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Bob Crager
Bob Crager of Lewis Street Glass is a 26 year veteran in the glass business. Lewis Street Glass is a leading Wichita Glass company, serving the entire Wichita/Sedgwick County area since 1919. They do anything and everything having to do with glass, both residential and commercial. They also do Auto glass. They are located at 743 South Market, facing Kellogg on the South, and you can reach them by phone at (316) 263-8259. You can email Bob Crager at bcrager@lewisstreetglass.com
Glass
2011-03-01 14:39:00
Expansion time for our commercial building…what now?
Question: We’ve decided it’s time to grow our operations in a much bigger way. We like glass, and the visual effects of glass, and might like to incorporate a lot of it in our expanded facilities, any recommendations?
Answer: As one of the “go to” companies in the glass business, that question does come up for us a lot. When you’ve done something for over 92 years, you either get pretty good at it, or you’re defying the odds of survival in the business world by being mediocre. I don’t recommend that second choice. Usually if you’re pretty good at what you do, people learn a lot about you in a lot of different ways! There are many ways to go about this process of expansion and growth, and most of the time when you get good folks advising you, you’ll end up with a pretty good plan of action. There are some considerations to be included, not the least of which is your budget for the project, which will allow you to determine specifically what your goals need to be. Whether you’re developing a commercial property from scratch, expanding an existing business, building a “mixed needs” facility to meet unique business needs of one or more entities, etc., the plan should include the thought of maximizing the value of the total property or project, and/or maximizing the value of a particular business. The design should give you the highest and best use of the property and spaces available, while using the latest state of the art technology in the design. In today’s world, many companies have found that a combination of the usual building components, together with some of the more unusual components and materials give them a great appearance from the outside, and a facility that can save them a lot of money when it comes to heating/cooling, and overall operating costs. The time to make the investment in those higher efficiency equipment choices is right at the beginning of the plan to build the project. Also, the traffic flow of the operation is an important consideration in order to maximize the different aspects of the business. A minor change in that flow could be just what is needed to really streamline your operations. If you have a retail business with local foot traffic coming in the front door, the business building needs to be very attractive to the consuming public, and offer an open invitation to them to visit you as they drive by. Signage designs can attract them, or can be a moot point as the business magnet that it can be, if done right. Do you require a “waiting room” for customers to sit in while waiting for your service? Or do you move them through to an ordering desk or retail shopping area? How large of a space is needed for your support personnel? Office space that accommodates your needs might be a critical part of the overall operation, and it can sometimes be large open cubicles, with convenient conference rooms nearby, and/or sometimes private offices for key persons in your organization. In any case, you can see where the planning stage for your expansion can be an integral part of the overall success you’re trying to achieve. Don’t overlook planning for your next expansion when you’re planning for this one. That can save future monies just because you took time to provide for something you don’t even need right now, but might down the road. Reconfiguration of your building’s floor plan, relocation of some of those design elements, your move coordination, project management, space analysis, furniture analysis…it should all be in the plans from the outset. If done properly, the result is pretty much guaranteed. When a company does most of the commercial glass installations in a geographic area, you can be pretty sure that they have most of the top installation professionals employed there. Those “highly trained-to- factory-specifications” folks are incredibly important to the end result we all want to achieve with our work. We see that as critical to our future, as well as all of our working relationships. One of the fastest growing elements of new commercial building construction starts, anywhere in the country today, is glass! Most of the large or medium sized commercial building projects will involve designs which include a high percentage of glass, in the form of windows, window- walls, dividers, etc., bringing the outdoors inside and allowing the feel of nature to uplift your entire organization. Tinted glass, coated glass, multi-paned glass, UV glass…a myriad of choices can be considered for your project, to give you the creature comforts you desire, and the classy appearance you want your business to project to the world. There are many other interesting ways you can utilize glass in your project, inside and out. Planning the project, including your budgetary considerations, followed by successfully executing the plan, will get you where you want to be in your facilities. Plan now for a brighter tomorrow! Some information was researched on the worldwide web. More next month…
 
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