New GlasWeld General Manager Says Time is Right for Repair
October 28, 2009

In light of a tough economy and consumers' developing desire for all things green, GlasWeld's new general manager, Dennis Garbutt, says he joined the company at a particularly opportune time. (CLICK HERE for related story.)

Dennis Garbutt

"I think the timing is really, really good in this economy," he says. "People are being more frugal—they'd rather repair than replace."

Garbutt also is a proponent of green—something GlasWeld management has long touted.

"Certainly, environmentally, we're on the right track," he adds. " … It's more economical to repair glass than to make glass, and I think we're going to carry that theme throughout all of our public messages, and certainly internally in the way we operate."

Garbutt says GlasWeld's scratch removal business also is continuing to grow, as manufacturers work to save money and be more lean.

"We're marketing this to manufacturers," he says. "[If they discover a piece of scratched glass,] they can remove the scratch right there and then send [the glass] back into the system … We sell to distributors also because no matter how well it's packaged, there's going to be some damage along the way."

"My goal here is to just build a really solid team that has a strong customer orientation," Garbutt adds. "I really want the customer to come first … I want us to be able to deliver products and processes that help [customers] do their jobs better."

Garbutt, a Southern California native, has worked with both General Motors Corp. and America Honda in executive roles, and has a good deal of dealership experience. He eventually left that industry when his dealership was bought out by a larger chain.

"What attracted me is the attitude here," says Garbutt of his decision to join the company. "The owners' attitude is to lead, not to follow."

Though he has worked with glass industry suppliers, Garbutt is somewhat new to the industry-and he says what's surprised him most so far is "how small [the industry] is."

"I think people know each other," he says. "Just in a week or so, I've been able to touch base with a number of competitors. It's not that big as far as number of companies."

And he's also excited about the experience he brings from the automotive industry.

"When I worked for GM, they were masters of marketing what they had on the shelf, and at American Honda, they were masters of listening to consumers and building to a need, and that's what we're going to try to do here at GlasWeld—listen to the market and build to a need," he says.

Asked if there's anything he'd like glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine readers to know about him, Garbutt offers a humble response.

"I like to stay off the radar, and let our product speak," says Garbutt. "We don't need personal vanity out there."

Need more info and analysis about the issues?
CLICK HERE to subscribe to AGRR magazine.