I watched the crane lift one of the last units of unitized insulated glass curtain wall into the façade of the new Beaumont Hospital expansion in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It was a thing of beauty.
Enclosing the building as quickly as it allowed meant so many other parts of the project could leap forward on the construction schedule.
But then, like most things that turn out great, it doesn’t just happen. It takes a team and some serious grit.
Before that unit could be lifted off the truck, a modern-day marvel of a unitized manufacturing line had to be thought through, spec’d, and built at an entirely new facility of premier glazier Madison Heights Glass.
And before and concurrent to that, Madison Heights Glass and Glass + Mirror Craft had to invest countless hours in determining how to seamlessly flow multiple shapes, colors, and sizes of insulated glass from our fabrication floor to their production line. Each unit sequenced to arrive at its specific unitized frame just in time.
To get there, it takes a robust fabrication process – quality glass, each and every unit, and efficient fast assembly. It takes state-of-the-art logistics. Above all, it takes open and ongoing communication. And then it’s also a good idea for the fabricator to have a dedicated project manager on-demand to ensure everything is flowing.
At Glass + Mirror Craft, this is what we do for our unitized system partners. We deliver what they need, when they need it, and always with a backup plan to keep things moving during those unforeseen events.
There are few glass fabricators that can do that. There are even less that have had real-world experience doing it. It’s something to think about as you look to form your next glass project team.
