Specialty Fabrics Review November 2021 - 22

[ PERSPECTIVE ]
After college, Carroll decided to
join the family business and followed
his dad's advice. " Start at the bottom
and work your way up, " says Carroll,
who was 22 at the time. " That's when I
really learned how to build awnings. "
Sometimes different generations
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Hoover Architectural
Products define
Dolphin Mall's
distinctive style
When the Neumann Smith
architectural firm asked Hoover
Architectural Products to create
larger-than-life, fabric tulip
shades for the Dolphin Mall in
Miami, Fla., Matt Carroll tried to
dissuade them.
" I told them they should
just use plastic, " says
Carroll, president of Hoover
Architectural Products. " They
didn't take no for an answer. 'We
heard you're the guys who can
do this project,' they said. "
Carroll and a Hoover manager
decided to try creating a 19-footdiameter
tulip. " We were shocked
that it worked, " Carroll says.
The Hoover team hand-built
a number of these tulip shades
to exacting tolerances, using
hollow structural sections (HSS)
galvanized steel for the frame
and Serge Ferrari Précontraint®
502 vinyl fabric. The company
also designed a 5,200-squarefoot,
exposed structural steel
and fabric canopy for the 2018
expansion of the Dolphin Mall.
22 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / November 2021
have different ideas, however, about
how to keep a company competitive.
It took Carroll more than a year to
convince his father that a six-figure
investment in an automated cutting
machine was worth it. " The CNC is
more accurate and faster than we could
ever be, " says Carroll, who lobbied
successfully for the machine in 2005.
Next, Carroll pushed for a custom
AutoCAD® software plugin that
would allow the CNC machine to
meet Hoover Architectural Products'
specific needs. " Most CNC machines
are used to cut high-volume orders
where most of the parts are the same
shape, " Carroll says. " But we don't
do 5,000 awnings of the same type -
every job we do is custom. "
This and other software packages
proprietary to Hoover Architectural
Products allow the team to take
advantage of powerful tools like
3-D laser scanning. " We can scan
the building where the awning will
go, design a frame and the other
components for the awning directly
on the building, and see exactly what
the awning will look like, " Carroll says.
" Because we are working in a scaled, 3-D
world, the whole process is incredibly
accurate and much more efficient than
having to do all this by hand. "
Growing in new directions
As a small-business leader with 43
employees, Carroll handles a variety
of roles, from teacher to executive.
" Sometimes I'm sharing my knowledge
with our employees to help them
become better craftsmen. I also spend
my time on the top-level business, finetuning
Hoover's goals for the next three
to five years and helping guide where
we'll be in 10 years. "
He knows that a fear of change can
keep even the best companies from
evolving. " For decades, Hoover had
a very specific way of doing things, "
Carroll says. " My great-uncle and my
dad built a solid business on fabric
awnings, but we never really moved
beyond that customer base. "
Carroll had observed, however, how
more commercial customers wanted
architectural metal, from Bahama
shutters to canopies. Why not offer
fabric options and metal options?
" Accomplishments are built
from challenges, " Carroll says. " Our
challenge was trying to get our entire
team on board as we shifted from
being a one-dimensional company
to a multi-faceted company. "
This meant taking a fresh look
at everything. It also meant moving
away from traditional Yellow Pages
advertisements, building a good
website, restructuring how the
company operated, setting ambitious
long-term goals and adding new
team members. " We empower our
employees to make decisions, which
allows us to stay nimble, " Carroll
says. " We also have a 'train your
replacement' mindset, not so we can
fire people, but so employees can grow
their skills while adding depth and
value to the company. "
A big part of this involves listening
carefully to each other. " One of the
greatest gifts you can give another
person is your rapt attention, " Carroll
says. " It helps you make a connection,
know what's important to people and
set expectations properly. "
Carroll created the Hoover Insights
team, which meets monthly to check
in on the progress of the company's
Specialty Fabrics Review November 2021

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