Window & Door magazine’s annual Top 100 Manufacturers

       Window & Door magazine’s annual Top 100 Manufacturers list ranks the 100 largest North American manufacturers of residential windows, doors, skylights and related products by sales volume. Much of the information comes directly from the companies and is verified by our research team. Our team also researches and verifies information about companies that were not included in the survey, which are indicated by an asterisk next to their names. This year’s list reaffirms what we’ve seen for years: The industry is healthy and will continue to grow. •
       Left: Has your company seen significant, measurable growth over the last 5 years?* Right: How do your total sales in 2018 compare to your total sales in 2017?*
       *Note: The statistics do not reflect all companies on the list of the 100 largest manufacturers, but only those that were willing to provide information, which makes up more than four-fifths of the list.
       This year, the survey asked companies whether they had achieved measurable growth over the past five years. Only seven companies said no, and 10 said they were unsure. Seven companies reported revenue that put them higher in the rankings than in previous years.
       Only one company on this year’s list reported lower total sales in 2018 than in 2017, compared with the same period last year. Almost all of the other companies reported increases in revenue. The sales growth makes sense given that single-family home starts rose 2.8% in 2018, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Housing, Urban Development and Commerce.
       Home remodeling also continues to be a boon for product manufacturers: The U.S. home remodeling market has grown more than 50% since the end of the Great Recession, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University (jchs.harvard.edu).
       But rapid growth also brings its own challenges. Many of the companies on this year’s list cited “staying ahead and managing growth” as their top challenge. Growth also requires more talent, which aligns with Windows & Doors’ Industry Pulse survey earlier this year, which found that 71% of respondents plan to hire in 2019. Recruiting and retaining talented employees remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges, something Windows & Doors continues to highlight in its workforce development series.
       Costs also continue to rise. Many of the top 100 companies blamed tariffs and rising shipping costs. (For more on the trucking industry’s challenges, see “In the Trenches.”)
       Over the past year, Harvey Building Products’ largest revenue category has grown from $100 million to $200 million to $300 million and now to $500 million. But the company has struggled to achieve sustainable growth for years. Since 2016, the company has acquired Soft-Lite, Northeast Building Products and Thermo-Tech, all of which Harvey credits as drivers of its growth.
       Starline Windows sales grew from $300 million to $500 million, reaching a level of $500 million to $1 billion. The company attributes this to the opening of a new plant in 2016, which allowed Starline to take on more projects.
       Meanwhile, Earthwise Group reported that sales have grown more than 75 percent over the past five years and the company has hired more than 1,000 new employees. The company also launched two new manufacturing facilities and acquired three more.
       YKK AP, one of the largest companies on our list with a valuation of over $1 billion, has expanded its manufacturing facilities and moved into a new manufacturing building with over 500,000 square feet of space.
       Many of the other companies on this year’s list also shared how acquisitions and capacity expansions have helped them grow over the past five years.
       Marvin manufactures a wide range of window and door products, including aluminum, wood and fiberglass, and employs more than 5,600 people across its facilities.
       LEFT: MI Windows and Doors, whose main product is vinyl windows, estimated total sales of $300 million to $500 million in 2018, which the company said was up from the previous year. RIGHT: Steves & Sons makes its products, most of which are interior and exterior doors made of wood, steel and fiberglass, at its San Antonio plant.
       Over the past year, Boral has increased its workforce by 18% and expanded its geographic footprint beyond its local Texas market into the southern United States.
       Left: Vytex has introduced a measure and install program that it says has seen significant growth, as a small skilled labor market makes the program more attractive to dealer partners. Right: Lux Windows and Glass Ltd.’s core product line is hybrid windows, but the company also offers a wide range of products in the aluminum-metal, PVC-U and door markets.
       Solar Innovations operates a three-building campus totaling more than 400,000 square feet, which houses manufacturing and office space for 170 employees.