Driving Full-Speed Ahead with Automation Powered by A+W Production

Alex Kastaniuk, owner of Triview Glass Industries, feels the need for speed. His corner office is adorned with colorful collectables – posters, caps, and models – dedicated to his favorite car, the Corvette. A real one is parked outside just steps from his window. The keys are in his pocket. The sleek design and engineering precision that Kastaniuk appreciates behind the wheel are the same qualities he demands on the factory floor. That’s why he runs his glass factory with A+W Software.

Triview has been using A+W Business software since 2008. Yet Kastaniuk’s familiarity with A+W Software started decades ago when he worked for his family-run tempering business in City of Industry, California.

During those years, the Kastaniuks and team learned from daily experience how effective A+W Software products are for the glass fabrication industry. In 2008, he purchased the assets of Texture Glass Industries to launch Triview Glass Industries, LLC.

One of the first things he did was turn to a product he trusts and installed A+W Business software for sales, purchasing and inventory management in the 18,000 square-foot facility, located in Fullerton, California.

A year later, when he upgraded to a 75,000 square-foot building in City of Industry, Kastaniuk made sure A+W Business software continued to manage his operation.

Despite the generously sized facility, Triview has operated with only one furnace for most of its nine-year history. Thanks to his business acumen, hard-working team, and A+W Software, Kastaniuk was able to double the normal capacity for a setup this size, generating $16 million in annual sales.

In 2015, Triview added A+W BusinessPro software to manage their growing need for production tools, cutting optimizations and rack allocation integration. That gave him a taste for how his business could scale with the right equipment and software.

Ready, Set, Grow

Kastaniuk was ready to expand, so a second tempering line arrived last year. He was also ready to embrace Industry 4.0 with software that featured more automation to create greater speed and efficiencies and to increase production.

Triview’s earlier investments in A+W Business and A+W BusinessPro software were smart moves. It was a simple matter to extend “Pro” to “Production” the next year. Upgrading from BusinessPro to the full A+W Production software was a short exercise with tremendous benefits.

For Triview, making the upgrade to A+W Production is transforming the company’s production capabilities with full barcode tracing, capacity planning, report generation, optimization, and much more.

Since all three software products utilize the same database, no existing data had to be mapped or migrated, resulting in a risk-free transition. The new functionality in A+W Production seamlessly integrated with the existing A+W Business and A+W BusinessPro database structures. No existing field names needed to be customized or relearned by users.

Instead of an entirely new installation that could have taken six months to a year, Triview’s upgrade was completed in just two months, about the time it takes to install a brand-new license of the entry-level A+W BusinessPro software. Throughout the process, A+W Software technicians were on site making sure Kastaniuk’s vision was being realized.

“For companies that aren’t ready to go full automation, BizPro is the way to go,” says Kastaniuk. “It served us well, and now the upgrade is going to help us get to the next level.”

Always Be Capturing Data

The new A+W system at Triview delivers greater efficiencies by integrating mobile data capture. Handheld devices are used to scan barcodes to both identify important order specs and track an order’s movement through the tempering process to shipping. The enhanced system also gives Triview another new resource: factory floor data to measure production performance.

“This is revolutionizing our whole system,” Kastaniuk says. “The scanners capture the depth of production detail and give us the visibility that my company never had.”

Through barcoding, Kastaniuk can generate reports that will give him a better understanding of which areas of the business are losing money and which areas are generating profits. The scanners capture data that is linked to the single database, allowing users to track product and workpiece flow at any given time, and providing insights every step of the way. This data can be used to measure the efficiency of the total system.

“If I sold a job for a $1,000 that should have cost me $500 but ended up costing me $700, I will be able to see how it happened. Manually, I didn’t have any way to do that,” he said. “I’d have to hire 10 people to do the paperwork.”

Creating “Lean” Manufacturing

A+W Production is a perfect product for “lean” manufacturing, which seeks to eliminate waste within the production process. “I can look at certain areas and see where I might save money. Maybe I can take a cut in sales but improve my overall bottom line,” said Kastaniuk. “Before today, I had a hard time doing that.”

The software now allows Triview to manage breakage swiftly and efficiently. When breakage occurs, the information on the label is scanned right on the production floor. A+W Software processes the re-make, plotting a re-cut on the next available form.

The software optimizes the process, fitting the re-cut onto a new sheet quickly and cost effectively. The intelligence of the software empowers Triview to collect and review breakage statistics. Essential questions such as “On which part of the shop floor is breakage most likely?” or “What shift (or operator) has the most breakage?” are answered with hard data.

Ease of Order Entry

Transparency and order flexibility are a few of the most appreciated aspects of A+W Production. Now, when a client calls with a last-minute change, customer service can instantly pull up the order and add the requested modifications no matter where the job is in the production process.

Without the intelligence of A+W Production, labels, and scanners, they would have had to physically hunt the shop floor and partner with the production manager to work in changes. Thanks to scanning at every station, order data is captured into the ERP system where it can be viewed and managed virtually.

If a customer needs to switch a specific feature of the glass such as color — a decision that may impact dozens of sheets — the operator now can make that switch in a few simple clicks, rather than having to make the change line item by line item.

Triview also opted to install a new module called Real Time Optimizer that allows its operators to cut glass without relying on printed documentation. Before installing this module, also available for A+W BusinessPro, the machine operator needed to check the paperwork to figure out the dimensions and location of the required cut. Not anymore. The A+W Production interface just requires a simple scan of the label, which transfers the code into the cutting machine. All the operator does is push “start.”

The versatility of A+W Software fits Triview’s full-service glass treatments and product offerings. It also supports the company emphasis on ensuring a good customer experience.

As Kastaniuk strolls the production floor he proudly celebrates his company’s wide production range: carved glass, sandblasted glass, textured glass, printed glass, handrails, flooring, shower doors, floor-to-ceiling glass walls, magnetic glass boards, even glue-chip stained glass baked in a 110-degree room.

Thanks to their versatility, Triview’s customer base includes small mom-and-pop shops, large general contractors, and everyone in between. Glass projects fabricated at Triview can be seen at the George Washington House in Philadelphia, the Las Vegas International Airport, the set of “Good Morning America,” and luxury hotels all over the country.

“We do it all,” he said, proudly.

A Clear Focus

A+W Software’s 40-year history and exclusive focus on glass and windows fabrication has enabled it to build strong relationships and integrations with the largest number of machine companies serving the industry.

In Kastaniuk’s view, the company offers superior versatility and product features. “A+W Software dominates the glass industry because of its friendly and helpful support,” he says.

His sales rep does not hound him as others do. “But, when I have a problem and I can’t get it resolved, I go right to him and he takes care of it,” he said. A+W Software customer support includes continuous onboarding during the upgrade process, on-site visits, and immediate response to inquiries.

Kastaniuk said A+W Software operates according “Economics 101,” which represent the same principles he uses to run his own company: “Make a customer feel they’re welcome and they’re boss, give them the best quality product out there, don’t lie to them, give good service, and they’ll come back and back and back.”

The same focus on responsiveness, quality and service that makes A+W Software the best partner for Triview makes his prized Corvette the best car for Kastaniuk.

“A+W Software is investment protection,” he says. “Whatever you need, it will keep up.” Sounds just like Kastaniuk’s Corvette.