Great Teamwork Puts The Co Into Glass Co Metro

From country business to city innovator while maintaining family values

Glass Co Metro grew out of a family business in regional WA and is now the glazing specialist for one of Australia's largest residential building groups. General Manager of Glass Co Metro (GCM) Daniel Gaunt reflects on family values, innovative culture, and the testing transition of setting up in Perth.

Launching in 2015, Glass Co Metro was established to provide the Scott Park Group (SPG) of companies with glazing products for new home builds. Having GCM vertically integrated into SPG ensures cost-effective builds, faster build times, and the ability to deliver a consistently high level of quality.

Daniel says, ‘Being part of this large building group means we have some influence over the product used and can help steer the group toward more environmentallysmart products, such as double glazing. It also provides a seamless workflow’. This workflow was tested early in the company’s formation according to Daniel.

‘While we were still fitting-out our facility in Perth, GMC started receiving orders. We pride ourselves on customer service, so the last thing we wanted to do was push back delivery. The team decided to order their extrusion and then send an experienced glazier on the road trip to sort out the items at Glass Co’s regional facility in Geraldton.

Cutting plans and job packs were organised but, unfortunately, the glazier hadn't got specific instructions about labelling and bundling the metal into job lots. What returned from Geraldton was 10 house loads of cut and prepped metal for the Metro team to piece together. What seemed a less than ideal start actually helped make the team realise what we could achieve. The team’s willingness to go above and beyond, and the respect for the process got us through that early test. We realised what we’re capable of and that attitude has stuck with us to this day.

'Our strength is definitely our people. Just about anyone can be taught how to make windows and doors, so when we are recruiting we focus on attitude. We try to keep it light and informal so that we can get a feel for who the person is, not so much what they can do. We’ve always operated as a family business and continue to do so, while growing to over 50 staff. The team is also extremely proud of its factory presentation.

‘We will end an interview or a meeting with a factory tour. The usual feedback is they can see the workflow and feel the vibe. It’s our great staff that keep the customers coming back. They treat our customers how they treat each other, like family’, says Daniel.

GCM has up to 6 apprentices at any one time and 5 successful apprenticeships have been completed. ‘We always promote from within’, explains Daniel. ‘Three of our 6 team leaders were apprentices, and the other 3 have worked their way up. To ensure staff retention, we focus on learning, lean manufacturing, and continuous improvement.’

One of GCM’s most satisfying projects was a home in Armadale Crescent, Coolbinia. ‘The windows and doors are the hero of this completely renovated WA home, bringing in natural light and ambiance to the interior living spaces and promoting desirable indoor-outdoor connections’, says Daniel.

Contributing to entirely new sections of the home, as well as retro-fitting products to existing openings, GCM innovatively used a combination of residential and commercial framing products to achieve the final highquality result, without an excessive project budget.

Key features of the home include an expansive opening to the poolside entertaining area, strategically positioned double glazing to keep temperatures stable, and louvres to promote passive cooling. To enhance energy performance, double glazing was added to windows in the appropriate areas, helping the home to remain comfortable all year round. ‘As they do in every GCM project, our dedicated team stepped up and supported each other to create functional and livable environments for our happy customers. This has now become part of our purpose and something we pride ourselves on. We don’t sell windows and doors, we provide clients with products that help them live their chosen lifestyle through the use of those products’, ends General Manager, Daniel Gaunt.