Kensington Glass Arts (KGa) in Ijamsville, Maryland, USA,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.
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.
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. 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.
Behind the scenes, A+W’s optimisation 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.
When asked which process depends most on A+W Software, Senior Vice President Jim Rathbone said, “Lamination, particularly of with tempered and patterned pieces. Tracking glass through multiple departments and having everything converge at one singular fabrication centre 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.
Asked how they would explain A+W’s value to another fabricator considering new software, KGa 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 first-hand 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.