Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:05 Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast, brought to you by pg t I University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherry Connor, and I am your host. Good afternoon. We're here on the Clear Impact Podcast, and we are being hosted by Western Windows Systems this week. So it's been fun to bring the podcast studio out onto the road. And right now we have with us Kevin Vi Hower. Welcome.
Speaker 2 00:00:32 Thank you. Hello.
Speaker 1 00:00:33 Nice to meet you. So Kevin, you're the VP of Engineering here at Western? I
Speaker 2 00:00:37 Am, yes.
Speaker 1 00:00:37 Awesome. So tell us a little bit about you.
Speaker 2 00:00:39 I've been in the window industry for about 22 years, and so I've had a lot of experience with Windows, and so I was brought to Western to really bring a little bit of that history and experience to Western, to be able to bring new products to market, to keep things on task, to focus on new vendors, all kinds of different things that I have experience with through the industry.
Speaker 1 00:01:01 Nice. And so tell us about your education.
Speaker 2 00:01:04 I have a mechanical engineering degree from, used to be General Motors Institute or gmi. I'm now Kettering University in Michigan.
Speaker 1 00:01:12 And so how long have you been with Western?
Speaker 2 00:01:14 I've been with Western for about a year.
Speaker 1 00:01:15 Okay. Well, welcome. Thank you. Do you work with Dean at all?
Speaker 2 00:01:19 I do work a lot with Dean here.
Speaker 1 00:01:20 Yeah. Dean's awesome. Our podcast studio in Venice is in the Innovations Lab, and so I've gotten to know a lot of the engineers and have done some podcasts with all of his team at one point or another, and it's been really great. His episode is actually one of the most listened to episodes that we've ever had, so Oh, really? Yeah, it's just super smart and really interesting to talk to. So one of the things I like to ask executives is about advice that they've received in their career. And so what is a great piece of advice that you've received?
Speaker 2 00:01:50 I had some great advice when I was first starting out in the window industry, I had a manager who really became my mentor over the years. He really felt like it was important for me to get an impression of the entire company and the entire industry. And so he encouraged me to go to each one of our manufacturing facilities. And my previous employer had multiple manufacturing facilities, and so I would travel to them and I would spend a day in production just learning and just watching and taking notes. And then I would go out with service and I would see the product in the field and all the issues that they might experience. And I would always start out the conversation in both instances, what things would you like us to work on and what can I take back to my manager and to my team?
Speaker 2 00:02:32 And it really gave me a window into what the plants were experiencing and what we were seeing in the field and the issues that we were having. And of course, I came back with pages and pages of notes and lots of different projects, but it also helped me establish those contacts. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> in our company so that I could, I knew who to talk to, I knew a lot about the product, but more importantly, I knew who to ask if I had any questions about the product. And so it was really, really kind of gave me a nice overview of the entire company and the entire industry.
Speaker 1 00:03:02 Well, and you know, because engineering touches everything, right? And so having a more holistic view of how it comes to life and how it plays out in the real world is very different than just looking at a drawing of something versus seeing it in someone's home.
Speaker 2 00:03:17 Right? Yeah. We would design a product and they would get launched in the manufacturing plant, and that was kind of the last time we heard about it until there was something major that would come up. So being able to talk about some of the little details help me as an engineer, design products better. And of course, when I saw 'em in the field and saw failures, I could go back and say, Hey, we need to fix this, right? Otherwise we're gonna lose customers. You know, it's making it more difficult for installers or or whatnot.
Speaker 1 00:03:41 Oh, that's so smart. That's great. And so regarding the education component, because that's what we do, ppg, t I University, how do you see our work at the university helping the Western family?
Speaker 2 00:03:54 I think, at least for my technical experience, really trying to get a good overview of the entire company and the even the parts that I don't necessarily know that I don't know about. So for example, because the organization that I worked with previously had a very lean organization. I had the opportunity to work with lots of different departments, so I worked with marketing, I would help them with brochures and with photo shoots and all sorts of different aspects there. I worked with sales, I would do sales training. I had lots of interaction with sales, probably more than what many of the other engineers had worked with, purchasing with vendors, lots of different areas. And so it gave me a good overview. But I see a lot of employees both at Western and probably at pgt, I not having that same experience where they can work with lots of different departments. And so really just learning more about what everybody else does and how it interacts with what I do, you know, really kinda makes me a more well-rounded employee and really helping me design better products and interact better with them.
Speaker 1 00:04:52 Nice. Now we're excited to have Western as part of our offering and to just round out the product knowledge and the industry knowledge. And it's so very different than just the Florida kind of brands. You know, we're all about impact and missile testing, and you guys are all about energy and solar and things like that. So it's a very different product, but it's the same industry, so
Speaker 2 00:05:15 It is, yeah. And we also have different customers than what you might have, so they have different needs than what some other
Speaker 1 00:05:21 Customers are. Yeah, it's also very interesting, I think. Yes. Awesome. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Kevin. Thank you so much for making time. Thank you. And we'll see you again soon. Okay, great. All right, take care. PG t i University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original Ezb Breeze, porch, and closure line, then became P G T, America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added cgi, CGI I C Window, Western Windows Systems, new South Windows, echo, windows and doors, and lend windows and doors, and our latest acquisition, Martin Garage 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. PPG t I University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
