Cardinal CT Company of Adel’s 30 employees manufacture custom tempered glass, sold wholesale to companies that offer the product to residential and commercial customers.
Catalina Tempering initially opened the glass plant about three years. Cardinal Glass Industries purchased the plant on July 3, 2014.
The CT glass has been sold through the DIRTT (Doing It Right This Time) company, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for several high-end building projects, including the Google Building, athletic stadiums, and huge corporate banks.
Cardinal CT’s key local staff members are: Michael Harris - Plant Manager; Twila Hall - Human Resources Manager; Justin Wright - Plant Superintendent; and Frank Alvarado - Maintenance Manager.
The Adel plant spends locally as much as possible to help local companies. Cardinal CT also stays involved in community activities, such as golf tournaments for the fire department and Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
Cardinal Glass - A History
Established in 1962, Cardinal began operations as a fabricator of sealed insulating glass units in a small plant in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Throughout the 1970s as the company grew, Cardinal’s core product values, customer practices and employee profit sharing/incentive programs were established. In the 1980’s, Cardinal was first to commercialize low emissivity coatings (LoĒ), which vaulted the company’s growth.
In the early 1990’s, as LoĒ coatings became still more energy efficient and complex, the company recognized the need for high quality float glass surfaces. Cardinal then entered the tempering and float glass manufacturing business.
In 1994, a decision was taken to expand the business model to a national scale, and Cardinal built plants throughout the U.S., enabling it to capture a significant share of the North American window and door market. In 2014, Cardinal acquired what is now its CT subsidiary and NE laminating capacity, also geared for the residential window and door market. These moves ensured and expanded Cardinal’s capacities to service a rapidly growing housing market.
Today, Cardinal Glass Industries, Inc. is a management-owned S Corporation driven by its customer focused, entrepreneurial culture and decentralized management philosophy. The Cardinal companies employ over 5,500 people at 39 glass manufacturing and fabrication facilities, a distribution center, two R&D centers, an equipment manufacturing operation and its headquarters in Minnesota. The Cardinal businesses are conducted by wholly owned subsidiaries of Cardinal Glass Industries, Inc. which are aligned with manufacturing technologies and located in unique regional markets.
Cardinal’s roots are deeply founded in the manufacture of advanced energy conserving products for windows and doors. Cardinal’s leading edge innovations in energy conserving products are important elements in the long term reduction of greenhouse gases. Cardinal was also first to recycle its customers’ waste glass, first to eliminate wooden packaging, and it continues to engage in positive environmental practices everywhere.
In order to maintain and increase market share, Cardinal boldly invests its capital, aggressively sells products, rapidly develops new, innovative technologies and delivers products on time and complete everywhere.
Facilities and Products
Cardinal Glass Industries manufactures glass, then adds value to the glass through other processes, such as heat treating, coating, laminating, and fabricating into insulating units.
FG: Float Glass – Flat glass produced by floating molten glass on molten tin. Cardinal has five float glass manufacturing plants, located in Menomonie, WI; Portage, WI; Mooresville, NC; Durant, OK; and Winlock, WA.
FG: Minerals – Mining of sand located in Durant, OK.
Float glass facilities manufacture flat glass with superior optical and distortion properties. This glass is used to assure a steady supply of high quality glass to the Cardinal fabricating facilities. Flat glass applications include aquariums, oven doors, picture frames, windows, and mirrors.
TG: High-Volume Tempered Glass – Flat glass that has been heat treated to strengthen it. Cardinal has three high-speed tempered glass manufacturing plants located in Tomah, WI; Durant, OK; and Chehalis, WA.
CT: Custom Tempered Glass – Cardinal has nine custom tempered glass plants located in Moreno Valley, CA; Loveland, CO; Casa Grande, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; Irving, TX; Mount Airy, NC; Utica, OH; Easton, PA and Adel, GA.
Cardinal’s TG facility thermally strengthens glass. Cardinal’s facility in Tomah, WI, is dedicated to high speed tempering. Many other Cardinal facilities have tempering lines in them.
CG: Coated Glass – Glass that has been coated to improve its insulating capabilities. Cardinal has six coated glass manufacturing plants located in Northfield, MN; Spring Green, WI; Tumwater, WA; Buford, GA; Galt, CA; and Waxahachie, TX.
Cardinal’s CG facilities produce reflective and low emissivity (LoĒ) glass coatings that are renowned for their energy efficiency. These coatings are used to improve both the summer day time and winter night time performance of glass.
IG: Insulating Glass – Two lites of glass are joined together to form a unit with superior insulating value. Cardinal has 9 insulating glass manufacturing plants located in Greenfield, IA; Spring Green, WI; Tomah, WI; Waxahachie, TX; Fremont, IN; Fargo, ND; Hood River, OR; Roanoke, VA; and Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Cardinal’s premier product is the Insulating Glass Unit. Two or three lites of glass are assembled together into an insulating unit. The oxygen between the lites is replaced with argon, the units are framed with aluminum or stainless steel, and then double-sealed. Cardinal is the largest producer of insulating glass units in the world.
LG: Laminated Glass – Located in Ocala, FL; Amery, WI and Jessup, PA.
They also produce laminated glass products for use in hurricane zones, etc.
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