This is SHIELDS
This podcast is about our family business. We are polycarbonate manufacturer coming up on 50 years of business. Owned and operated by the same family we talk about our products, our history, stories of how we became who we are and more. You get to know the owners and those who run the place!
This is SHIELDS
This is SHIELDS #18
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Join us at the PRI Trade Show 2025 in Indianapolis.
It could be any day.
SPEAKER_00You just like doing intros.
SPEAKER_01I do.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Con Expo 2026, day two. Once again, we can have the beer. Can't light the cigar yet, but here's today's recap.
SPEAKER_00Are you just gonna like chew on it?
SPEAKER_01No, I don't chew on it already. Not even cut. I'll light it later. I promise. By the way, I'll be across uh I'll be out front of Triple George Cigar tonight sometime around 8:30. Anybody come join me? Love to see you.
SPEAKER_00Shit, she's gonna get this posted real quick then. Goodness gracious. We're gonna end up showing up in three weeks at Triple George. Where's Brad? Thought through that one, huh? Okay, you ready? Okay, so we just wanna uh talk quickly about how today's been and how much uh how much impact this show has already had, and it's day two of five. Uh my feet hurt, my back hurts. I think everybody's feet and back hurts, but it feels not mine. Oh, you are gonna whine.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I feel great.
SPEAKER_00Did you say you're Iron Man?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Anyways, one of the biggest things that you know we like to recap all the time and we talk way too much about work, but oh we're at work, but like in our lives, like it's just like shutting it off, especially shutting off here, just doesn't happen. No, it doesn't happen. Pacing through our blood. Absolutely. Um, I hope not, that'd be a health medical issue. But one thing that really hit me today, and it struck me as I'm calm, we got hit so hard in the morning with an influx of people, a flood, and it wasn't even people walking by, like trade shows. You you know, we are known for grabbing people's attention and bringing them in.
SPEAKER_01We engage everybody.
SPEAKER_00We do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00This was this was different.
SPEAKER_01This was different.
SPEAKER_00This was people seeking us out, coming to see us, saying, I need this, I need you. And one of the, you know, we talking, I think that we still get, we're so engulfed in a world of polycarbonate that we still forget sometimes how much glass is out there.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And how much it like the stories I've heard of, you know, a guy raising up their door and the glass shattering on their head, to you know, a guy being completely bloodied and you know, a log coming through, and even coming through their metal, yeah, their metal cages and the frames like.
SPEAKER_01Well, we had one guy had a the small piece penetrated through the cage opening, penetrated the glass. Terrifying terrifying.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely terrifying.
SPEAKER_01And so it hurt him right it right in it, it got him in the sternum.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's horrible. Absolutely horrible. So, you know, having those conversations and and knowing that the demand and what's really exciting for me is all of the dealer and all the distributor interest we've got, and the people being like, This is a product of extreme value. We want a part of it. We want to be a part of not just our product, but what's really it kind of makes me feel like it makes me feel a little weird and kind of wants to go hide in a hole. They're like, we want to be a part of you guys. I want to be associated with you and your brand, and we love what you're doing.
SPEAKER_01I don't want to hide in a hole with that. I I'm pretty proud of it.
SPEAKER_00Well, you have more charisma than I do. I I mean, I I think it's awesome. I I have a hard time accepting that. Well, like what we're doing now, I have a hard time accepting that people are just gonna randomly watch us.
SPEAKER_01It's great though, and I so much appreciate them. And you talked about the glass we've been talking about. The other thing I've enjoyed is hearing about the poly imposters out there making other windows and the failure rates and the things that are going wrong with them. And it and it starts with the stress and the coating and the trim and the form and all that. But the thing is, you know, we're the original. We are the ones that started this aftermarket program that can feed into that, and you know we're gonna have poly imposters come along, and that's fine. I'm not afraid of them, I'm not worried about them. But what I don't like is if people take what we are selling, what we are making, and we are guaranteeing, and think you're gonna get that same performance else-wise. I just want you to be sure you know what you're buying.
SPEAKER_00Every fruit's not the same, just because we're fruit does not mean we're the same, right? We've earned apple, they're an orange. Actually, I like oranges, so yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01So I just, you know, know what's out there.
SPEAKER_00Um, so but the the the demand, right?
SPEAKER_01The demand.
SPEAKER_00Excuse me. My, you know, I'm sitting here thinking after just you know the three or four conversations I had this morning, going, all right, like it's it's game time, and it's time for us to crank it up, like it's time for our production, it's time for our investment in scaling, and then you know, you always wonder in business, you're like, demand and then scale up.
SPEAKER_01Well, we've got to scale.
SPEAKER_00We have to scale, and I and it's you know, the ones that you know, if you if you you know what is the what is the analogy? The if you pour if you make it, they will come.
SPEAKER_01No, no, okay. If you build it, they will come. We there's both two. There's yes and no with that.
SPEAKER_00And at this point, you know, where I'm sitting here going, okay, we've got to invest in this, we've got to get it going, and I'm just praying the demand's there, but the demand is there.
SPEAKER_01Well, so here's why I put that- We just have to right.
SPEAKER_00We just have to have that.
SPEAKER_01Here's why I put that if you build it, they will come. No, if you build the right thing, okay, if you're building the thing that's going to satisfy them, keep them safe, and and make the value and the investment they're making, they will buy. But if you're not ready to get it right now, our customers work, class breaks, or the polyimposter window fails, they need to go to work ASAP. They can't wait. So that's where we have to build it. So when they do come and they will, we can fulfill them and satisfy them right away.
SPEAKER_00And that's, I think, why our dealer market and our distributors who are working with even more dealers is so important because our you know, Joe Schmoe doesn't want to buy this ahead of time.
SPEAKER_01Okay, first off, it's not Joe Schmo. Joe Schmoe.
SPEAKER_00Joe Schmo's kind of nearly bob, but who am I gonna make? The operators.
SPEAKER_01How about awesome Tom?
SPEAKER_00Awesome Tom. I like it. Awesome Tom is not gonna invest ahead of time. You know, how many times do we hear them go, well, when it's when it breaks, I'll buy. Right. And that's how we have our stock, but right, we can't keep up with the demand, so our dealers having their stock, and then then being able to go back to their dealers and say, Okay, now I need it, and then not have to wait for it to shift.
SPEAKER_01Right, and that's critical, and that's because you keep working, you stay safe, you go home.
SPEAKER_00How many stories of guys going, well, I busted my glass out, and then I just kept working, and I'm going, yeah, and that's yeah, we don't want that.
SPEAKER_01So, kind of a segue into my day. So we don't want to make this too long. A, we've got to get back to work, and uh, I've got to smoke a cigar at some point. So, today, yesterday was a fantastic day, busy and so forth. Um, I was ready for another great day, and it's been a great day. I was ready for the same type of let's talk to people. We talked to people from corporate power players all the way down to a husband-wife team and have just one piece of equipment. My goal is to make sure they're all satisfied. They're no different in my book, and that's the truth. But I had something happen today I've never had happen, and it happened two times one way and one time the other way, and I'm still a little blown away by it. So we're talking about the windows and what they do, and I'm talking to it, and I have two people thank me for saving their lives from my window, saving their lives. One gentleman, just wonderful, he goes, and he came here to say that to me, and he wanted me to know that I am his wife's favorite person because of what our window did for him. And then I got a chance to talk to a couple young guys that that worked behind my windows, didn't know that. They didn't know that. I just knew corporately what was going on. And we're talking, and just cool dudes, you know, they work. I love them. And we're talking about where DCM gets hit by our flail mower and the impact that we talked about right there. And the younger, well, they were both young, crying out loud. Everybody's young around me. But one of the young men looked at me and uh he goes, Thanks. He goes, You're gonna save my life someday. That's why I do what I do. So maybe the best show I've ever had day. Never heard that, never ever heard that from guys, and you know, they don't need to thank me. But thank you.
SPEAKER_00We'll see you tomorrow. Got me crying. Don't mess up my makeup. I don't even wear makeup in an often.
SPEAKER_01You are mean.