Speaker 1 00:00:05 Welcome to the clear impact podcast brought to you by PGT university. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Conner, and I am your host
Speaker 2 00:00:19 Just been learning so much and taking it all in. And I can honestly say by the time I leave here today, I'm going to be taking so much back with me to the office.
Speaker 1 00:00:28 When employees are knowledgeable and confident, your customers are better served. One of our recent attendees, Jennifer, a new to the industry employee sat down with Patrick Jamison, our customer education manager, and Albert Rodriguez, our sales rep in Miami Dade for the first half of today's episode in the road show series. The second half is a look at the improvements. PGT is making to our production environment to improve lead times. Be sure to listen to this fun conversation with Matt McDonald, regional sales manager, Theresa say, as sales representative, Jim shank and myself. Don't let her fool you. She liked lunch too. Oh yeah. I love
Speaker 2 00:01:05 Eating lunch.
Speaker 1 00:01:06 Well, who doesn't love eating lunch. And we are at the training event in Dania beach and we're at the Hilton garden Inn. And um, we have roped this perfectly innocent person into our podcast table. So welcome. I tell us your
Speaker 2 00:01:23 Name. My name is Jennifer, Jennifer.
Speaker 1 00:01:25 And why are you at training today?
Speaker 2 00:01:27 Um, I'm new to the window world. Okay. Um, I need to know basically everything that there is to know about installing and the parts of the windows. And
Speaker 1 00:01:38 Is that your, what is your role in the window industry?
Speaker 2 00:01:41 You can say I'm like the warehouse manager. I re deal the receiving. Okay. I do the service for our office that we have here. Okay.
Speaker 3 00:01:51 Okay. Have you ever attended any of our classes before?
Speaker 2 00:01:54 No, I have not. This is the first time that I've been to any classes with BGT and I have definitely have learned a lot since I first attended. Awesome.
Speaker 1 00:02:03 Yeah. You've been here all week.
Speaker 2 00:02:04 Yes, I have. I've been here since Monday.
Speaker 4 00:02:07 Nice. Nice. Which part of the training do you like the most?
Speaker 2 00:02:10 Um, I would say when Sherry was talking about the sea turtles,
Speaker 1 00:02:15 That's my favorite part too. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:02:17 I guess I would say a little bit out of all of it. I mean, I'm just been learning so much and taking it all in and I can honestly say by the time I leave here today, I'm going to be taking so much bike with me to the office and perfect fitting it to works, which I'm so excited about.
Speaker 3 00:02:33 And I think you'll see how you'll be able to take a little bit from almost every class, whether it's glass, product installation service, and it's going to be applied to what you do sooner or later. And it's definitely going to be beneficial. You're going to know the terminology. You're going to understand more about the process to what is involved.
Speaker 4 00:02:51 Yeah. It's always good to have the knowledge because you never know who's going to be talking around you at work. And then you're like, oh wait, I remember that, that was part of my training. That's so-so and, and you know, you can help them on the spot. Always good to know extra information.
Speaker 2 00:03:02 Or if the guys come out to me and be like, Hey, I need to order a certain part. I'd be like, oh, it's called
Speaker 4 00:03:07 This.
Speaker 3 00:03:08 Exactly. Yep. Or you know where to find it different resources. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:03:12 Well, and one of the things is that you're not going to learn it all in one day or one week or one month, even a year. There's always nuances. There's always more knowledge. Like even people who were in class today, who've been at it for 10 or 20 years, still run into things that they don't completely get. So, you know, I think it's just having that mindset of I'm going to learn. I'm never going to know it. I'm not going to graduate. We will be offering certifications. Right. But that doesn't mean that you're ever finished. No,
Speaker 2 00:03:42 You're always learning something new. Yes.
Speaker 3 00:03:44 Yeah. That'd be, I think another key point is wanting to learn. There are some people out there that, you know, feel like, you know, they're at the end of learning and things, change things, evolve. The research that we have in today's world that we can study and evolve and innovate is very important.
Speaker 4 00:04:02 Uh, in the, and the learning doesn't stop here. It's, it's continuous, just like saying it keeps evolving just like our PDG university, constantly information is being added there for your knowledge. You can go back. Uh, you might've learned something today that, you know, later on, you might. I know, I remember that. I remember learning that, but I can't pinpoint it. You can just jump on the PG university and pull up the class there.
Speaker 3 00:04:19 And another thing is, like I've said in the last couple of days, don't try to memorize everything. Don't try to remember every little detail and number, but remember who to go to remember where the resources the information is at, and then you can always track it down or help somebody else find it. Like, Hey, go look at your NOA. It's there. Or maybe it's over here in this area. So there's lots of areas and resources that we can use.
Speaker 1 00:04:42 Yeah. I, I say that a lot. I don't have to know everything. I just have to know where to find it.
Speaker 3 00:04:46 Yeah. Remember who to go to for certain things and remember who not to go to for certain things,
Speaker 1 00:04:53 But no, that's awesome. Well, thanks for chatting with us. Thank you. Thank you very much. And more than that. Thanks for coming to our classes. No, thank you for having me here.
Speaker 2 00:05:00 I definitely, like I said, I appreciate it. And I have learned
Speaker 1 00:05:03 So much since I've been here. And so your boss gets a shout out for allowing you to be here for this week.
Speaker 3 00:05:08 Thanks again very much. Thank
Speaker 1 00:05:10 You. Thanks. Be sure to tune in for upcoming episodes to help you understand the fenestration industry, what you need to know when buying windows and doors and other related topics, you can find out more about
[email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook and LinkedIn. So we're podcasting, but we're just hanging out and chatting with our people before the afternoon session starts. So we have with us Theresa Sanchez and also Matt McDonald, the best boss in the world. No, that's what, that's what I'm supposed to say. And also Jen Jenkins with us, the other best boss in the world. We're lucky. We are lucky. We are lucky. So, um, so Matt, how long have you been with PGT
Speaker 5 00:05:59 Coming up on nine years. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:06:01 Okay. So you've seen a lot of changes over the years,
Speaker 5 00:06:04 I would say so. Yeah. This company has gotten pretty big since I started here nine years ago, so
Speaker 1 00:06:10 Nice. Okay. And so what is your territory? What is your area of responsibility
Speaker 5 00:06:15 Right now? It's a regional sales manager for Southeast Florida. So from plus bomb to key west. So there's five reps underneath me through that, through that territory. So, or that region, I should say,
Speaker 1 00:06:26 What is your favorite part of what you do?
Speaker 5 00:06:29 That's definitely the dealers working with the relationships we build the dealers and our employees or the company. I mean, it's definitely like a family that we, we get up every day and work towards. He builds such strong relationships with these dealers and our, our reps every day is challenging. Don't get me wrong. But, um, at the end of the day, it's, it's rewarding for the company that we do work for it, for sure. Nice.
Speaker 1 00:06:52 And Teresa, like how long have you been here and what's your territory and what's your favorite part of the day?
Speaker 6 00:06:56 I have been here for 16 months, I think. Okay. And, uh, my territory is Delray to Davey. I'm filling in for a couple in Boynton beach right now. A little bit further north. Let's see. Favorite part of the day or the job? Just in general. I like solving problems. So, you know, I like working on it and, and pushing to get something finished and solved and check it off my list. I always have like a long list of my notepad going and I love it when I can cross it out.
Speaker 5 00:07:25 Nice. Don't let her fully and she likes the lunch too. Oh yeah.
Speaker 6 00:07:28 I love eating lunch. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:07:30 Well who doesn't love eating lunch. Wait, so on the list crossing off. I have a question cause I'm like that too. Do you, do you find that if you did something that wasn't on your list and then you write it down and then I delete
Speaker 6 00:07:43 It? Yes, I
Speaker 1 00:07:44 Do add it and then cross it off. I know I do that too. Okay. I'm glad I'm not alone. Thank you
Speaker 5 00:07:51 All this time. I've been saying she was just a little bit different than the rest of us.
Speaker 1 00:07:57 Are you talking about Theresa or
Speaker 6 00:07:59 You found somebody that does something weird like you,
Speaker 1 00:08:02 I don't think it's weird. I think it's so satisfying. I think so too. It's good to see progress. Exactly. There's nothing wrong with that. Of course now.
Speaker 6 00:08:11 Okay. If you get the whole list done in one day, that's amazing. I didn't know. That can be challenging. Yeah. I had three things left on my list.
Speaker 1 00:08:18 So what are we excited about in 2022, other than all the new LMS PGT I university happenings that we've already talked about? What are you excited about for the new year?
Speaker 5 00:08:27 I'm looking forward to all the things we've implemented over the last year through the struggles. Obviously I don't hate to say the word COVID, but we it's. The fact it's been a struggle. Um, and I know that PGT, I has put a lot of things together over the last, since starting October of 2000, I'm looking forward for it all to come together, um, and start meeting, you know, that company that everyone knows is the best and on top. And um, I mean, I'm looking forward to that. Cause it's been a, it's been a, this year, you know, backorders and material shortage and all those things. So look forward to hopefully getting back on track. We don't know if that's going to happen. Obviously we can't expect material to come back or not, but we'll look, hopefully that happens. So I'm looking forward to a brighter 2022, you know,
Speaker 6 00:09:12 We can already see those. A lot of the things that they were talking about in October. I mean, we've got, you know, echo glass supplying part of CGI. Now some of the products and the Fort Meyers sliding glass door line. And I mean, it's, it's not talking anymore. It's already started, which is nice. And there's, but there's been some hiccups, but that's expected. But once everything starts running smoothly,
Speaker 1 00:09:33 Right. Well, I know Patrick and I have walked the mezzanine a few times in the last month and we'll go up a week later and it's like, wait, what? That wasn't wait. They put a whole new machine in, what does that, what does that do? And wait, that used to be just an empty corner. What, wait, there's a whole new line. There's
Speaker 6 00:09:50 Well, and that's what I was going to say when we were there. Last time we saw, I saw the robots and they weren't there, you know, a year ago. And that was, that was really neat. And now you've even got the mezzanine blocked off because you've got to use, what do you do there? You're storing parts. Cause you still couldn't, you walk all the way around it. And now, now you've got, you know, space being utilized for something else.
Speaker 1 00:10:11 Yeah. Because when the supply chain does open up, we grab whatever we can.
Speaker 7 00:10:15 Well, awesome. And think about the investment, you know, there's PGI is not afraid to invest money, to invest hard dollars into improving process. And I think we've proved that over and over and over again. That's one of the great things that makes our company great. For sure.
Speaker 1 00:10:30 Yeah. The one robotic room, it's actually a room and it's where they clean all the welds off of the vinyl, that particular machine. It actually improves the production by 500 windows a day. Yeah,
Speaker 6 00:10:45 Really? Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:10:46 That's correct. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:10:48 Because it cuts down on the time because it's a manually intensive job and there's still a person who gets the frame afterwards to double check and clean off any spots that the robots might have missed. It takes, you know, a lot of that labor factor down. So it really has improved the production on that side.
Speaker 7 00:11:04 Not only production, but also safety, right? Because it's no longer a manual process where people are using blades to clean right now, it's all robotically done. So there's less opportunity for someone to hurt themselves.
Speaker 1 00:11:16 Right. And it's contained in a room. So all the little pieces don't go flying everywhere. I wouldn't down on the floor a couple of weeks ago and I found out how slippery vinyl is. I was like, wow. I know, I know where they're sweeping all the time because it's thought that, oh yeah. Oh, well, oh yeah, it'll take you right out. If you're not careful concrete floors and vinyl shavings,
Speaker 6 00:11:38 How many of the robots were there? Is it three or four?
Speaker 1 00:11:41 There's a room. There's four in a room, one for each corner of a window. And I think there's three, I believe
Speaker 6 00:11:47 So three setups. Okay. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:11:50 Actually I think there's four there's for the mainframes and the one for the sashes looks
Speaker 5 00:11:55 Like we have some homework to do
Speaker 6 00:11:57 In different areas. Okay. So I think I just saw maybe that maybe I just paid attention to one section. I know
Speaker 7 00:12:04 They run in parallel, so they're next to each other. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:12:06 It was last week could be different than the studio today. That's the truth. It's hard to keep track. Well, I'm looking forward to 2020 to me too. What are you looking forward to?
Speaker 7 00:12:15 Yeah. You know, I think it's a combination of all. Um, not to take the, uh, take the easy way out on the answer, but we do have so many different things going on right now as an organization and seeing it everyone's pushing towards January, you know, in 2022 or we everyone's talking towards that. So let's just open it up a little bit from a scope standpoint and say, Q1, um, everything seems to be moving towards that magic time of Q1. And we have all these different departments doing all these different things. That Q1 is going to be exciting. Talking about dynamic in a, in the right sense. Q1 is going to be a very dynamic time for the organization. And uh, I'm excited about it. Yes.
Speaker 5 00:12:50 That's the trick. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:52 Well, I'm looking forward to not saying I'm new here. Well, you pass that. Aren't you know, I just, I still wave that flag. Like I haven't hit my one year yet, so, um, oh really? I'm still new to V8 one year, January. Okay. Okay. We're almost there. I'm almost there. All right guys. Elizabeth, good conversation. And thank you so much for jumping in. Anything else you want to add, Matt? That's it.
Speaker 5 00:13:16 We're always smiling. Always smiling, always smiling.
Speaker 6 00:13:19 I was never in a bad mood. Really? No, he's never in a bad mood.
Speaker 5 00:13:24 I'm building the house and next year, so we should be done around November. So that'll be another nice perk for 2022 been living in a townhouse for way too many years. So with two kids.
Speaker 1 00:13:38 Good for you. Awesome. Well, this has been a great conversation. I think Patrick is gonna get started. I don't know. He's looking at us. PGT. A university is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original easy breeze port and closure lie then became PGT. America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added CGI CGIC WinDoor, Western windows, new south windows and echo windows and doors. We create products built to withstand major storms, keeping people safe, secure, and prepared. Our exceptional brands give you the protection you need without compromising design or functionality. PGT university is here to educate you our listener so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
