The rapidly expanding popularity of countertops made of granite and other stone presents growing business opportunities for stone fabricators
who must constantly upgrade to increase production to meet demand. In just the last five years alone, the number of fabrication shops in the United States has nearly doubled from around 8,000 to more than 15,000. That trend is expected to continue because market demand shows no signs of slowing down. By carefully choosing stone fabricating machines with automated equipment that can improve both production and quality,
a fabricator can guarantee itself security in the industry.
If your shop is a small, 2,500-sq. ft. facility turning out one or two kitchens a week, today's market demand could easily let you grow into a medium-sized operation producing two or three kitchens a day. If you have a medium-sized shop, careful selection of automated equipment could help you become a large facility producing five to 10 kitchens a day. Regardless of a fabrication shop's size, automation will help to please builders and other customers through consistent quality work, short turnarounds, and fast delivery.
If you are looking to grow beyond a small operation, your first consideration will be a saw. Whether manual or automatic, the heart of a shop's production is the saw. If you are not cutting enough slabs, your saw is the bottleneck to increased throughput. The amount of material cut by the saw determines what can be fed to edging, shaping, and other operations. Consider the purchase of a good bridge saw. An automated bridge saw provides a consistently clean cut at a high rate of production. Even if all of the other equipment in a shop consists of hand tools, a good bridge saw can quickly offer return on investment.
Unlike an automatic bridge saw that can cut up to 120 lineal feet of material per hour, even the best of workers operating a manual saw will rarely exceed 10 lineal feet per hour. Cost per foot on the automated saw is around dollar 2.50 to dollar 3.00 a running foot, compared to the hourly worker's wages and benefits plus tooling costs.
As its name implies, a bridge saw is a gantry machine tool moving on the rails of a double beam bridge. The business end is usually a tilting cutting head. Some of the better saws use an oil bath to reduce wear of the rollers and bearings running in the harsh environment of a granite shop. This provides for smoother movement than bridge saws that run on dry, open channels. The oil bath also reduces maintenance costs.
Today's technology provides for a programmable controller that automates movement of the bridge and cutting head. The most user-friendly saws place all the controls on a swinging pendant, while less friendly saws have various functions on different parts of the machine. Having all the controls on one touch-screen pendant eliminates the need for the operator to walk around to different areas for turning on the water, setting and locking the table, lifting the table,raising and lowering the head, starting the saw, and other tasks. This, in turn, increases productivity and profitability.
Bridge saws come in a variety of size and power configurations. A larger saw might have a 16-in. diamond blade to give a production rate of 120 lineal feet of 3-cm material per hour and a large cutting area of 140-in. by 140-in. Unlike smaller saws, larger ones have a large bridge height -- say7-ft. -- that allows the operator access without having to bend over to walk beneath the bridge. It also uses an efficient hydraulic tilt table that easily loads from a slab lifter or forklift.
Large saws like this will cut ten to twenty slabs of granite, marble, porcelain, and engineered stone per 8-hour shift. Smaller saws have some of the features found on the larger saws, but are less versatile and productive, and consequently less expensive. Smaller saws might be the choice of a small -to medium-sized fabrication shop, while a large facility could require two or three of the large bridge saws to maximize productivity.
The Polishing Machine
After the purchase of a bridge saw, a medium-sized fabrication shop will usually consider an automatic edge polishing machine. They typically do the work of two or three employees using hand tools. Polishing machines come in two basic configurations: vertical and horizontal. Because most medium-sized shops average six to 10 employees working in a 4,000 to 8,000-sq. ft. area, a vertical polishing machine is usually the best choice. It takes up less floor space than a horizontal machine. Also, because material is usually stored and handled vertically, the vertical machine reduces handling and the chance of breakage.
One type of polishing machine considered versatile is one that automatically polishes not only squared-off and inclined edges, but also toroidal edges and other convex shapes. As long as the edges to be polished have the same thickness, pieces can be inserted one after another. A conveyor belt carries them through a group of automatic mandrills that bear a series of abrasives ranging from the coarsest grain to a polishing abrasive.
Another type of machine to be considered is the flat edge polisher, sometimes called the back-splash polisher. Actually, it will also polish countertops of any size, length, and height. As its name implies, it will only polish flat surfaces, but it can also chamfer upper and lower edges if desired. These machines are fairly inexpensive and have a compact footprint to save floor space. The production rate for such a polisher is from 80 to 100 lineal feet per hour. Again, these types of machines will help speed production and increase your volume.
The Water System
As production increases, water consumption increases as well. For a medium or large fabrication shop, a closed water system can pay for itself in a year or two.
It recycles the water run through the machines to keep the leveling tools cool instead of dumping it into the sewer. It can also recycle water used in a dust booth.
Beyond reducing the water bill, such a system also guarantees the rate of flow needed to meet the demand of the machines.
Computer Numerical Control
As it has in nearly every industry, computer technology is now revolutionizing the way that stone is processed. Computers can help two ways, first with designing the part, then by controlling the motions of machine. CNC (computer numerical control) machines are found in large facilities and in medium shops that want to grow into large facilities.
A large fabrication shop is usually 8,000-sq. ft. or larger and employs some 20 to 40 employees. Production is around five or 10 kitchens a day. Such a facility will often have multiple lines of automated tooling to reduce set-up times and speed production, including a CNC machine or two.
Stone fabricating CNC machines, like the C-Tech 3 from Marmo Meccanica USA, are versatile, easy-to-use and affordable. They easily process kitchen counter tops,sink holes and table tops. Plus, they can accurately router, profile and polish any edge style or 2-dimensional design. They have a large table, approximately 122" X 66", that can process slabs up to 10" thick.
A typical numerically controlled 3-axis machine is based on the traditional moving bridge architecture. The axis movement is on linear guides and skates.
The movement of the X an Y axis is transmitted by precision screws, while the Y axis is transmitted by tempered racks and pinions. All moving parts are lubricated by oil controlled by the CNC, and the mechanical moving parts are protected from dust and humidity by protective covers.
The most exciting feature of a CNC machine is it's easy to learn AutoCAD-lite software. Writing a new program for a sink, for example, typically takes
about 10 minutes and running the program is a simple two-step process. A CNC machine is versatile enough to sequentially process up to four sink vanities in one set-up, maximizing processing time. In addition, at 1800 mm per minute for edge work, a CNC machine can process a 3 ft. X 8 ft. counter in about an hour and a half.
CNC machines typically have all the bells and whistles, such as easy tool changing. The machine will have an indicator light to alert the operator when a tool change is needed. Once the machine is stopped, the operator simply presses the release valve and installs the next tool. This process only takes 10 seconds,maximizing uptime.
Also maximizing uptime are floating vacuum cups included with the CNC machine. These vacuum cups help move workpieces and facilitate a rapid set-up that reduces normal set-up time of other machines by up to 80%, increasing productivity with the first use.
Demand Support
When selecting new equipment for your shop, be sure you are buying from an established, reputable company. This means getting a one year parts and labor warranty with your new machine, a couple days of operations and maintenance training, and operation manuals.
In addition, be sure the company has a service department with seasoned technicians that can assist with toll-free technical support 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, and if necessary, will travel to your shop.
Finally, make sure the company has a parts department stocked with replacement parts for the company's line of edge polishing machines, bridge saws and other CNC processing equipment. Inventory should include everything from motors, bearings and pneumatic hoses to cutting blades and adhesives.
Just as important, verify they can ship parts overnight and track them.
Whether your fabrication shop is small, medium or large, automated equipment will allow your business to grow. By keeping costs down and quality high,automation not only meets the demands of today's growing market, but also ensures your security into the future.http://www.amoygranite.com
