Five trends in the architectural window and door industry
2026-06-03
At present, the development trend of China's architectural door, window and curtain wall industry is characterized by "five directions": standardization, systematization, informationization, industrialization and productization. Standardization, systematization and industrialization of facade window structures are the key to improving production levels and engineering quality, and are also of great importance to improve production efficiency, reduce costs and reduce energy consumption.
Many provinces have successively implemented a number of technical regulations, for example, Jiangsu Province introduced the “Technical Regulations on the Application of Standardized Exterior Window Systems in Residential Buildings.” It defines for the first time 10 standard sizes and 10 standard basic window types for exterior window systems. This is a key step in the implementation of standardized window systems. Previously, the sizes and types of windows were extremely diverse and variable; designers created them arbitrarily, which caused a number of problems during production and installation. According to research, the 10 sizes and 10 types of windows prescribed by regulation are the most commonly used in residential construction. These requirements generally satisfy the needs of regional housing construction. Materials that are not suitable for standardized window system technologies are naturally displaced; traditional “wet” installation technology, used for decades, is also becoming a thing of the past; The long-standing method of installing windows on the outside of a building is changing, making it possible to install from inside the room; this also opens the way to the commercialization of finished window products as a full-fledged product.
In the era of the knowledge economy, information resources are an important strategic asset, so business circles around the world consider accelerating informatization as their development strategy. China's architectural door, window and curtain wall enterprises must also adapt to this trend by making full use of seven key elements: information resources, information networks, information technology, information industry, skilled personnel, regulatory environment and information security. Information technology work must be actively promoted to become an important force in promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the industry.
At present, enterprise informatization in the building window, door and curtain wall industry still has wide scope for improvement and has enormous potential. The industry must adapt to information technology development trends using a phased implementation method focusing on key breakthroughs to advance enterprise informatization. The main attention should be paid to the following aspects:
(1) Informatization of production processes. The main attention should be paid to increasing the level of informatization of enterprises in such areas as design, manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance.
(2) Informatization of management processes. Office automation (OA), materials requirements planning (MRP), enterprise resource planning (ERP), management information systems (MIS), customer relationship management (CRM), decision support systems (DSS), expert systems (ES) and others are already widely used in other industries.
(3) Application of BIM in the window, door and curtain wall industry. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a new term that has emerged in the construction industry in recent years. This is a new technology that takes information technology in construction to a higher level, and its widespread use will have an invaluable impact on scientific and technological progress in the industry. At the same time, it will bring enormous benefits to the development of the construction industry, significantly increasing the quality and efficiency of design and the entire construction process while reducing costs. It will also ensure the integration of information and interaction between all levels and specialties in the construction industry, which is of epochal importance for the development of informatization in construction.
(4) Electronic commerce. Electronic Commerce (Electronic Business) is a business model that involves the use of the Internet and other electronic tools for the exchange of information between company departments, suppliers, clients and partners. It allows you to transfer intercorporate business processes into electronic format and, in combination with internal electronic production management systems, increase the efficiency of all stages of the enterprise: production, warehouse accounting, logistics and capital management.
BIM technology itself is one of the links in Industry 4.0.
Industry 4.0 focuses on industrialization. If we want to achieve industrialization of a product, then standardization must be a prerequisite for this. In the future, orders will not necessarily come in the form of large-scale construction projects covering hundreds of thousands of square meters - they will come object by object, building by building. This format of work will lead to the fact that enterprises in our industry will face a new trend - fragmentation of orders. This trend will place new demands on the processing and production of windows and doors, and businesses in this sector will definitely have to think about how to adapt to these changes in demand.
With a large volume of fragmented orders, it is extremely important to be able to coordinate the operation of equipment and production facilities to plan production and organize the supply of raw materials. Intelligent manufacturing in Chinese window and door factories will greatly improve their production capabilities and product quality. It is likely that without the conditions for intelligent production, enterprises simply will not be able to cope with the situation of order fragmentation or, at a minimum, will seriously lose their competitiveness.
Due to the gradual shrinking of the market pie, as well as these design changes, the landscape and competitive structure of the entire industry will change in the future, leading to market and corporate consolidation. Methods of integration include both the association of window and door manufacturers with profile manufacturers within the industry, and external integration, for example, between glass companies and window manufacturers. Currently, there is already a tendency towards cross-integration between several related industries.
China's window and door industry is still in the era of Industry 3.0. The difference between Industry 4.0 and Industry 3.0 is that Industry 3.0 emphasizes assembly line processes, sequential operations, centralized control and wired communications where it is impossible to track the location of products in real time. The Industry 4.0 era emphasizes modular processes, autonomous operation of each unit, decentralized control, wireless communication and real-time product location monitoring, which allows for integration between all types of equipment.
Product commercialization is the highest form of the “five modernizations”. The maturity of standardized products can improve operating efficiency and reduce energy consumption, so it is the highest development goal of the façade window industry.
— Extracted from the book “Illustrated Guide to Energy-Saving Design and Manufacturing of Window and Door System Systems,” China Machinery Publishing House.
