During today's Apogee investor webcast,  Apogee CEO Ty Silberhorn outlined companywide plans to increase operating margins and drive profits.  This strategy includes architectural glass company-Viracon.  New Viracon president Nick Longman talked about the strategy to shift from being a 'Market Leader' to an 'Economic Leader' which included the recent closures of their Statesboro, GA and Texas facilities-consolidating production in Owatonna.   

During the webcast Longman talked about their facility consolidation and how they were able to reduce overhead without loss of productivity.  He also talked about reinvigorating the LEAN process improvement system to increase labor productivity.  Longman talked about the shift to premium solutions of which Viracon is well positioned through three key areas: Design considerations (Jumbo glass, Proprietary coatings, and Glare controls), Safety (Hurricane resistant glass), and Sustainability.  During the two hour webcast, hosted in New York City, Longman praised the Owatonna location and the team here.   

The company is also announcing new three-year financial goals, which include:

• Return on invested capital (ROIC) greater than 12%
• Operating margin greater than 10%
• Revenue growth greater than 1.2 times the growth of the non-residential construction market

“Following a deep strategic review of our business, we have a roadmap to deliver profitable growth and improved returns,” said  Ty R. Silberhorn , Apogee’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our strategy is centered around three pillars, including becoming the economic leader in our target markets, actively managing the portfolio to drive higher margins and ROIC, and strengthening our core capabilities to enable improved execution. We are excited about the opportunities we see ahead of us to deliver significantly improved financial performance and look forward to providing more insight on our plans during today’s investor day.”