Fast takes helm of Loewen Windows

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This article was published 28/01/2023 (822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The new president and CEO of Loewen Windows says the post-pandemic economy presents plenty of opportunity for the 118-year-old window and door manufacturer.

“When there are disruptions or changes in the market, whether that comes from the pandemic or changes in interest rates, there’s always lots of opportunity there for an organization that’s ready to step up and make itself known to its customers and provide great product,” Neil Fast said Monday in an interview.

Fast’s first day on the job was Jan. 16.

“The calibre of people and the work environment that I’m stepping into, I couldn’t be happier. It’s just a very strong team,” he said.

Fast succeeds Al Babiuk, who retired Dec. 31 after an eventful 20 years with Loewen Windows that included the Great Recession of 2008, Loewen’s 2010 acquisition by Denmark-based VKR Holding A/S, its return to local ownership in 2013, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I hope my time at Loewen isn’t half as exciting as Al’s has been,” Fast said.

Loewen’s board of directors decided not to fill the CEO vacancy from within, but that doesn’t mean sweeping changes are in store for the company founded by C.T. Loewen.

“I got very clear instructions that my first priority was to learn about the business, learn about the organization,” Fast said. “There is no need to make any quick or dramatic change with the way Loewen operates or does business.”

Fast said he is in regular contact with Babiuk as he settles in at Loewen.

“The context and information he has about the business and about the industry is not something I’d ever want to lose,” Fast said.

A Winnipeg resident who is half Mennonite and half Metis, Fast began his career in construction distribution at age 18, driving truck and picking orders in a warehouse.

He has accrued considerable experience on both sides of the 49th parallel, stretching back to his university days. A master’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management followed a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business.

Fast’s area of expertise is construction materials. The bulk of his career was spent with Brock White, a construction materials supplier, where he worked his way up to vice-president and Canadian general manager, then president.

Fast said he saw firsthand how large and dynamic the U.S. housing market is when he spent several years in Minneapolis working with large U.S. homebuilders and architectural firms.

In 2020, Fast moved to White Cap Supply, a national supplier of power tools and specialty materials for concrete contractors, where he served as regional vice-president.

Fast said his arrival at Loewen immediately felt different.

“While I have worked in larger organizations before, I have not worked with an organization that I think is as meaningful to its community, and it’s really important that we respect that, and that I learn to integrate,” he said.

Working in upper management during the pandemic taught Fast that organizational flexibility is critically important, especially in an industry that relies on lengthy international supply chains.

“Just the smallest disruption can really throw all of that off,” he said. “Being able to adapt to that quickly is really important, and having the organizational capacity to adapt is really important.”

Fast said knowledgeable people are a company’s greatest asset in uncertain times because of their resiliency.

“When a business operates in an environment that is unpredictable…the best thing that an organization can do is learn how to fail well, because things will go wrong and we have to be able to adapt.”

The years between the Great Recession and the pandemic were good ones for the industry.

“We had a relatively easy road the past 10 years in Canada in the construction industry up until that point,” Fast said.

But the arrival of COVID-19 saw retirements spike and immigration levels fall. Labour shortages became a persistent thorn in the side of Canada’s manufacturing sector.

In October, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), which represents more than 2,500 companies, estimated labour shortages over the preceding year cost the Canadian economy $13 billion.

Loewen, an export-oriented company that employs over 700 people, was not immune from labour shortages, but Fast said it has bounced back.

“For probably the first time in several years, we’re not desperately short-staffed out in the plant.”

The labour shortage prompted many manufacturing companies to look at automation. Fast said Loewen’s adoption of automation will be incremental and targeted, not wholesale.

“Automation is really a way to supplement the workforce,” he explained. “There is still such a demand for great skilled labour.”

Fast said Loewen is currently exploring how automation can make windows more weather resistant.

“We are looking at automation in ways where it takes repetitive actions out of the workforce, (and) where consistency is incredibly important.”

Meanwhile, supply chain issues continue to crop up from time to time.

“All of those issues have certainly eased but not gone away,” Fast said. “Mostly we can get the materials we need in a predictable fashion, if not quite as quickly as we would like.”

Inflation is now more of a factor for the window and door industry.

“When we go to buy our inputs, they are more expensive than they were a month or six months ago, and that gets reflected into our pricing and into the costs of homes and renovations,” Fast said.

“We do find ourselves at an interesting point, as the pandemic is over (and) interest rates are different. So we will certainly look at how we can best take Loewen into market, and the only thing constant is change in our industry. I will listen, I will learn, and figure things out, and we will continue to move on.”

Fast will spend the next several weeks in internal and external meetings, including a “deep dive” into its manufacturing process. Next week he will attend the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas to meet with customers and suppliers.