Remembering the Positivity

April 6, 2020

By: Max Perilstein

BEC was a little over a month ago and I never in my wildest dreams would’ve thought we’d be where we are at right now. Obviously, when we all gathered in Nashville, the virus was out there and beginning to cause concern, but I don’t think anyone thought it would be turning out like this. So here we are, working through this world together and learning something new every day. The reason I bring up BEC is because the positivity and the focus there is something we can’t lose sight of. We have brilliant people and companies in our industry and we have an incredible desire to succeed and overcome.

I am energized on a daily basis when I see the #NGAalert videos from all over the industry of people sharing their experiences and thoughts. (Though Tim Finley telling me to clean up my database still has me thrown. LOL.) We will get through this, and I said it last week and will continue to say it: our product will be in a great spot on the other side. So, everyone keep plugging along, keep communicating, keep reaching out, keep innovating and keep focused on the future.

Elsewhere…

I think another major play coming out of this will be the growth of automation. I have been banging that drum for years, but now I think it’s obvious that the efficiencies and performance that automation delivers are crucial to the world post COVID-19. Very interesting article here that I saw posted by IGE Glass Technologies on LinkedIn that backs that up and this line stuck for me because it speaks to a lot of what we do right now manually.

“People are relatively more expensive, including with their benefits. Meanwhile, you can restructure your business using new technology that increases productivity. So the typical move is to replace less-skilled workers with a fewer number of more-skilled workers or retain higher-skilled workers but then to bring in new technology.”
Got this article from my pal Scott Goodman of Bohle America. Did not realize what was happening in Georgia and found this fascinating. Not sure if this changes with their new state lock down though.
NGA continues with Advocacy and the last update was very good. While some face-to-face code meetings are cancelled, the work still continues which means we still have to be on top of it and vigilant. Our industry is lucky to have Urmilla Sowell and her team in the mix here. In the meantime, they did have a fresh call for volunteers for the Fabricating Committee. Two technical papers need updating (below) so if you are interested, now’s the time.

- Durability and Testing of Painted Decorative Mounted Glass
- Assessment of the Weatherability & Durability of Decorative Glass

If interested contact NGA or let me know and I’ll get you connected!
I feel like I am texting a lot more than normal and what I am finding is the spellcheck/word choices that the iPhone makes is pure craziness. I type in the right word and Apple replaces it constantly with the wrong word. And I’m not talking like a close cousin of the word. It is something not even close; am I the only one suffering on this?
Last this week: last year I noted I started to watch “Ozark” and wondered on here if it was worth continuing. I was told yes, do it, and those folks were absolutely right. Now season 3 is online and I am almost done with it. Interesting show, very curious to see where this all ends up.