Several years ago, a group of small and mid-sized vinyl window fabricators teamed up in a new way, forming the American Window Alliance. Together, they are finding the old adage "there is strength in numbers" to be true.

According to Mark Adams, AWA's executive director, member fabricators are growing organically, outpacing the vinyl window market in every region currently served by the alliance. The AWA has grown collectively at a 20-percent-plus annual rate since 2000, and all AWA members continue to see even more opportunity for growth.

Fabricator members enjoy greater buying power, but all credit the organization with providing their companies more than vinyl and part discounts or marketing clout. "Our real competitive advantage is our people," says Kris Anderson, AWA president, and president of Alliance Windows of Louisiana. "I look at my AWA national teammates and I can honestly say that I learn something new every time we get together."

"The largest benefit is shared knowledge, and knowledge is power," says Adams. "They are all individual companies, but each owner has nine highly knowledgeable consultants to work with. They also share a friendship. That makes doing business fun."

HISTORY
The alliance was initially started by a group of licensed fabricators of CertainTeed windows. "We were familiar with each other through the CertainTeed network, and personally, I had gained a lot of respect for some of these guys I'd worked with through the years," recalls Art Strauss, president of Midway Industries, one of the founding manufacturers, based in Bedford Park, IL. "The idea evolved. A couple people talked about the possibility, and others got wind of it."

In the beginning, five companies were involved, reports Lloyd Watts of BMD Windows. As part of the CertainTeed network, none of the fabricators had really interacted with the industry, he admits. "We started talking to different suppliers, visiting extruders; it really opened our eyes."

Their initial thoughts, Strauss says, were that by joining together, their companies would be in a stronger position when it came time to find a new supplier of extrusions. Collectively, their volume requirements would be great enough to get better pricing and more input in product design.

The group of fabricators proved to be right. Strauss says three extruders were immediately very interested in working with them, and they eventually partnered with Dayton Technologies, now Deceuninck North America. The group encountered some immediate challenges, he states. "In the Midwest, we were looking for an extremely high quality window. In the Northeast, there were greater demands for a low price." There were a lot of difficult decisions to be made, but, he says, "I think we came up with the best of both worlds."

Mathews Brothers Co., a long-time wood window manufacturer based in Belfast, ME, joined shortly after AWA officially formed. Scott Hawthorne, president, explains that his company had been manufacturing vinyl windows for about eight years when it decided it was time to upgrade its product line. During the resulting product discussions, Dayton's representatives told him about AWA and what they were doing. After looking at the product and the group, Mathews Brothers decided to join.

WARRANTY
"The alliance has given us some buying power that has helped us stay competitive," Hawthorne reports, but one of the biggest benefits he sees is the warranty program. The group backs up the lifetime warranty offered by Mathews Brothers, providing added assurance to the customer that if the individual company isn't there, someone else will be. "Despite the fact that we've been in business for 150 years, it's still a benefit," he notes.

BMD customers like the national backing that comes with its membership in the alliance, Watts also reports. Faced with the choice of working with a big company or a small company, customers get the best of both worlds with AWA members, he suggests. "We're local. We have people here ready to help them out," he explains, "but they know there's still an organization out there to support that product out in the field if something should happen to us."

SHARED KNOWLEDGE
"The greatest benefit is shared knowledge," says Watts, a comment echoed more or less by each member. "It's very powerful to be able to get on the phone and say to someone, 'We're having this problem out on the line. Did you ever run into this?'" Between the member companies, an answer can usually be found, he says. That information is then posted on the Web for everyone to use.

"We can bounce problems off each other," adds Strauss. "You may have questions about personnel, OSHA, workers compensation. We get a lot of help from each other." There are also more formal avenues to pool knowledge, such as the "best practices team," a committee that focuses on manufacturing issues. Midway is sending its entire sales team to a meeting with the sales teams of the other organizations. "They can share ideas, discuss common problems and find new ways to address them."

Allen Barciszewski, manufacturing operations manager for Lyf-Tym Building Products, a recent addition to the alliance based in Charlotte, NC, says the Alliance window system, as well as the experience and knowledge of the group's members were the primary reasons for his company to join. The conversations he's had with other members have already proven valuable, he states. If he has a problem, he can contact one of the others and get assistance almost immediately. "What may have taken six weeks for me to figure out myself, a lot of times I can get an answer in an hour."

Adams notes that in the past, the individual member companies have hosted AWA meetings. Typically, those meetings include a plant tour, and "you can't keep them together," he states. They all go off and find something that they can bring back to their own facility. "It's like a scavenger hunt. It's pretty fun to watch."

"You can always learn something," Watts says, recalling these events. "There's some little trick that someone has that you can take back and improve your own business."

"[Members] have an unfair advantage," adds Adams. "Their advantage is each other. They constantly get ideas to build a window faster. They can talk to each other about a multitude of financial and company issues."

None of the members point to any serious drawbacks for their individual companies as a result of being part of the group. Each reports that they are able to maintain the flexibility and autonomy required to address their local market needs. Watts notes, for example, that his company is able to use a constant-force balance that is preferred in his marketplace, while companies in the Northeast opt for a block-and-tackle system.

The alliance works hard to accommodate the needs of its members and support their efforts in various markets. The Kansas City market uses some construction techniques that are unique from the rest of the country, Watts points out. The alliance is able to accommodate his needs in the product design.

It is now working on a higher DP window. "I don't know if Kris (Anderson) down in Louisiana could do that on his own. But we can provide him with that product and also help out our other East Coast guys that need it. They might have been shut out of the market otherwise."

Adams notes that the alliance has its standards for quality. "Every fabricator is held accountable that their windows are being built in a specific way. We have a warranty that's supported by all, so there's tremendous peer pressure to build high quality products."

That doesn't mean everyone is expected "to manufacture in lock step the exact same product," Adams continues. If eight different members want to use one piece of hardware but the other two don't, that situation can be addressed. As long as the alternative component meets the same standard of quality, that's acceptable. "There needs to be some flexibility in the program because of the regional differences in the marketplace. The individual companies may each have unique needs they have to meet," he adds. "We also don't want to stifle creativity."

DECISION-MAKING
One would suspect that getting a group of individual companies to make joint decisions and accomplish tasks would present a challenge. And members agree that it isn't always easy. "You can't go into this with a big ego. There is a give-and-take," says Strauss. "Sometimes you have to go with something for the good of the group when you might have made a bigger change." But, he adds, "I wouldn't change a thing. I'm a member of an exclusive club that's paid tremendous dividends."

It does require a time and resource commitment, Watts notes. There are two major meetings a year, and then manufacturing, marketing, legal, purchasing and other committees that personnel from member companies participate in. "I don't think this would have been possible before e-mail," he adds.

Members don't agree on every issue, Adams states, "but they always come to resolution." As executive director, he notes, his job is not to make decisions but to maintain contacts between committees, make sure the group stays on point to make decisions and facilitate meetings. "The challenge is you have 10 companies that are all basically equals. Equals can't tell each other what to do." He describes his role as "relationship management," and points to his past job as coach of a college basketball team. Just as each player had individual talents and personalities, the same is true of AWA members. Getting the most out of each is good for the team.

AWA recently added four new fabricators, and looking forward, the alliance plans to continue to grow, although it's not looking to expand too quickly. "We have a strategic plan to add more markets," with the goal now to establish the alliance brand in all markets east of the Rockies, Adams states. "But we don't want growth for growth's sake. We're very careful to find the right owners of the right companies."

All of the members are different in one way or another, says Hawthorne. They all may carry the Alliance brand windows, but some have different products also. "One offers bending; another manufactures patio doors. Other members are full-fledged building product distributors that handle siding and other products. We have one that does aluminum and another that does room enclosures," he notes. "We happen to be a long-time wood window manufacturer."

Yet, all the companies share a lot of traits in terms of corporate philosophies, Strauss says. "As long as everyone goes in with the same attitude, it works." In terms of new potential members, much work goes into seeking companies that share many of those traits but still have some new expertise to offer, Watts notes.

"We're not just a buying group. It's a true alliance," adds Hawthorne. "If someone comes in asking what we buy sticks for or what we buy components for, that's the last thing we're looking for."

"It's a very good group," notes Barciszewski. AWA did go through a thorough due diligence process with Lyf-Tym before it joined, "as well they should," he continues. "I understood what they were trying to do, and, quite frankly, I would have been worried if they didn't look at us as closely as they did. The alliance looks at potential new members who can bring talent, compliment the team and help grow the organization."

The new members that do come in are very fortunate, Watts says. "We took a tremendous hit the first year." Losing the CertainTeed brand and having to prove the new line in the market was difficult. Having the support of the alliance and Dayton was critical. Those joining now have the advantage that the program's in place and they can "run with it."

"It's a well put together program and product," says Barciszewski. He gives the existing members a lot of credit for developing a line that's designed well and works very well from a manufacturing standpoint, as well as a strong marketing program. "The Alliance group has done a great job of putting together a program that will help us gain additional market share and shorten our growth curve tremendously."

New members benefit existing members too, Watt notes. They bring up the volumes, and coming from a group that currently represents 400,000 units a year already translates into benefits for his company. It also creates more marketing resources and expanded regional coverage. "It adds power to the brand name." Finally, he notes, "With some of these new guys, we have some really good talent to draw on."

The alliance concept has evolved as the initial members envisioned, Watts states. "I think we've achieved most of what we were looking for." Dayton, and now Deceuninck, has been very supportive and they've seen that it works. The success, he adds, can be seen in the development of similar groups. Deceuninck is now working with a group of regional companies manufacturing Earthwise windows, and other extruders have taken steps to create fabricator groups.

Asked whether they think their businesses are stronger now than they would have been had they gone it alone, the member fabricators all say they're pleased with the decision to join. "I don't know if we would have survived," says Watts. "Overall, it's been a great success for us," reports Hawthorne. "It's really moved our hollow vinyl program forward."

"I wouldn't change a thing," says Strauss. His company has grown steadily as part of the alliance, and this year, entered the ranks of Window & Door's Top 100 Manufacturers on its own. AWA has enabled Midway to more effectively compete against bigger players in the market. He points to the marketing resources it has and the product that it is able to offer. "We'd never be at the same levels. There's no way we could have afforded it. We made an excellent choice."

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