Cristacurva announces change of strategy, focus for Craftsman Fabricated Glass

Taking into account sustained low economic activity and changes in the marketplace, management is implementing adjustments for Craftsman Fabricated Glass, Houston, a Cristacurva company, according to a March 15 release.

"We will focus our company towards serving markets with greater potential and higher value-added products and technologies, and hence, [are] eliminating from our product range some manufacturing processes, and adjusting the size of our work force," said Francisco Sanchez, Cristacurva CEO, in the release.

Those processes and productsinclude all labor-intensive activities with low added value and market potential, he said in an interview. Specifically, they include hand and machine beveling, sandblasting, and tabletops, among others. The elimination will affect about 20 percent of the Craftsman workforce.

"We will continue improving the capabilities of our team members [and] our internal processes, using advanced technologies to improve our productivity. At the same time, we will add manufacturing capacity and new products that we will soon release into the market," he said in the release.

Specifically, the company plans to add tempering capacity, in addition to more sizes, and privacy and decorative products.

According to the release, these projected changes will increase the productivity, quality and service capacity of the Craftsman plant. Craftsman is one of the largest "under one roof" fabrication facilities in Texas. The Houston plant manufactures value-added products for sustainable building envelopes, in addition to structural, privacy, interior and decorative applications.It also offersa range of glass-related services to the regional market.