WindowCast: Bob Keller of Miter Brands talks about the merger with PGT

Window + Door’s Laurie Cowin sat down with Bob Keller, senior vice president of research and development at Miter brands, to talk about the recent combination of PGTI and Miter Brands, and how he expects the company’s combined products to lead to further innovation. "The most important thing is what’s best for the company long term – this combined entity has a different future than each separate company did," he says.

Major takeaways from the conversation

• The combination has opened up new markets. PGT Innovations is based in Florida, and of course known for impact products. Keller says the company had been considering the Hawaiian market for a while, as codes are now incentivizing the use of impact products, but with the merger, and the Western locations of MITER this new market is possible.
• Tradeshows still spur innovation. Keller talked about how PGTI debuted a new magnetically levitating sliding glass door at this year’s International Builders’ Show. The concept for the door came from another magnetic innovation Keller had seen at IBS a few years’ previous.
• The company is looking to expand iLabs in Takoma. The company is looking to expand its iLabs concept, which they first started 4-5 years ago. The project is a kind of pilot program that allows engineers to bring concepts to market as quickly as possible. “We get them into the field so we can learn what customers like, and then alter based on feedback,” Keller says. Successful products are then moved into normal production.