glass fabricators may suddenly find themselves in need of higher volumes of insulating glass spacer, for example. If you’ve established a presence in the growing market for commercial vinyl options, you may find yourself requiring an influx of profiles. Fenestration sealants and hardware might be another area of need. No matter the need, you’ll require a supplier partner who can match demand to meet your new growth potential.

What’s more, mergers often mean consolidation—of product lines, of operations and of vendor networks in some cases. Indeed, pursuit of simplicity is often a goal of increasingly large organizations. A vendor who has the ability to both scale and provide you with a wide variety of products through a single point of contact, for example, can help streamline your procurement processes and help you maximize efficiencies in meeting the demands of your customers.

A steady hand

Amidst market volatility, one thing can be invaluable for commercial glass fabricators: Predictability.

Supply chain disruptions have become increasingly commonplace in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic upended global trading and shipping, and the ripple effects are still being felt. And it’s made the ability of your vendors to deliver on time one of the most important criteria in modern manufacturing. Success in today’s commercial construction space requires that you have the materials you need to make high-performance glass systems when and where you need them. Your most trusted suppliers should be able to provide not just a quality product, but consistency and predictability that you can count on.

Volatility and unpredictability can also mean that your demands and needs may vary. Your supplier’s ability to adapt and deliver based on what you need to grow your business is critical—and it’s why scalability and stability go hand in hand.

Of course, even the most reliable supplier isn’t immune to the whims of an unpredictable supply chain, and in such cases, order visibility and clear, two-way communication can be key.

Open channels and clear expectations can be two lynchpins of a successful partnership.

Collaborative partnership can be a major difference-maker in today’s commercial glass and glazing industry. To best predict success, it’s worth evaluating your partner network and focusing on the relationships that drive real value for your business.