I don’t know about you, but I quietly raise an eyebrow when someone claims their company is “full service.”
That’s a very high standard, and to me requires checking several boxes.
The company must offer a broad product line, including innovative products and services that make a difference. It must be capable of taking and fulfilling requests for custom products. It must have on-demand customer support. And, of course, it must keep total cost of ownership forefront in mind – that what it delivers is the lowest cost solution through the life of the product.
In my industry – architectural glass and insulated glass – it’s extremely rare to find a fabricator that provides all the above.
We do. And we recently completed a project that underscores – once again – our claim.
Mass General Brigham Hospital in Salem, Massachusetts, is a national leader in medical research, teaching, and patient care. It is the largest hospital-based research venue in the nation with annual funding of more than $2 billion.
As part of a facilities expansion, glazier Salem Glass Company choose Glass + Metal Craft to design and fabricate a 2,800 square foot entrance canopy. Some fabricators would have provided the glass, provided some level of off-site project management, and be on call for change orders or do-overs. And claim that to be “full service.”
But there’s so much more to being successful. We began the project as we always do, by thoroughly researching the specification to understand the architect’s intent.
We then assigned a full-time project manager, who sourced glass made in the USA and our own HamoTM hardware to ensure timely supply, and provided on-call support to anticipate twists in the road and ensure successful installation.
Our in-house Fulcrum Division provided design services, cost-evaluation, coordinated shop drawings, made all the structural calculations, and delivered stamped as-built drawings.
Our overall approach included custom modifying our base IMBERTM Type I Glass Canopy, our proprietary pre-engineered system that saves time and cost that can be allocated elsewhere by the architect and glazier.
Our Glass + Metal Craft Division fabricated the clear laminated glass panels and fins with a SentryGlas© interlayer. Our Cuda Metals Division delivered the stainless fittings and custom hardware components. And we kitted everything to flow installation.
In short, we were on board, front-and-center for everything, soup to nuts, and then some. That’s how you define full service. And that’s Glass + Metal Craft.
