New Facility Helps Architectural Grilles and Sunshades Improve Efficiencies

Architectural Grilles and Sunshades (AGS) has built a new facility in Frankfort, Ill., bringing the entire business under one roof. The company’s previous location in Mokena, Ill., was not large enough to support all of AGS’s production needs. As a result, AGS operated out of a satellite facility, in addition to its main office, to assemble sunshades and complete other fabrication. Both locations will be vacated once the move to Frankfort is complete in mid-September.

According to Jon Johnson, national sales manager for AGS, the upgraded facility will include overhead cranes to increase his company’s efficiency and material handling. He adds that while the 50,000-square-foot facility gives AGS plenty of room, there is also space for future expansion.

“The reason we made this move is to better facilitate fabrication and delivery to customers. We’ll be more efficient and able to provide a quality product with shorter lead times,” says Johnson. “We’re facilitating growth in our business that’s been dramatic over the last couple of years. We’re continuing to modernize our facility to be able to handle that growth.”

While the new 50,000-square-foot facility gives AGS plenty of room, there is also space for future expansion.

While the new facility will give AGS the ability to handle more employees, there are no immediate hiring plans, according to Johnson.

He explains that the company added unitizing capabilities to its portfolio five or six years ago. The unitizing equipment, metal fabrication equipment and large amount of inventory took up much of the former facility’s floor space.

“We were really tight. We fabricate our sunshades and grilles in-house before we ship them. It takes room to do that,” says Johnson “… We find that it eliminates a step that our customers have to do. In addition, the potential for mistakes is lessened. Delays on the jobsite are also lessened or eliminated.”

The new office includes a conference room and a modern office space. The building also has a glass curtainwall with tinted, low-E insulating glass units. AGS included its own vertical and horizontal sunshades in the design.

“We are pleased to show them off,” says Johnson. “It’s a neat design feature.”