“In the past, we tempered our glass some 40-minutes’ drive away. Since there were always delays, we decided to purchase a Glaston RC200™ furnace and expand our offering to bring a faster, better service – closer to our customers,” Mariusz Lojowski, President of Quartz Glass & Mirror (QGM), states. “After careful consideration, we decided we were ready to add tempering to our in-house capabilities. We really appreciated the great installation and startup work that Glaston provided for us.”
With a great passion for engineering and working with machinery, Mariusz Lojowski graduated with a degree in engineering from the Tadeusz Kosciusko University of Technology in Poland and started QGM in his garage in the US 15 years ago. From there, he moved into a small warehouse, and then finally into a much bigger one five years ago, in Schiller Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where he currently runs his business.
He began with glass fabrication and installation for architectural glass, frameless shower enclosures and mirrors and has just moved into glass tempering with his brand-new Glaston RC200™ tempering line as of January 2016.
TEMPERING UPGRADES TOTAL BUSINESS
“It was a great way to upgrade our business so that we can focus more on all custom-made glass,” Mariusz explains. “Our customers have included LifeStorage companies, Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway and several real estate groups. Additionally, we’ve served many walk-in customers who tend to come back to us thanks to our same-day or next-day service.”
In addition, this new furnace provided QGM with a company-wide extension now called Allglass Tempering, Inc., which is an upgrade needed by both local customers and the surrounding market.
CONVINCING WORD OF MOUTH
Mariusz spent time speaking with others in the industry who told him how great the Glaston RC200™ furnace is. “I had an idea of what I wanted from a tempering furnace for some time,” he says. “I knew Glaston’s history, but the word of mouth from other glass processors really convinced me, because they were so satisfied with the high-quality output.”
Although he was already in touch with the US Glaston representative in 2013, it wasn’t until June 2015 that he signed the order for the RC200™ furnace.
The time from order placement through to the installation and commissioning was extremely hectic for the company. “So many orders were coming in for tempered glass. After only one month of experience with the new furnace, the number of reclaims has dropped significantly, giving us all a lot less stress with our new, high-quality tempering capability,” he says with relief.
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QGM is known for the highest safety followed by a fast delivery and has just completed certification with the local safety glass council.
TRAINING THE TRAINER
Glaston worked closely with Mariusz to teach him how to use the furnace thanks to his love of being hands-on with the machinery. For him, it’s important that he knows the machine is tempering the glass correctly. Once he’s satisfied that all’s working well, Mariusz will then teach his operators who will run the new furnace.
According to Mariusz, he feels he has a good understanding of what he’s doing with the machine now. “It was a hectic transition. Yet, once we had the furnace up and running, everything went very smoothly. When the tempered glass started coming off the line, all we could say was – ‘Wow!’ No complaints,” he smiles.
“QGM IS MUCH CLOSER”
Mariusz says that QGM is known for the highest safety first followed by a fast delivery. “Safety, time, quality and assurance of the highest precision,” he states. The company has just completed certification with the local safety glass council, which allows it to stamp its own company logo to all tempered safety glass.
His next task is to advertise there’s a new location, Allglass Tempering, Inc., in Schiller Park that can temper glass that will be closer to many potential customers in Chicagoland, including contractors and glass companies. “They can bring their own glass – or use ours,” he says.
In fact, just the day before, a first-time customer came in because he did not want to make the drive to the other tempering provider, stating: “QGM is much closer.” When the customer got his order back, he brought in more glass for QGM to temper – which gave Mariusz an immediate new repeat customer thanks to the close proximity and high-quality tempering results.
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This new furnace provided QGM with a company-wide extension now called Allglass Tempering, Inc., which is an upgrade needed by both local customers and the surrounding market.
ALL ABOUT PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Although QGM has plenty of larger competitors in greater Chicagoland, Mariusz strongly supports the idea of providing a personal touch: “Customers get lost in the shuffle with large glass processors. We want to give our customers a personal touch and make them feel comfortable.”
To stay competitive, he will oversee that this personal touch continues to help the company make a difference to the customers that they serve. In keeping with the spirit of the company, Mariusz and his wife Marzena Lojowski also took time out from their busy schedules to send a personal note to Glaston:
“Thank you for all the services your company has provided for us. We really appreciate all, the great installation and startup of the RC200™. We are very happy with the outcome of our new furnace.”
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