FeneTech News and Updates

18 Nov Syracuse Glass

“Our company was started in 1909. A willingness to change over the years is a big reason we’re still in business and growing more than 100 years later.

Syracuse Glass was initially a glass distributor but over the years evolved into a fabricator. In 1973, we began making insulating glass as an early adopter of double glazing. In the early 2000s, we sold off our auto glass business, which at one time was 50 percent of our revenue.” (more…)

08 Oct Tristar Glass Products

“We started Tristar Glass Products from scratch in 2005. In 2015, we’ll open our third fabrication facility and reach 200 employees.”

We’re an architectural and decorative glass fabricator certified by PPG and Guardian. Most of our business comes through commercial glazing companies. Caring for customers is a big part of what we preach from the top down. We take pride in it.

Service and loyalty sets us apart. We have a higher level of commitment to the extra things. We rush orders, we do favors. We get the right products to our customers on a timely basis and try to never say no.”

Gaining market share and quality people

“I had worked in the industry for many years and owned a glass fabrication company with my brother, which we sold in 1995. When my non-compete expired in 2005, I immediately opened Tristar for business. I saw the need and felt we could do a better job than the competition.

Fortunately, we never saw a bad downturn in 2008. The regional economy certainly slowed but it was not like the coasts. We’ve been able to pick up market share and buy equipment and expand our capabilities at reasonable prices.

We’ve also been able to find quality people at each step, which is why we were able to open a facility in Dallas in 2012—the same year we moved and expanded our Oklahoma plant—and will open in Houston this year.”

People drive our business

“People drive the business, and the people who work here and that we hire wholeheartedly share our belief that our primary concern is taking care of our customers.”

The Houston facility is 66,000 square feet featuring a state-of the-art convection furnace with a bed load size of 130 inches by 240 inches, the largest of its kind in the United States.

We can go big because we have good systems, great customers and a lot of people dedicated to providing exceptional service and quality.

We also have a second website, tristarvisions.com, for our decorative glass division, which offers a full range of services for interior and exterior applications.”

Getting ready to grow

“There’s lots of interaction and coordination in this business and we strive to never make it difficult or unpleasant to deal with us, especially during tough situations.

We invested in FeneVision in 2010. Our software up to that point was strictly an order entry program someone locally had written. It was doing the job but we were seeing our potential to grow. We knew we needed to have robust systems.

We looked for software that could do what we wanted and came from a company that could give us the support we need when we need it. We wanted one package that could do everything for us.

We actually began implementing another program and were quickly aware that it couldn’t do what was promised.

That’s when we selected FeneVision. You could see that the people at FeneTech saw the need for strong systems for fabricators.”

Seeing the entire process

“FeneVision takes us through the entire process.

My wife Karen is the company controller. She likes the ability to go in and take an order and track it all the way through to where we ship it and invoice the customer. We can see what happened all along the process. We can find it right down to a customer’s location.

We’re trying to automate our processes more and more and even move toward touchless production. Currently we are ready to move into laser marking from barcoding.”

No complacency

“All fabricators have similar equipment and ways to take care of customers. We try not to get complacent or think we are better than we are.

We operate with a high level of commitment because this is our livelihood. We take it personally when something goes wrong, whether it’s our fault or not. It’s how we respond that matters, that helps drive our growth.

When we saw opportunities for expansion, FeneTech and FeneVision looked to be in the best place to help us manage it. Today, FeneVision is supporting our growth.

It was an investment but no one would give it up and go back. We all really appreciate what it does for us.”

Tim Kelley, president
Tristar Glass
tristarglass.com

05 Jul Thompson Creek Window Company

“You can consider me a window geek. I grew up in the business—at one point we lived on the second floor of the plant. I’ve done just about every job in the company. I still have a scar on my hand from trying to carry too much glass.

We’ve grown 600 percent in the last decade. Almost as soon as we’ve expanded our facilities, it seems we’ve had to begin to plan for more. Yet as fast as we grow, I only have to look at that scar to remind myself to focus on what really matters. For Thompson Creek, that is delivering the best possible customer experience for every customer every day.

Our motto is trust your home to Thompson Creek. We want people to be house proud, which is why we directly sell, install and back every one of the more than 60,000 replacement windows we make each year.”

Building in quality up front

“Growing up in the business, I learned first-hand how important it is to build in quality up front. Going direct was a decision we made in 2001, and we’ve never regretted it.

Attention to detail matters, so we invest in all areas of that customer experience. We have an extensive showroom where people can see what they will get and where they can get to know us. We offer great standard features and desirable options.

And we install replacement windows and doors in less than 30 days. Customers want to see the improvement in their homes as soon as possible. We work as a team to make it happen. And we back it all up with a transferable double lifetime guarantee.”

A belief in technology—and in reducing errors

“My family started the company in 1980. 25 years later, we were still operating like a small business using a home-grown DOS-based system that wasn’t going to be able to meet our needs. We needed something that would grow with us.

We installed FeneVision in 2005. We might have looked at some other software, but we had a lot of confidence in our referral source. When we looked at the software, we liked what we saw and moved pretty quickly.

We believe in technology. We believe in reducing errors. The fewer times we enter the same data, the more it passes through our system, the less chance for human error. Getting it right enables us to be fast and accurate.”

Outside opinion

“FeneVision helps us do that. It’s such a good match for us, so good on the floor, so good at material requirements planning. It allows us to interface with any new equipment or software that we have added to business, including the SAP order entry system we use for all our businesses.

We had a consultant come in a while ago, and the only software he recommended we keep was FeneVision. It is the only business software we haven’t had to replace as we have grown.

FeneVision has definitely evolved and they involve users in the process of determining where to improve. That they listen and respond really speaks to their commitment to their customers.

In addition, over the nine years we’ve been with them, we still work with many of the same support people we started with. They’ve become part of our team, which is the kind of partnership we look for in our business relationships.”

A good model and the right priorities

“We’re fortunate that our business model continues to put us in a position to grow. Even so, customer satisfaction is and always will be our top priority.

We knew our investment in FeneVision was designed to support our longer term growth plan at every turn. There is just no need to replace it because there are no limits with FeneVision.”

Rick Wuest, president
Thompson Creek Window Company
thompsoncreek.com