Windsor World

The Windsor operations and engineering teams are continuously searching for ways to improve our products and processes. Recently, they set out to improve the performance and appearance of the mitered corner joint of our direct set Pinnacle product.

Last spring, a cross-functional team began designing and planning the implementation of using injected silicone to seal the corners of the direct set product where corner gaskets had previously been used. The silicone completely seals the corner internally, eliminating the need for gaskets. Small modifications were also made to the frame metal to allow the silicone to flow around the corner joint. Two new components were placed inside the frame metal to keep silicone from flowing down the length of the frame. Two identical custom-designed machines were fabricated to process the frame metal. The machines were constructed in our North Carolina plant and one was then shipped to the Iowa facility. Testing of the manufacturing process was completed in the Iowa Plant's test lab. The results verified improved performance. The improved visual appearance was an added bonus. This new production process was implemented at both Windsor facilities in early July. Lean manufacturing techniques played a large role in the development of this project. The team is now replicating this improvement on our radius product. While there are some design differences, the end result will be much the same, providing a clean, secure silicone-sealed joint. The radius product will be produced with the silicone injected corners later this summer.