Cardinal Glass Opens New Privacy Glass Manufacturing Facility

Cardinal Glass Industries celebrated the grand opening of its dedicated manufacturing facility for the CLiC On-Demand Privacy Glass product line on October 29, 2026, at its Tomah, Wisconsin, manufacturing plant, located at 1601 Rusch St. The event began at noon and welcomed local businesses, community partners, Cardinal leadership and dignitaries for facility tours and lunch.

Over the past 18 months, the CLiC team has worked diligently to build a dedicated manufacturing facility designed to shorten the time from order placement to customer delivery while significantly increasing production capacity. The fully robotic production lines also enable CLiC to manufacture larger panel sizes at thinner widths, addressing two features requested by customers. Technical specifications are available on CLiC’s Resources page.

The facility now spans more than 800,000 square feet. Originally established in 1988 as a 60,000-square-foot overflow facility for made-to-stock insulating glass units, it has grown into one of the most advanced and automated glass manufacturing facilities in the world.

Cardinal has also created an immersive experience to help visitors understand the wide range of CLiC applications. The facility features a fully constructed residential environment, affectionately known as the CLiC “Tiny House,” where visitors can see the product in a real-life home setting. Serving as the initial stop before the plant tour, the Tiny House provides a practical introduction to CLiC for both new and existing audiences.

A breakthrough in privacy glass innovation and performance, CLiC’s next-generation technology delivers instant privacy with exceptional clarity. The glass switches in less than 100 milliseconds, maintains transparency at every angle and is designed to last the lifetime of the window.

This performance is made possible by an innovative manufacturing process. CLiC introduces Polymer-Stabilized Cholesteric Texture (PSCT) technology to the smart window, or switchable glass, market. PSCT uses minimal polymer and no internal films. Instead, it employs a cholesteric liquid-crystal helix stabilized by a thin polymer network, rather than thick polymer matrices or plastic interlayers. In its default mode, the helix scatters light to provide privacy. When an electric field is applied, the structure reorients into a smooth, uniformly aligned state, allowing light to pass directly through and providing virtually haze-free transparency.

For customers, this means privacy glass that offers greater durability than traditional liquid-crystal technology, while withstanding the elements to protect homes and buildings. CLiC also consumes minimal energy: less than one-third of a watt per square foot in clear mode, comparable to a small LED light, and no power at all in privacy mode.

“We are excited to showcase our state-of-the-art, new CLiC facility,” said Aaron Arntson, General Manager for CLiC at Cardinal. “We are so proud of what we have built and our ability to now deliver CLiC at order levels that meet our customers’ requests.”