A Vision of Architectural Precision
When you walk into Kensington Glass Arts (KGa) in Ijamsville, Maryland, it’s immediately clear: this is a company built on precision. Known throughout the Mid-Atlantic for elevating architectural glass — from commercial interiors to complex façade systems — KGa approaches every project with one
simple guiding principle: they don’t just cut glass — they deliver architectural intent. To protect that intent from order entry through fabrication, KGa relies on A+W Software as the digital backbone of their operation.
The Discipline of Process
KGa’s culture is grounded in four principles — precision, process, learning, and accountability — and A+W supports that by adding structure and clarity across production.
New team members learn each workflow thoroughly before being introduced to faster methods. This helps them understand why each step matters and how it fits into the larger operation. With A+W reinforcing that structure, processes become more predictable and easier to scale as KGa grows.
Key Solutions Driving Performance
A+W Business and A+W Production form the core system that keeps KGa’s office and shop floor connected. Everything starts here — estimating, order entry, planning, and scheduling — all flowing seamlessly into production with far fewer manual steps. Tools like A+W Excel Line Import and A+W EDI Import help eliminate retyping and reduce rework, ensuring jobs start clean before they ever reach the floor.
Once glass enters production, A+W becomes KGa’s real-time tracking and coordination engine. As Master Scheduler Ryan Heilman put it, “Tracking is everything. From cutting through QC and delivery, A+W lets us know where every piece is — and ensures it gets crated and shipped right the first time.” That visibility allows Ryan and the team to move quickly, stay ahead of problems, and keep jobs flowing without the stop-and-start issues common in complex fabrication environments.
A+W Smart Companion has also become a major asset on the floor, especially for quality checks. It gives KGa the mobility to inspect glass wherever it is, instead of waiting for pieces to reach a fixed workstation. In a fast-paced operation, that change saves significant time and reduces bottlenecks.
And behind the scenes, A+W’s optimization engine simplifies planning by managing the complex calculations needed to nest, sequence, and cut efficiently. It reduces mental load on the team and helps KGa run more smoothly with fewer slowdowns, even during peak demand.
A+W in the Real World: What KGa Couldn’t Live Without
When asked which process depends most on A+W Software, Senior Vice President Jim Rathbone didn’t hesitate:
“Lamination, particularly of with tempered and patterned pieces. Tracking glass through multiple departments and having everything converge at one singular fabrication center would be extremely difficult without A+W software solutions coordinating, tracking, and helping us locate glass.”
Lamination requires pieces to move through cutting, tempering, polishing, and specialty fabrication — with everything arriving in sync. A+W ensures no piece gets lost or delayed as jobs move through the facility. This is where the software shines: orchestrating dozens of variables, so teams can focus on craftsmanship rather than chasing information.
Cross-Department Collaboration
Jim also emphasized how A+W improves communication between teams:
“The software helps us create spreadsheets, collect data, coordinate needs, and cross-collaborate to make sure we meet customer expectations. It connects sales, production, and logistics — which is critical for the pace we operate at.”
This connection reduces back-and-forth between departments and gives each team the same real-time information. Sales knows what production can handle. Production can anticipate what’s next. Logistics stages and ships with confidence. A+W effectively becomes the shared language that keeps everything running smoothly.
What KGa Would Tell Other Fabricators
When we asked KGa how they would explain A+W’s value to another fabricator considering new software, they said:
“The cost can seem daunting at first, but the net effect on your business is absolutely worth the time and effort it takes to implement. There’s no homemade or boxed software that considers the infinite possibilities of glass fabrication the way A+W does — and then turns that into solutions that streamline your production, resources, and financial capabilities.”
How can that answer help someone considering new software? They have seen firsthand how many variables—patterns, tempered pieces, specialty laminates, multiple departments, tight deadlines—have to line up perfectly to deliver a final product on time. What stands out to them is that A+W accounts for this complexity in a way that simplifies the work rather than adding to it.
A+W gives KGa the structure, visibility, and coordination their workflows demand. From tracking pieces across departments to planning jobs with fewer unknowns, the software removes friction from processes that traditionally require constant checking and manual oversight. For Jim, that’s what makes the investment worthwhile: the system doesn’t just support production—it helps control it, so teams can work smarter, respond faster, and stay aligned from order entry to delivery.
Continuous Improvement — and a Commitment to Customers
Kensington’s commitment to customer service shows up not only in how they use A+W, but also in how far they’ll go to support a customer. During the interview, Jim Rathbone shared a moment that captured this perfectly: a time when the team made an overnight, 2AM delivery to keep a project on track.
He didn’t share it as a dramatic story — just as a reflection of how KGa operates when pressure rises. The team steps up, communicates, and does what it takes to meet their customer’s needs.
A+W supports these moments by giving KGa the tracking and structure needed to coordinate last-minute changes without losing pieces or slowing production — but it’s the team who ensures the glass gets where it needs to be.
Final Thoughts
Now that KGa focuses exclusively on fabrication, opportunities are expanding — serving more glaziers, adding product lines, and entering new segments. A+W will continue supporting that growth by simplifying complexity and giving teams the visibility they need. As Ryan said, “the system is only as good as how well you use it. With A+W, we have the tools and visibility to keep getting better, day after day.”