Speaker 1 00:00:05 Welcome to the clear impact podcast brought to you by P G T I university. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Connor and I am your host
Speaker 2 00:00:20 And there's some huge challenges there. And our, we kind of have a, a running joke with the customers, cuz we'll say, you know, why do you keep ordering stuff so big? And they keep saying, why do you keep designing stuff? So big? <laugh> like, let's, let's just, but, but that's what, that's what homeowners want. And, and you have to, you have to meet them where they are and come up with solutions there. And
Speaker 1 00:00:40 Our podcast studio is situated in the center of our innovations lab or the iLab today's episode brings in Dean roar, our VP of engineering and Kenny Vanderband, our senior manager of product design. These two share the story of how the iLab got started and why the work they do here makes an impact on our company, our dealers and the homeowners we serve. Welcome to the clear impact podcast. We are in the middle of an innovations series. And today we are speaking with Dean roar and Kenny Vander bent, who are both engineers here. So I'll let you guys just briefly introduce yourselves and then we'll jump into the present Dean.
Speaker 2 00:01:18 Yeah, sure. So my name's Dean roar. I am the vice president of engineering and innovation for the company really enjoy working closely with Kenny. He and I have worked together for my whole time here and he was on his own doing, doing really well, uh, before I got here and just excited to talk today.
Speaker 1 00:01:33 Awesome.
Speaker 3 00:01:34 Yeah, like Dean said, my name's Kenya Vander pent been at PGT, uh, 20 years. I don't remember. How long have you been here, Dean?
Speaker 2 00:01:40 Uh, 14.
Speaker 3 00:01:41 14. Okay. So I remember working alongside a Dean for the last 14 years and it's just been amazing, um, kind of working off of each other, learning a lot together and just growing this business.
Speaker 1 00:01:50 That's awesome. So one of the things that I know, I mean, we're sitting in the middle of it, so we have an innovations lab here and I think that this is a perfect topic for you guys to talk about. So how did the idea begin to have an innovations lab? You
Speaker 3 00:02:04 Wanna say first stories line up <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:02:06 Yeah. You
Speaker 1 00:02:06 Want us to go first?
Speaker 3 00:02:08 I don't know if it's a very beginning, but it's probably similar to how PPG T started. Rod basically had a friend and I remember one day rod came to me and said, Hey, give this guy a call. So I called him and he was one of the guys at GE up in Louisville. And GE had created a little company called first build mm-hmm <affirmative> and what it was is a really small entity of GE that was able to build and launch basically prototypes out of a, a lab space mm-hmm <affirmative> and pre-sell 'em. And that allowed GE to be super flexible, to launch a product, to test a market and see if it worked. And if it didn't, it never graduated to GE corporate and they just moved onto the next idea. So literally I got on an airplane, flew up there, talked to the guy that was running the first build program, and that kind of gave us an idea of how he wanted to run it at PGT.
Speaker 1 00:02:55 Oh, cool.
Speaker 2 00:02:56 I, I think that was the Genesis of the idea. However, you know, I, I think guys open when, when Kenny went to first build where it just kind of clicked with the world that we live in, which is, you know, PG T grew from this small mom and pop company where you could, you know, go down to a production line and kind of tinker and do some things, uh, you used to be able to do that 18 years ago or 14 years ago, because that was kind of the environment. And as it grew and, and was very successful in a production world, actually, you know, it used to be so much easier to get line time to try this new thing that might or might not work. And, and so we were at a little bit of a standstill for how do you be innovative and how do you do great new things? The confines of a really successful, really busy operation. Right. And when we went to see first build, some ideas kind of came up to say, okay, you know, GE is a mu you know, a much larger, more diversified company that has this, this same challenge on a really broad scale mm-hmm <affirmative>. And we kind of took some of those ideas and said, how would we tailor this to, you know, to window and door centric things. And, and that started, uh, the idea for the innovation line.
Speaker 1 00:04:07 Nice. I would imagine what we have today lines up pretty closely with that original idea, right?
Speaker 2 00:04:15 Yeah. I'd, I'd say whenever you do something, it, it's interesting. You, you put a plan together on paper and through brainstorming sessions and, and ultimately you put some dollar figures or a business case forward together toward what you're going to deliver. And we had some agreements on what, what we could deliver to this business mm-hmm <affirmative>, which was, you know, a couple of key tenants. One was that we will use the innovation lab, not just to tinker and not just to, you know, come up with new ideas that may or may not make it to marketplace, but to actually build a business here that sells these, you know, highly innovative products out into the marketplace to help fund future innovation mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so Jeff's ask was, let's make this self-funding, there's a large investment toward innovation in the building and, and some state of their art equipment that we were able to get mm-hmm <affirmative>. And then since we followed through on our end of the bargain of continue to, you know, sell in end specialty products to the marketplace and use those profits to continue to fund innovation without coming to P G T I with a new ask for additional capital or additional funds. And so it's really worked out just like we thought it would maybe some different twists and turns along the way mm-hmm <affirmative> of where you end up, but in the high level fundamentals of what we wanted to deliver, we'd been able to do that.
Speaker 3 00:05:33 And just to add to that, I think in the first, probably three months of the innovation lab, I sat down and just started researching and figuring out what PGT should do for innovation. And I read a book called the art of innovation by guy Kawasaki. And basically he said, you should be able to sum up your business into a three word mantra to be successful. And I remember, um, the first presentation that I think official presentation I gave for this business unit, it was actually prior to us creating a business, it was still just the idea. Rod came to me and said, Hey, later this afternoon, the board of director to coming in town. And I'd really like to showcase some of the prototypes that we were working on over in the Tesla lab. He's said, could you do it? He's like, sure. I mean, when Rod's asking to do a presentation, I didn't meet anybody before in front of the board of director. So it was gonna be my first shot.
Speaker 1 00:06:19 Oh gosh.
Speaker 3 00:06:20 And the Tesla lab has no PowerPoint. There's no projector. <laugh>, there's nothing <laugh>. So, so literally I thought to myself and I grabbed a piece of cardboard and I remember the book, like I gotta sum up this business in three words. So that's where we wrote down on the cardboard invent build and deliver because without, I mean, a lot of people can invent stuff. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, that's actually pretty easy, but to build it and deliver it, mm-hmm <affirmative> is what creates a business. Um, cause I knew that we just couldn't have patents that we sit on. Right. And, and we needed innovation. So literally that was the first presentation. The board of directors came over. I wrote it down on a cardboard and said, we were gonna invent stuff. We're gonna build it and we're gonna deliver it. And that's where we showed him the PG T garage store. Um, we showed him the thin glass diamond glass technology that we had just started working on. And we showed him the prototype for the bifold door.
Speaker 1 00:07:13 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:14 Yeah. It's, it's really interesting. I mean, Kenny rewind us back to really the foundation of this innovation lab, which really took place, you know, not just from a, you know, from a visit to a place that had, had done something somewhat similar mm-hmm <affirmative>, but also prior to anyone, myself included getting involved in this innovation lab, it was really just Kenny in an office solely devoted to coming up with some ideas. And those ideas carried weight in front of the board of directors to where they really saw the benefits of carving out. Kenny was just one resource carved out to really focus on innovation mm-hmm <affirmative> and to kind of last minute, put something together and put something together in a meaningful enough way that those are, those are all products we either have now in full scale production in our innovation lab or in a pilot program, uh, where we're continuing to work on that and continue to be really excited about it. So,
Speaker 1 00:08:13 Wow. That's amazing. So we can all rest easily. If we're ever asked to present in front of the board of directors, we, we know like cardboard and three words is fine.
Speaker 3 00:08:21 Yeah. There's a very specific cardboard. I use <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:08:24 Um,
Speaker 3 00:08:25 Certain weight I'll
Speaker 1 00:08:27 Get you some, was it a black Sharpie or
Speaker 3 00:08:30 I used colors.
Speaker 1 00:08:30 Nice. Three different
Speaker 3 00:08:31 Colors.
Speaker 1 00:08:32 <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:08:33 It's fancy.
Speaker 1 00:08:33 That's so fancy. I love it. Is there a specific product that you're especially proud of
Speaker 2 00:08:39 Really quick? Kenny is definitely the one to answer this, but just for reference for PG T, Kenny's been basically either directly behind or with his team overseeing and leading them behind every single PGT product in our impact or wind guard portfolio. So every PGT product over the last 18 years comes through Kenny in a meaningful way, shape or form in the invention and design of that coupled with, you know, not just the iLab products or many other products across our brands where he's touched and influenced them, but whatever he picks it's, you know, it's a pretty broad portfolio. What he, what he's got to choose from.
Speaker 1 00:09:16 That's amazing.
Speaker 3 00:09:17 Yeah. That being said, Hey, I'm trying to, <laugh> go through the go back to 18 years.
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Speaker 3 00:09:41 I mean, I'm really proud of a lot of 'em that our team has been working on over the last 18 years. I think it starts with talking to our customers and listening to our customers. So all the ideas that I think we've had over the last couple decades now have literally just come from us, hitting the road, talking to our dealers, walking in their shoes and listening to them. And sometimes you listen to them and tell you very clearly what you need to do. And it's pretty obvious, but that's not the ones that I take pride in. It. It's usually the ones where, as you're walking outta the office, they make some comment like you couldn't do it, but don't you realize how heavy these products are. Mm don't. You realize how much work it is to move these things around and basically say, but there's nothing you can do about that.
Speaker 3 00:10:21 So I think some of the technologies we're working on now, isn't from what our customers said, we should do. It was more challenging because they said, we don't think you could do anything, but make these things lighter weight. That's where we started a kind of a new research where we partnered with an outside company and are making really lightweight, strong, thin glass. And we're reducing, we're finally reducing the weight of these very large, heavy impact products. Mm. I think when that one gets to market, it'll be, well, I'll be proud of that one because it was really something that we thought was impossible. Mm.
Speaker 2 00:10:53 Yeah. It's funny. I would get that feedback off and from customers and as you know, we in the industry and just anyone looking at construction kind of knows the demand for product is getting to be larger and larger sizes. All glass modern, contemporary construction is becoming the norm. And we talk about it internally to say, gosh, you know, these things are so heavy to move and build within our own factory. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> think about our customers and how do they move them upstairs, uh, and through job sites. And there's some huge challenges there. And our, we kind of have a, a running joke with the customers, cuz we'll say, you know, why do you keep ordering stuff so big? And they keep saying, why do you keep designing stuff? So big? <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:11:36 Like, let's, let's just,
Speaker 2 00:11:37 But, but that's what, that's what homeowners want. And, and you have to, you have to meet them where they are and come up with solutions there. And the glass that, that Kenny's talking about major company that develops, you know, very thin strong glass. And we can take up to 40 plus percent of the weight out of a product. So it's a big deal when a 400 pound door panel becomes 240 pounds and you remove 160 pounds out of that product, but give them all the same benefits of, you know, great impact, resistance, great clarity, other improved benefits, uh, where it's a little easier to operate, even better views, better transparency through the glass. And yeah, when we talk to dealers at customer events, they'd always challenge us to say, yeah, I know it goes against the very nature of impact, but why don't you build something lighter? Like, and they joke, like I don't fill it with helium or something, you know, what are you gonna really do? And so they'd almost move off of that one and we're pretty darn close to solving
Speaker 1 00:12:33 It. That's amazing. So not a specific product, but maybe just a, one of the components of a product.
Speaker 3 00:12:40 Yeah. And I would argue it's the biggest component of a product. So yeah, definitely. And I think glass hasn't changed a lot, probably in the last, how many years Dean you think?
Speaker 2 00:12:48 Oh, since, you know, since the Genesis of soda, lime float glass, which is, gosh, I should know my history on that when, when the original like Pittsburgh plate glass or ping to glass, but, but it was 80 years ago
Speaker 3 00:12:59 Before. Yeah. Before you and I were born. So yeah.
Speaker 2 00:13:02 Yeah. Something
Speaker 3 00:13:03 Like that. I think that's, what's interesting about this is we're in this decade, I think we're gonna see such a change in what glass can be. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, that's where a rat just kind of on the forefront of applications for thin glass, lightweight glass glass that generates power glass that is stronger than typical glass. So it's really great time to be using it the way that we're doing.
Speaker 1 00:13:22 That's awesome. And we've got the facility to do it and we've got the team to do it. We're bringing in new talent and new, I know we have interns that are coming in again this summer. And so we can always get, uh, fresh ideas from them too, you know, for sure any stories of a product or idea failure that ended up being a success.
Speaker 2 00:13:40 I have a couple that come to mind, you know, Kenny's the lead product guy. So he, you know, he'll have, and some, you may just be humble about some, I can talk about one that really stands out. And I, I think it is a failure success story. So we think back through PGT history and, you know, we started as a vinyl fortune closure company and then moved into an aluminum window and then had the first ever, uh, Miami data approved impact resistant window. And through that, uh, we've always been an aluminum company. We make aluminum products, aluminum Windguard was our, our flagship brand. And then in, I guess it was 2006, uh, we opened a North Carolina facility and that North Carolina facility made vinyl products and vinyl was new and not necessarily our focus, but as time went on, we had five vinyl platforms across this plant, uh, between Venice and North Carolina and vinyl.
Speaker 2 00:14:33 We, we would always talk about vinyl and say, gosh, you know, it it's much more difficult to manufacture. It's not nearly as profitable. And when we talk to our customers, our whole set of five product lines, isn't really hitting the mark for exactly what they need. And so Kenny took to the road just like he said, and he started talking to customers about a new strategic initiative that we called ultimately vinyl, UV mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, and that's a big production line now mm-hmm <affirmative> in house and they chose the right customers and they listened and they learned, and they put together a product portfolio. That's now our new vinyl wind guard line. And that was able to remove essentially all five platforms of vinyl product to one product line that is one, you know, flat out, meets the needs of our customers. It's definitely by far the best vinyl impact resistant product on the market. We've been behind in the capacity of that line ever since it started, because it's such a knockout successful product. Mm-hmm <affirmative> that still generates more demand than we think possible. And so that was, you know, the Genesis of five vinyl product lines that didn't quite meet the mark to get to this one ultimate success that continues to be a huge success. And one of the largest revenue drivers and profit drivers of PG T's
Speaker 1 00:15:54 Growth. Excellent. Anything to add that
Speaker 2 00:15:55 You got something else?
Speaker 3 00:15:56 No, <laugh> something up pretty well
Speaker 2 00:15:58 Stands out to me. Yeah. You know, not, not so much a fast failure, but just right. You know, kind of muddling through where vinyl it used to be. You know, if you talk to the CFO or the accounting staff, they were sure happy to sell an aluminum wind guard product as compared to a vinyl wind guard product. Mm. One was far more profitable, less serviced everything else mm-hmm <affirmative> and the initiative was, Hey, whether you choose aluminum or vinyl, they both have benefits to the material type. But as a company, we want to be providing something that we're equally proud of from a performance, from a margin, from, you know, from a profitability standpoint on either of those products and that's what that program achieved.
Speaker 1 00:16:35 Mm that's excellent. I know they just installed, um, some new machinery over on the floor that has increased our capacity quite a bit. So that's exciting to watch the robots work and clean off all the welds. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 00:16:47 Yeah, it it's really cool. And before we sat down and designed that whole line, like I said, we, my Dean had mentioned, we talked to customers and we're kind of naive just because we're an aluminum company and some of the initial roadblocks to make and vinyl windows that our other vinyl window companies that we talked to said, you can't do it for this, that price. You can't do it at that speed. And we literally went to the fester bow trade show in Germany. And we over there, we went to a few factories and kind of asked the same questions. And then we, we learned a lot from the German companies on how to design a line and how to run it. And it's really interesting as our team looks at how that line is grown, cuz it it's a really well organized line that the manufacturing engineering team put together where it just, you can see the, the machine working mm-hmm <affirmative> you can see how it flows.
Speaker 1 00:17:33 Yeah, that's really cool. So one last question on this topic, and that is probably the one that you ask yourselves. <laugh> how do you continue to find inspiration to keep innovating?
Speaker 2 00:17:43 So for me, I, I do it through just continuing to remain really curious. I, I love to look at other industries. I love to listen to people I love to read. And so whether it's podcasts like this, uh, listening to Lex Friedman, or even Joe Rogan or Sam Harris, or, you know, any of those where they just, they talk to and listen to interesting people from interesting sectors and have good dynamic conversations. And I love that and it continues to open and expand my thoughts on challenging the way I think, or the way we do things or what's possible. And I think that applies very much to, to here and the things we read, Kenny and I also, you know, we, we have lots of dynamic conversations, we're opposite personalities, and it's certainly opposite in, you know, somewhat of our thought process and somewhat of our I'm a linear detail oriented kind of thinker. That's less geared toward the wildly creative side and he is not a detail oriented linear thinker. Uh, he's wildly creative. And, and I think that combination has made some pretty good results.
Speaker 3 00:18:54 Yeah. I completely agree with that. And then just to add to it, I think like what Dean said, we, we prefer going to other industry trade shows. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I think by the time you see something at one of our trade shows that we go to, you're chasing some idea that's already launched mm-hmm <affirmative> and you're, you're kind of stuck into some of the problems and solutions that are within the Fe industry. So I, I think just getting outside of the window world and looking at technologies, emerging groups, uh, we work with some really large companies over the last few decades. We've worked with 3m, we worked with Corning, we've worked with other international companies and working with their innovation groups. They're helpful in bouncing some ideas off of us and like vice versa. Um, so I think that's been super helpful to get ideas and, and drive some solutions into our market.
Speaker 3 00:19:43 Um, and then the other one, it just, my team is amazing that works here. We have some people that have experienced more than Dean and I combined. And then we combine them with some brand new talent that we hire and we put 'em on teams. And I think that combination of a lot of experience with almost no experience really provides the best product, um, and process. So we do a lot of design reviews internally, uh, with the engineers that have been here a long time and the new ones and they, they team up and then we kind of kick our days around and move 'em around.
Speaker 1 00:20:13 Hmm. That sounds like a lot of fun. It is. Everybody's all quiet over here though. Now I know why all the wheels are spinning. <laugh> all the gears are clicking inside.
Speaker 2 00:20:22 Yeah. You don't have a lot. It's not built on extroverts. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:20:26 No, definitely. Um, well thanks for this conversation. I love the iLab and I think it's super cool that the podcast studio is over here. Thanks guys. We'll we'll carry this on to the next conversation.
Speaker 3 00:20:38 Perfect. Thanks
Speaker 2 00:20:39 Jerry.
Speaker 1 00:20:40 PG C I university is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original easy breeze porch and closure line then became P G T America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added CGI C G I C window, Western windows, new south windows, echo windows and doors, and our latest acquisition and Lynn 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. P G T I university is here to educate you our listener so that you can be more informed about window and door products.
