Rockhead Group Retreat – Ultra-Compact best practices

1)ESGI– Safety with Silica best practices

  1. The OSHA maximum exposure limit to silica dust has been reduced dramatically which will go into effect June of 2018.
  2. Wet fab/polish always and PPE implementation is best methods to reduce exposure to silica dust.
  3. The more you can automate you process, the more you will mitigate your employees exposure.
  4. You need to take baseline tests ASAP and store that documentation so that when OSHA visits you can illustrate your efforts.
  5. You can hire ESGI to come in and create/document your baseline tests and provide safety training to your team.

2)Cosentino

  1. Dekton sales up 47% over last year ($25m in sales in US and $70m worldwide).
  2. Several of the top displays are Dekton with Trillium being their top displayed material in the US.
  3. Best blade to use when cutting Dekton – Ital Diamonte 16” or 14”.
  4. There is a Cosentino website with all the latest best practice advice from Cosentino. We will create a link from our Rockhead website to the Cosentino best practice blog.

3)Baca

  1. Baca has a 5 axis waterjet that they market for use of fabricating ultra-compact materials. It cuts extremely clean miters at several different speeds.
  2. Mike Hyer – Owner of Rocktops, provided testimonial on the use of the Baca waterjet. They have become the facility known in Kansas City for fabricating the best as it relates to ultra-compact materials.
  3. 12” per minute for miter
  4. 20” per minute for sink
  5. 60” per minute for back wall.

4)Hallmark Stone – Best practices for fabricating Dekton

  1. When a customer orders a Dekton job they send an edge sample to the customer so they know what to expect.
  2. If the customer ordered mitre they send it with an average seam and place a repaired chip into the edge so that the customer understands what it will look like.
  3. They use Slabsmith to illustrate how the veining will look.
  4. While they are programming they are aggressive in placing relief cuts into the top.
  5. They cut all Dekton jobs via waterjet.
  6. They add in rails to sink or cooktop cutouts that don’t have enough radius in the corners.
  7. They do not pierce in the middle of a section that will be used for the job, they will flow into the cut so that the pierce doesn’t blowout any vital pieces. The pierce is at 13k pressure.
  8. When polishing, they never use the Velocity they use the Fastback so that the machine doesn’t crack the pieces when running through the polishing machines.
  9. Hallmark will sometimes add a ¼” to the front edge in case there is a big chip.
  10. Install crews – they dedicate their experience install crews the Dekton jobs so that it is the same crews working with the material. The installers use extreme care not to bump the pieces when creating a seam.
  11. All jobs get wrapped with foam to protect the job when it is in transit.
  12. The installers use Gorilla Grip and they use Ultima adhesive.
  13. For all jobs they post install pictures to send an automated email to the designer so that they can see the finished product.
  14. Lead Time – for all Dekton jobs they tell the customer/stores that there will be an extra week lead time to install the job. They also do not schedule the install until after the job has been cut.
  15. Hallmark does around 1-2 Dekton jobs per week.
  16. Hallmark sells their remnants at the lowest price group regardless of the color. They allocate the entire slabs cost to the job and place no value on the remnants.
  17. Templates are critical in making sure that a Dekton job goes well.
  18. Dekton is their lowest margin of all products.

5)Hallmark Stone Shop Tour

  1. ERP System – Annie
  2. Customer flow – the system was built to proactively push the job through each of the stages when each stage is complete.
  3. Job order – customers information and dealers information in input.
  4. System will automatically send a booklet called “Guild to understanding your countertops” to set proper expectations.
  5. Interview – the CSR will walk through questions/ansers pertinent to perform the template.
  6. Scheduler – the scheduler then organized templates to allocate based upon geography and complexity of the job.
  7. Template – information is gathered while templating. “Pre-Existing damage form” is filled out if there is damage to floor, appliances, or cabinets.
  8. Installation is scheduled – after job install is scheduled then the production schedule is created.
  9. No Lift Installation Cart – Mike Varone highly recommends this to eliminate the number of 3-man installations they needed to perform.
  10. Survey’s are mailed to each customer and Fred reviews the responses personally and then passes them along to the team with his comments.
  11. The system enables them to print a report “Job templated but not installed” so that they can stay on top of the jobs with exceptions. They want to keep pressure to get the jobs through because the clock is ticking in the eyes of the customer.
  12. There is also a report that tracks the amount of time it takes a CSR to work a job through the process.
  13. Every day there is an “Issues Meeting” to talk about jobs with issues and create a coarse of action.
  14. Inventory Management
  15. The ERP system send the order to the inventory manager to order/allocate material.
  16. The system then creates a “received” action item.
  17. Invoice Entry – the system records the invoice from the distributor and enables them to print a bar code for the slab.
  18. Their system tracks the use of material and identifies it with a tone/lot number so that the same lot can be used when peforming full height back splash.
  19. Value of the slabs are 100% allocated to the jobs and zero value is allocated to the remnants.
  20. Green Sheet – jobs with the top priority are placed on a green sheet so that they are the first jobs expedited for the day. These are typically remakes or full height back splash.
  21. Every month they audit their slab inventory. They do not audit their remnant materials.
  22. They have a rock crusher and Fred has a relationship with a few companies who come and pick the crushed pieces up for free. He spent $18k on the crusher and used to spend over $50k per year in stone dumpster fees.
  23. Supplies are allocated to install teams based upon each of the jobs. If an installer needs anything in excess they have to fill out a form. All supply consumption is tracked by installer.
  24. Scrap percentage goal is 30%-33%.
  25. Shop notes
  26. They have a full-time mechanic on staff who takes care of the vehicles and machines. More than pays for his salary several times over.
  27. Fred has aluminum ramps that roll up and can be carried from install to install.
  28. Work Station for Ops Manager – fred installed a desk in the shop and outfitted the desk with phone and printer so that the guys can always find the manager.
  29. Cleaning – Fred has a Zamboni and they clean the floors at least once a day.
  30. Hallmark uses Slabsmith for inventory with movement.
  31. QC – quality is checked 3-4 times thoughout the process. There is a sheet that the QC guys use to verify dimensions and other aspects of the job. They also sign off on every drawing that has been QC’ed.
  32. There is also a survey that the installers fill out which rates the quality of the fab work.