Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by Mitre Brands University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Conner and I am your host.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: Good afternoon.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: We are here on the Clear Impact
[00:00:27] Speaker C: Podcast and today I am sitting with such an amazing person, Chris Roof. Thank you for joining me.
[00:00:33] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: And so, Chris, you're the operations Manager. Operations director.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Yes, I am. I'm the senior director of operations for the Venice facility, as well as Windor and our Fort Myers facility.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: Okay. And what about glass? Do you oversee that at all?
[00:00:48] Speaker A: I do not oversee glass.
[00:00:49] Speaker C: Okay, so just the manufacturing?
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Yes, that's correct.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: As in just the manufacturing?
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Like just the manufacturing for three plants.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: No big deal. So, Chris, you've been around for a little while, but we have not had a chance to record an episode. So I'm thrilled that you're here today. Before we dive into our content and our topic for today, tell us a little bit about you.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Okay. Yes, I've been in manufacturing for just over 30 years now. So started off right out of college and probably from my accent you can tell I'm probably not from Florida. But yes, I started off in South Carolina, that's where my family's from. And came started in manufacturing out of college, actually started off in the area of safety and so worked out really well for me. So started in the areas of safety and moved into manufacturing, lean manufacturing, plant management. And then before I came to Florida, I was a director of continuous improvement for Cornerstone Building Brands.
[00:01:45] Speaker C: Okay, so you've seen a lot of different perspectives to this.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Definitely.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Oh, that's awesome. The thing I noticed is I love the accent, first of all.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:01:54] Speaker C: So I'm glad that you're in here. I love that South Carolina twang. And so you came on board how long ago?
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Coming up just on three years.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: On three years. So you had just maybe barely hit your one year mark when we were acquired by Mitre Brands.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: That is correct.
[00:02:09] Speaker C: And there was a lot of changes that happened then and we've had even more changes in the last few months with CGI transitioning and, and some of those product lines coming over under the PGT umbrella. And so this is a big question.
What have been the biggest challenges for you and your team with the changes?
[00:02:28] Speaker A: I think just going back to when I started here at pgt, as you mentioned, it's a really big place with a lot of folks and it's just taken a lot of time. Mitre, the acquisition back in, I guess it was in March of 24, has been a wonderful thing. For PGT, Mitre really brought the manufacturing excellence piece, operational excellence piece to the table. And so we had a lot of things, a lot of challenges that we needed to clean up over the last two years. I would say some of those are not things that are easy for us to do in manufacturing, but we have to do the right things for our customers and our business. We've had shift consolidations that we've had to work through and a lot of change in leadership and management. Most recently we dealt with a move of a major plant out of Miami, which you mentioned was cgi and the brands that we brought here, some of those challenges were really just, you know, people had to move, people had to change their jobs, had to relocate their families. Some people lost their jobs. And at any time in manufacturing, those are really, really tough challenges to face as a leader. But we did that in the best interest of PGT and Mitre brands. From a long term standpoint of consolidation of these businesses. From a cost perspective.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: And so just trying to make sure everybody was aligned and collaborating and working together. The things that I will say out of some of those challenges were just the collaboration and teamwork between the PGT facility and the CGI facility. The leadership there. It all starts really with leadership and the support of that leadership. Really going through very tough challenges of having to shut down a facility and really still being able to motivate the people that were there and being able to help us through this process was quite amazing for me to watch it. So, you know, I was very blessed to be a part of that, to be a part of working with those folks and to getting to know them better. But some of the challenges really dealt with the consolidation of the businesses and really watching what people had to go through that. And then as you work into that, a lot of the complexities that dealt with the lines. We're very fortunate in the fact that our Sparta Scout lines, nothing was really perfect, but really started up very well. And the thing that I'm really proud of there we have the horizontal roller piece, the picture window piece, the single hung piece, all did a really nice job.
And when we had issues in the field initially, the one thing that our team's really committed to here is to try to understand what those issues are and make corrections quickly so that the customer doesn't suffer. The biggest challenge of any of the line moves was definitely the 450. We moved to 160 as well. There have been very few challenges with the 160. The 450 is a beautiful Beautiful door. If you hadn't seen that, you have to see it.
[00:05:02] Speaker C: Oh yeah, We've got a giant one in our showroom.
I'm ordering one from my house in a few weeks.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: It's a wonderful door, beautiful door, a very complex door due to the offerings that we give to our customers, but one that we've learned a lot from. We knew it would be a big one. We were prepared for a lot of that. But a lot of the translation and the information how to build these doors was very challenged specifically initially and we had to work through a lot of issues there. And our biggest commitment there to the customers is, hey, when we have these issues, let's get the improvements turned around very quickly for them so it doesn't affect their business. But. But challenge wise, that's probably been the biggest. Just due to the complexities and the offerings of the door.
[00:05:43] Speaker B: We are sharing our expertise around all topics relating to the window and door industry. Whether you are a customer selling our products or a homeowner doing research, the Clear Impact podcast provides helpful content that makes an impact. Subscribe today wherever you listen to podcasts.
[00:06:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I know there's a ton of different configuration options and color options and handle options and all of those trickle down into what happens out on the floor. And if there's anything that doesn't cross over correctly in the software, then it's not going to be built the way it needs to be built. But there's a lot of smart people figuring all that out and my understanding is that it's smoothing out.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: So yes, from day one, we've made improvements each day and every week has gotten better.
So just proud of the teams for hanging in there with us. The majority, or a large majority of the folks that are on these lines came from cgi, so they're PGT family members now. So we're very proud of that. And just to watch the teams out there continuing to progress and improve based on where we started has been amazing. And the commitment there is to continue to improve the quality of these doors and windows as we progress.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Nice. So tell us about some of the biggest achievements that you've seen.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Yeah, probably like, personally, for me, the biggest achievement is to see how these teams have come together to really bond as one, really just like family, but really to watch the progress that's been made. The Sparta Scout line, brand new line, brand new folks. And we've continued to work daily at trying to move the efficiencies off that line and the quality because, you know, really trying to learn from the folks at cgi, the opportunities with that window to be better.
And they did a really nice job at explaining that to us and what we needed to check and the balances. We've made a 25 to 30% improvement on our output based off where we started.
[00:07:33] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Which will allow our customers to grow and allow us to grow with them. So really proud of the teams. We've got, our folks really involved in that line and helping give us, you know, advice about things that we can improve upon. Really proud of our quality team, our maintenance teams, engineering, operations, hr, really everybody's safety that's been involved in helping us progress. And really what's important to us is providing a good quality product and keeping our lead times down to where they need to be to allow our customers to be successful.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: Yeah, I know. Nobody wants to wait. Once you finally place the order you want the product. What do you think the main thing for our customers to know about the manufacturing ops as it is today?
[00:08:16] Speaker A: Let's see. The main thing to know would be that just today our operations team is at a very different place than they were even a year ago with the consolidations that we've done, the realignment and being committed to operational excellence. It's a journey, it's not a race. And we just want our customers to know that we are absolutely committed to being the best in the industry. We have the best products and the best people. And when we put those two things together, it makes a very, very strong product.
But just a commitment to the customers themselves, commitment to the safety of our people, commitment to the product quality that we talked about. We've seen vast improvements over the last two years.
Our customers are feeling today. Our otif has seen vast improvements as well.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: And otif for those that are not in the manufacturing world, that's on time,
[00:09:02] Speaker A: in full, on time and in full. So we work really hard at that. I think when I came here back a couple years ago in 23, we were like at 77%.
We ended the year last year above 98% and we started off that way this year as well. So we're really proud of that. We're really proud of our product quality. We measure what we call adq, which is as delivered quality to our customers, which is very important to us. So we try to measure these things and measure the progress to the customers. But the biggest thing I would say is that we are committed to being better every day and our team members are aligned with that.
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's so important. And I know I have Great respect for anybody down on the floor because I built a window one day just for fun, and I was like, I'd be fired from this in about 10 seconds.
I'm so glad. This is not my job. It is physically demanding. And to not just go off into a daze after doing the same thing over and over, but also just keeping an eye open and watching for things, that takes a tremendous amount of dedication.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: Yes, it does. I think the thing that we've seen over the last year or so is just the commitment from our people and how proud they are of the products that they build. I think that we've shown them through putting in good processes and procedures, very different than maybe what we had in the past, and them seeing the results from that they believe now, and they're extremely proud of that and are doing things that maybe they didn't think they could do in the past. But all of that has an impact not only on a team member, but also the customer, which is so very important to us.
[00:10:29] Speaker C: Yeah. I think that goes all back to leadership. So thank you for all that you do to keep people on target and keep them moving.
So we've been doing a little campaign called the We Are Florida Campaign, and this conversation is a part of that on the podcast. And so even though you're not a native, what does We Are Florida mean to you?
[00:10:51] Speaker A: I think it all goes back to pride. It really does what we stand for and to watch these teams continue to grow and prosper and come together closer as a family and to be very well aligned. But it's just being proud of the products that we make. I mean, the people that make them, the products themselves.
And we do. We not only make great products that look wonderful on homes, but we protect families at their houses. And that for us, through hurricanes or whatever the weather may be, that's really important.
So it's just a sign of unity for me and just being really proud to represent something that's made here in the usa, made here in Florida by wonderful people with a wonderful, wonderful product.
[00:11:31] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I agree. Well said. And so one last question, and I've been just excited to hear everybody's answers on this, on the Mitre DNA, which really is more than just words on a paper. And we see that in and out of meetings, in and out of how we make decisions. The Mitre DNA statements, which one resonates the most with you?
[00:11:51] Speaker A: I would say that the one that is, for me, would probably be, we believe the worst decision is no decision at all. And I guess I can really vouch for that because we've made so many decisions over the last two to three years that have impacted so many people in so many different ways. If we hadn't made those decisions, I don't know where we would be.
So although making a decision and moving forward and being confident with it is very important, and there are going to be hiccups along the way, but that's a part of it. That's a part of learning and growing, and making sure that we go back and fix those things is just a part of the process. But we do need to make decisions. Some of them are very hard decisions. If we don't make those decisions, we really never prosper and improve.
[00:12:33] Speaker C: Right. I love. That one's one of my favorites as well. Awesome, Chris. Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining me today.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:12:39] Speaker C: All right, have a great day.
[00:12:42] Speaker B: The Clear Impact podcast is brought to you by Miter Brands University. We are a part of Miter Brands, a family of leading window and door brands united by our passion for quality and relentless pursuit of 100%. At Miter Brands, our common purpose is to deliver value by manufacturing the finest products, services and customer experience every day, everywhere. Our window and door brands deliver regionalized expertise, products and services, all backed by a national company.
Mitre Brands University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
