Minnesota-based NOVUS Glass is celebrating 50 years of service to the auto glass industry by rolling out several initiatives aimed at raising brand awareness and highlighting defining moments in the company’s history. Ted Andersen, vice president of operations USA, says a few of those initiatives are “groundbreaking” in nature.
Ted Andersen, vice president of operations USA, says “groundbreaking” initiatives are on the way from NOVUS Glass.
When NOVUS Glass launched in 1972 with the partnership between inventor Dr. Frank Werner and chemist Bill Wiele, its offering of windshield repair had many in the industry considering it a “disruptive technology” as manufacturers favored replacement. Andersen says NOVUS emerged and has continued to be an industry leader by continually reinventing itself and updating the technology used to provide services to customers.
“Throughout the years, we’ve had several different iterations of resins we manufacture in-house with our in-house chemists, and in addition to that, we have three generations of the fixtures we used for windshield repair,” Andersen says. “So we’re constantly changing and upgrading our equipment and resins to meet the needs of the new auto glass industry.”
For example, some auto glass has begun to have particular tints. Andersen specifically noted blue tints on Mercedes vehicles, saying that NOVUS adjusts the refractive index to match. NOVUS also has a patent pending on ADAS resins that will allow for a chip in front of the camera to be fixed. Andersen says that “groundbreaking” initiative will revolutionize the windshield repair industry. It is currently in the testing phase.
“We’re very excited about that,” Andersen says. “We’re constantly innovating tools, resins and training practices to put our franchisees at the top of the industry.”
As such, NOVUS Glass prides itself on meeting new challenges. The primary challenge currently facing the industry, according to Andersen, is technology. He says in the past five to six years, technological advancements have seen the incorporation of lane departure and additional advanced safety systems in vehicles.
“That has become the biggest challenge to our industry,” Andersen says. “Technology is the number one thing that has changed. I also think the industry is evolving, where more of these things are becoming more technical and will need to be done with certain standards from original equipment manufacturers, certifications as well as proper tools and adhesives.”
Andersen says the upcoming initiatives will be unveiled over the course of the next six or eight months, and that the company is excited to highlight its accomplishments, history and future endeavors. NOVUS Glass has 1,000 points of service located around the world and was recently ranked 25th in Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2022 Top Global Franchises Ranking. Mondofix, Inc., dba “Fix Network World,” acquired NOVUS Glass in 2017.
“A 50th anniversary is a great opportunity to celebrate, but we are not done yet,” says Steve Leal, Mondofix president and CEO, in a news release. “While we acknowledge the great contributions of Dr. Frank Werner and Bill Wiele, we must remember that the aftermarket business is changing every day, every second. The key is to keep ourselves relevant by being out there and making sure that we drive value to our family of franchisees and customers.”
My compliments on 50 years of growth and technological developments/improvements in and for the glass industry. You have a wonderful legacy and I wish you 50 more years of continued success.