Last week I had to use this saying. It was not fun and it was embarrassing to say it.

When I do training sessions, the first thing we discuss is safety. It is extremely important in this industry because we are constantly using some type of razor blade. In many occasions, we are up on tall ladders, scaffolding, and man-lifts.

For flat glass applications I talk about the different types of ladders and their ratings. I also discuss importance of how to stand on ladders, especially the importance of not being on the top of the ladder. Next is the scaffolding and man-lifts. I talk about how important it is to secure the system, and secure yourself in high situations. This is not the section “do as I say, not as I do”.

The next item is the importance of safety using razor blades. In the window film industry, we use many types of blades from six inches wide to pen sized knives. Everything we use is extremely sharp. My conversation usually starts by saying the blade will cut off an appendage. I usually get their attention by saying this.

Using four and six inch wide blades to scrape glass can be very unsafe if not used properly. We use these blades to clean glass. We want to have the glass as smooth as possible before applying the solar control, decorative film, or safety film to the glass. Many times we have to remove existing window film, and other debris so extreme caution is very important. I am constantly reminding people to place the cover over the scraper blades to protect themselves from being cut. No this is not the section, “Do as I say not as I do”.

Next sharp object is the knives we use. These knives are very sharp. They are the size of a pen that you break off the tips to create a constant sharpness of the blade. These knives are sharp enough to score glass and bullet resistant glass if not used properly.

Well, during my sessions I explain the importance of safety while using these knives. While using the knife it is important to slide the blade back in the holder when not in use. I constantly tell people, “If you drop a knife or scraper blade, never ever try and catch it”. Now it is time to insert “do as I say, not as I do”.

I was preparing for a demonstration with a decorative film to install on some sample pieces of glass. The knife I was using was my favorite knife. When you slide the blade out of the handle, it will lock into position. It is great when installing thicker products.

I was cutting the film at eye level. While I was trimming the film, the knife slipped out of my hand. My instant reaction was to retrieve the knife before it fell to the ground. I have pretty good reflexes and by the time the knife reached chest level I caught the knife. About that time I told myself don’t grab it. It was too late. I felt a very sharp pain in my hand and immediately let loose of the knife. Unfortunately the knife did not let go of me until I shook the knife out of my hand.

The knife was locked with the blade sticking out about ½”. When it hit my chest, the force of the knife made a very nice clean deep cut in my thumb muscle. I was very lucky the knife was not facing the opposite direction. It would have easily entered my chest.

You know the saying, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”? Well that saying is very true when you talk about blood and needles. I lower my head to say I am one who gets very weak knees and I will do anything to keep from being stuck with a needle. It took me about 20 minutes to get the wound cleaned and covered. When Tracy saw it, she just had to see what I had done. When I opened my bandage, it immediately opened back up. She demanded I head directly to the immediate care and have it stitched up.

Now picture a big guy like me arguing with little Tracy about why I do not want stitches. I lost the argument and since Tracy had a teleconference, I had to go to that place ALONE. The people there were very nice and accommodating. The experience of the needles was a tough one for me. I don’t pass out anymore, I just get lightheaded and hyperventilate. The worst part was the Novocain did not work so well. As most of you know, it burns when they inject you with this stuff. I told the doctor that he would need to hurry because that numbing sauce just does not last long in my body. At no time did it numb enough to just feel a tug. I felt everything. I felt the pain of each hook going in and I felt the twinge each time he tied the stitch. Actually the stitching was worse than the stabbing. When it was finally over, I counted five stitches. They wrapped up the wound nicely, gave me instructions and I was off my merry way.

Today the hand feels pretty good until I move my thumb. The entire muscle is bruised so every time I use it, I am reminded to listen to my own instructions.

So do as I say and not as I do. If you drop a sharp object, let it go. Do not try and catch it. It is much less expensive to replace the blade instead of being stitched up.



At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, educate and motivate.

The window film industry is in the middle of some huge changes. Unfortunately, in my opinion these changes are not for the best.

It all started in the late 1980's when Courtaulds purchased Martin Processing. Courtaulds is a mega huge company in Europe that specializes in polyester. Martin Processing possessed a fantastic process of dying polyester and Courtaulds needed that technology. That purchase proved to be a huge push for the window film industry as a whole, but a huge setback for that company. They pumped tons of cash into the company and it grew at an incredible rate. A little over ten years ago the company was sold to a Monsanto spinoff called Solutia, another billion dollar corporation. There were many changes within the company and there was more growth. Lately Solutia purchased the distribution rights of Huper Optik and V-Kool outside of the US. Recently Solutia purchased Southwall Technologies, manufacturer of the technologies used to manufacturer Huper Optik and V-Kool lines. And this year Solutia was purchased by Eastman Chemical out of Ohio. We will soon see some drastic changes in that company.

There was a company called DTI out of California that made a very good product line. A private label called Solar Gard was being marketed successfully across the US. In the ealry 90's DTI purchased the Solar Gard name and the growth began for DTI. MSC Specialties purchased DTI and we saw many changes within their company. Not long after, a billion dollar company called Bekaert purchased the company. Again, many changes were made. Last year Saint Gobain (another billion dollar corporation) purchased the window film manufacturer. We will see what happens this year with this company.

There is a very old company that started off with the name Hi Sil. They developed many of the technologies still used today in window film from metalized polyester, SR coatings to adhesive system mounted on the film prior to installation. In the 70's the name was changed to Madico and they kept improving the product line. Madico was purchased by Lintec out of Japan, a very huge billion dollar company and changes were made. Recently Madico purchased Solamatrix, the failed FTI window film manufacturer of Sungard. The past years we have seen some huge changes, especially the past year. Expect to see more this year.

Commonwealth has been manufacturing window film components for some time for other manufacturers. Years ago the brand Suntek was introduced. That product line hit the market hard and fast. It was promoted to be an exact match to the Llumar line because it was being produced by disgruntled CP employees. Not long after a new investment group came in and changes were made. Soon after another investment group came in and more changes were made. From what I understand, the last investment group includes some very wealthy and successful people. Again, changes are being made.

And last, but not least we have 3M. They are a huge billion dollar company that has moved the window film division all over the spectrum within the company. To me it has been treated as a lonely red-headed step child. Every time there was a move there were changes made, some good some not so good.

From here on out, this is my opinion from me being in this industry for over 25 years. I have owned two very successful independent dealerships. I am known to research deeply in something I am involved in. I know how window film works, how it is constructed, and I know the capabilities of window film. I have been lucky enough to be involved all the way up the food chain in the manufacturing and marketing of these products.

The past twelve months I have watched a new trend that I find disturbing. The window film industry is now being run by multi-billion dollar corporations. Because of this changes are being made and this is not a good thing.

In the beginning, the manufacturers and independent distributors were involved with independent dealers. The staff mentored, trained, and promoted their clients. I remember having my rep go with me to very large potential projects to help me close the deals. He gave me excellent advice, and did nothing but promote me and my company to the potential clients. There were regional and national dealer meetings. The regional meetings mostly consisted of how to grow your business. The annual national meetings provided continued education and in most cases the introduction of a new product.

Innovation was something that made you stand there in awe. The raw component dates back to the 40's. Metalized polyester the 50's. The 1960's saw the introduction of window film. Back then it was like hanging wallpaper, spread the glue on the glass and apply the film. The 70's brought adhesive systems, scratch resistant coatings, different colors and sputtering. The 80's saw improved safety and security films. The 90's saw spectrally selective products, XIR technology. Every decade we witnessed improvement. It was very exciting to be in this industry back then with all of the innovation.

After 9/11 things started to change. The manufacturers started to openly pursue national and large installation accounts. Soon after many of the independent distributors started doing the same thing, chase after those large accounts. This started eliminating the relationship withing the dealer network. The argument was that the independent dealer was incapable of tackling these large projects. (This can and will be discussed at a later date)

After 9/11 I started seeing another change and it is not good. The trend was the manufacturers were more involved in making the profit for the investors and stockholders instead of innovation and promotion.

The relationship between the dealer and their manufacturer is now at an all time low. There is very little trust between the two. The majority of dealers out there have no clue who their manufacturer’s rep is or how to get a hold of them in case they need help. And we are assuming the dealer wants the manufacturer involved in growing their dealership.

The manufacturers have been removing the independent distributor pipeline for higher profits. With this elimination, the dealer support has dwindled down to a trickle. The dealer now has to place an order through a call center and talk to someone whose only knowledge is the computer screen in front of them. With the lack of support, dealers are now searching the internet for lousy advice.

But the worst part of the new trend is the lack of innovation. Nothing has changed, the same films are being installed today as it was prior to 2000. There are no new technologies, and nothing floating around in the rumor mill. Every major manufacturer in the world has the basic product lines including the spectrally selective films. There is a demand for more effecient window films, but the manufacturers are not listening.

I have written many times that standing still causes your business to fail.

Call me old school, dinosaur, whatever you wish. I am a full believer that in order to establish, maintain and grow a service business you have to maintain your customer base. If you have repeat customers, it is extremely important that you handle every need of that customer. And it is just as important to know that you ARE serving every need of that customer. It involves constant contact, constant questions, and addressing the answers given.

All of the major window film brands are great products, but that does not confirm a strong customer base. As a dealer, it is about the relationship between you and your product provider. That provider should be working very hard to keeping you as a customer. There is so much more competition than ever before. Manufacturers and their distributors should be working very diligently creating dealer loyalty. Just sending out a mass email is not enough customer service. It takes phone calls and god forbid, a live appearance to the dealer’s location on a routine basis. And first and foremost, the manufacturer and distributor should never be a competitor.




At JAT Consulting, we evaluate, educate and motivate

Recently there was a question on a message board about whether this industry has a future. I have known the person who started this thread for almost 25 years. He and I have had this conversation many times and here are my thoughts.

25 years ago his company was probably one of the top 25 independent window film dealers in the country. He had over 20 employees, a fleet of company vehicles and a six figure income. Throughout the years many of his employees left and started their own independent installation companies. Those new companies were and have been very profitable as well. Today my friend has less than half the employees and his annual volume is probably about half as what it was before. The drop in my friend’s revenue, it does not mean the window film industry is losing its luster.

If you look at the millions of square feet of window film produced and installed in the US and compare it to 25 years ago, hands down today’s volume is incredible. The past few years the US production of the products growth has gone down, but I believe that is mainly due to the huge influx of overseas products. In the past few years the quality of overseas products have improved greatly making them more competitive against the major manufacturer.

So why isn’t his business doing as well as it was 20 years ago? Does this mean the window film industry has reached a plateau?

We first off, window films are much more known around the country. Today, people are understanding the benefits of window film besides glare control and looking cool on cars. With that, there is much more competition at the dealer level. And there is much more competition at the distribution and manufacturing level as well.

His business is still very strong and probably the top 10% in the industry. What he has done was change his path to profit. He understood where the trends were going and addressed his business structure to those trends. With his changes his business is doing fine, just does not have a fleet of trucks like he had 20 years ago.

Ok back to the original question. Has the window film industry reached a plateau? Is there still growth available in the industry?

If you look at the industry with the same eyes as you did 20 years ago, yes there is a plateau. However, if you look at this industry with new eyes without blinders there is tremendous opportunity. It is just not the same as before.

There are thousands of vehicles built each day. People are purchasing them and many are retaining their vehicles for a longer time. There is opportunity for both ends of that spectrum. New building codes for homes and commercial buildings has changed greatly beginning in 2000. With those changes, more efficient windows are being used during construction. But the customer (homeowner, building owner, tenant), is demanding better performances. Besides, there are countless underperforming windows out there for the picking. Are you chasing after those windows? In many cases, window film can produce the same or better performance as the new low-e glass at a fraction of the cost of replacing the windows. According to a US study, the only real time to replace your windows is when they are falling apart. The majority of window frames are just fine. It is the glass that is the problem.

New technologies in the window film industry is allowing the independent dealer to do some amazing things from ultra light films with high heat rejection, custom cutting, to printing images on window film. With these new technologies, opportunities are endless. It all has to do with you looking at everything without blinders and go after those opportunities.



At JAT Consulting Services, we evaluate, motivate and educate.