Not All Gloom and Doom

While an abundance of gloom and doom pervades over the economic news lately, there are a number of silver linings, some tied to window film. 3M recently announced a third-quarter sales increase of 6.2 percent over the third quarter of 2007 and partly credited the success to its safety, security and protection services, including its protective window films. (Click here for related story.) Southwall Technologies Inc., a primary provider of raw polyester films for the window film industry, announced third quarter 2008 revenue of $10.6 million, representing a 15 percent increase over 2007 third quarter revenues. Southwall officials say the increase is primarily due to higher sales of energy efficiency and solar control solutions, including automotive, architectural and window film products.

"We are pleased with the results to date and feel that solid demand for our high- performance energy products reflects an increasing and long-term global need for higher energy efficiency in green building and automotive design," says Dennis Capovilla, Southwall's president and chief executive officer.

Company officials add that a shift in product mix to higher margin, energy conservation and solar control products, improved operating efficiencies and continued cost management efforts were the primary drivers of profit improvement.