Stephen Kim: Okay. That’s helpful. Appreciate that. And then Vic, you earlier talked about your investment in multifunctional teams that are required to really go after the more complex, longer, larger project in a better way and you’ve attributed the success of that or those investments and the subsequent success to some of the great things that we’ve been seeing in Arch Spec. But you then I think to Rafe’s question, you said that you did not think that you sort of gained share. You’re not like gaining share. And I just wanted to make sure that I’m understanding was that a remark around Mineral Fiber, just because maybe you can help us understand if you didn’t take share, these sales of products that went that go into these more complex projects, they obviously previously were coming from somewhere, right?
How have these multifunctional teams that you put together actually changed the way those projects are serviced, which has a near to your benefit. If you could just help us understand that a little bit better?
Vic Grizzle: Yes, Stephen to be clear, Rafe’s question was around Mineral Fiber assumption around share gain and our Mineral Fiber build. So just to be clear, my answer to Rafe’s question was around we’re not baking any share gain in our Mineral Fiber volume assumptions, like we never do. That’s not how we build our Mineral Fiber volume plan. So, just to be clear that my answer was around Mineral Fiber volume. To your point, it’s very different in Architectural Specialties. We are penetrating this segment. We are taking share in this segment. We have been for a number of years now. At these multifunctional teams are just allowing us to leverage the entire portfolio that Armstrong brings to these projects. There is no other company in the ceilings category that can offer the breadth of portfolio.
And now with our ProjectWorks design platform, there’s lots of things that we can bring and it really requires a multi-functional team to bring all of those attributes to bear on these large complex projects. So, it’s part of our competitive advantage that we’re creating, but it’s also the point of leverage for the unique attributes that Armstrong can bring to these large projects. So, we’re really, we’re pleased with the traction these teams are getting and the effect it’s having on our win rates in airport projects, large projects overall.
Stephen Kim: Yes, that’s encouraging. Appreciate it. Thanks very much.
Vic Grizzle: You bet. Thank you.
Chris Calzaretta: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Kathryn Thompson with Thompson Research Group. Please go ahead.
Kathryn Thompson: Hi. Thank you for taking my questions today. Just a clarification on volumes. You gave some color on quoting activity, but could you do the same in terms of cancellations? Are you seeing any change in an uptick or stasis as you’ve seen from the previous quarter?
Vic Grizzle: Yes, Kathryn, I think on the volume side in Mineral Fiber, we’ve been watching the cancellations and these projects have been delayed or put on hold, but we’ve not seen a lot of cancellations and I would say that has continued throughout 2023. And in fact, in Q4, when we look at, we thought the market would soften a bit in Q4. What we really saw was some of these projects that were on hold or in that discretionary bucket, filled in some of the gaps in Q4 that kept the market kind of at a very stable level from Q3 to Q4. So, I think to that point of not a lot of canceled projects keeps them in the wings when they’re on hold so that they can be pulled forward or pulled into the system, as there’s capacity and a willingness to do so.
Kathryn Thompson: And also just a clarification, did Q4 see any benefit from the timing impact from big box? Now that had been a factor in for certain quarters early in 2024?
Vic Grizzle: Well, there was a little strength in the retail channel that drove some of that mix that we talked about earlier. Again, that relative strength is relative to the other channels. So, I wouldn’t say, I wouldn’t put a lot of activity in the channel, but relatively it was stronger than some of the other higher AV channels that drove that mix. So, not a lot of additional inventory build if you will in the quarter for us to point to say that was a big driver of the overall improvement.
Kathryn Thompson: Okay. And then finally on WAVE, could you outline some of the factors driving your projections for 2024 with WAVE? And how much of that is driven by core market growth versus just other fundamental changes or growth initiatives in WAVE? Thank you very much.
Vic Grizzle: Yes. Kathryn, I think the way to think about the WAVE business and the way we’re modeling the WAVE business is very similar to the overall market conditions that our Mineral Fiber business sees, right. We do sell grid and ceiling tiles as a package through our distribution. So, the overall market backdrop and market assumption is virtually the same for our grid business. So, I think you can factor the volume side of that. What could be a little bit different in that business is the pricing ahead of steel inflation, it’s something that our team does really well to watch what’s happening with steel commodities. And, so that can move their sales and of course their margins, based on how well they do. And they have a really strong track record of doing a great job of staying ahead of steel inflation to protect their margins.
That’s kind of how we’ve modeled it going forward is that they’re going to continue to stay ahead of inflation with their price initiatives and the volumes they’ll experience are very similar to what we’re expecting on the Mineral Fiber volume side. Okay?
