All Slab Fabbers: a Rock Group with a Different Groove Fabricators Helping Fabricators
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JUNE 2020 VOLUME 26.6 THE BEACON OF THE STONE INDUstRY www.slipperyrockgazette.net All Slab Fabbers: A Rock Group with a Different Groove Fabricators Helping Fabricators has been said by some pretty astute folks that Peter J. Marcucci IT the true sign of an Photos Courtesy Chris Hildebrand expert is when his or her mistakes still look good. Unfortunately, getting to this level requires years Well, it’s a group of hands-on fab- of trials and scores of mistakes. ricators, from all levels of expe- From receiving slabs off the truck, rience who are brought together, to installing the final product, either online or in person, ex- there are hundreds of things that plained Hildebrand. can go wrong. Knowing them is “There were a bunch of people the key to avoiding them. who had followed me online for years and years, and a group was All Slab Fabbers held their first workshop in 2019. The inaugural event was Regrettably, in a busy produc- created, because I had a bad expe- attended by about 150 fabricators, and several stone industry vendors. tion environment, experienced rience with a machine company. Below: Geoffrey Gran, Countertop Factory Midwest, hosts All Slab Fabbers’ first coworkers, diligently doing their I didn’t want people to make the Facebook Live event in April 2020, speaking on developing shop metrics, running part, sometimes cannot keep an same mistakes that I had made, lean, and fielding questions on current industry issues from the participants. eye on their less experienced and I wanted to get the word out. counterparts. Hence, old mistakes This group then evolved into fab- are sometimes revisited, and pro- ricators helping fabricators, which duction is slowed. was the whole point of me doing Braxton-Bragg Makes Significant Understanding these setbacks what I was doing. that silently await the unsus- “Well, the next thing I knew, Investment in People, Process & Products to pecting craftsman is the forte of these fabricators were talking Chris Hildebrand, Founder and about different types of machin- Redefine the Stone CNC Industry President of Affordable Quality ery. Things like what machines Marble and Granite in Aiken, are out there, what features to raxton-Bragg has South Carolina. With his many look for, and what to expect heavily invested in years in fabrication and a long during a purchase. Then, during B CNC tooling and background in heavy equipment, June 2019, we officially started equipment, as well as top Hildebrand knows all too well the All Slab Fabbers, and within industry executives, to inno- the benefits of proper training, three months we were up to al- vate the way it goes to market. and recently created the All Slab most 1,500 members.” Six new sales associates and Fabbers FaceBook group. What managers with extensive stone is the All Slab Fabbers, you ask? Please turn to page 2 industry and CNC expertise have been hired in less than one month to irrupt the market. In addition, the Braxton- Bragg team has brought an operations expert on board to manage the company’s new FREE shop audit program, helping fabricators streamline operations and inventory for CEO. “We have hand-picked companies. We have now brought increased profit and efficiency. authority figures in the stone in- this powerhouse of people under “Braxton-Bragg does not dustry to propel our CNC pro- one roof to change the way we at- only offer great CNC prod- gram to industry-leading status. tack the CNC category.” ucts at affordable prices, we These well-respected experts are armed with industry ex- have grown their respective ex- perts,” claimed Rick Stimac, panding companies into thriving Please turn to page 9 | 2 JUNE 2020 SLIPPERY ROCK GAZETTE All Slab Fabbers Continued from page 1 it, they don’t know how to make their products better. We weren’t From Concept to Facebook scared. I’ve dealt with fragile Realizing he had a great con- stone my whole career and we’d cept, Hildebrand began doing a been testing and testing and test- little advertising, and specifically ing porcelain, and decided to bring brought in tile tradesmen. “We in people and show them what we wanted to get tile people into the had learned. We were also look- group, because porcelain slabs ing to get insight from others who have been coming on hard, and had worked with it. One thing that we wanted their experience. The people don’t understand with por- next thing I knew was that we celain is that you’re not supposed were up to 2,000 members, and to use epoxy or acrylic when glu- we are currently up to just over ing miters. Urethane glues are 3,100 members. Not bad for just much better because they dry soft, over a year. It’s been a great place not hard.” for tile setters, fabricators and the With their first successful people in the construction indus- workshop now behind them, the try to gather to share problems All Slab Fabbers did have an- and solutions. It is now growing other workshop planned for May workshops is their travel expense, organically, and there’s no need 2020 but, unfortunately, due to and we can usually get blocks of to push the growth at this time.” COVID-19, this meeting has been rooms at a reduced rate. However, In September of 2019, the All rescheduled. However, not one to we do invite a number of sponsors Slab Fabbers had their first work- be denied, the group came up with to come, which helps to offset the shop at Hildebrand’s shop. The an alternate idea. “We decided, cost of running the workshop. turnout was surprising, he recalls. because we canceled that work- “For example: if we expect 150 “We were expecting 50 to 75 shop, that we were going to get people, we’ll invite 20 sales peo- fabricators here, and we wound a couple of guys together and do ple. They may consist of machine up with about 150. I had been some sessions on Facebook Live makers, suppliers, and vendors working with a couple of porce- and see what kind of responses such as Braxton-Bragg, and any- lain suppliers, and their complaint and participation we get and try one in the stone industry. I’ll put was that nobody would take the to stay ahead of the game. It ac- the word out, and when there is a time to learn how to cut it and tually was Jesse George’s idea workshop coming it is first come, play with it. So the focus of that (AG Stone Granite and Cabinets, first served, and they can talk Networking on Facebook or face-to-face, and offering advice among their members spreads best practices and helps fellow workshop was on porcelain. Atlantic Beach, FL) to do some and give demonstrations on their fabricators find the best solution to common problems from “Being the type of shop that we instruction videos on line, and it products.” mitering, to working with new materials, to chip repair. are, we fabricate everything on ended up being an information Hildebrand did make a very what I call a ‘locked schedule.’ video, instead. Our presenter was strong point very clear, though, many groups out there overrun everything in the coming months. This means that everything we are Geoffrey Gran, of the Countertop and that is that they do not have with advisements. This is one of With everyone on a downturn, working on is a week and a half Factory Midwest. We hope to any direct sponsors for the group the reasons that we’ve grown so due to the virus, a lot of compa- out to installation. We are never in keep doing these- I think it was itself or any paid advertisers. “We fast. We also have no sales peo- nies and their people don’t know a rush, and this gives us the time very well received.” did start a separate online group ple or manufacturers moderating how to prepare for slower months to test a new blade, a new bit or a When asked if All Slab Fabbers off to the side called, ‘All Slab the group. It’s just fabricators, all ahead. We’re also going to talk new material. I’ve always tried to is a paid membership or is it free, Fabbers Vendors’ for companies about fabricators, and that’s the about ways to increase revenue stay ahead of the curve, and when Hildebrand said, “You might be to advertise there. We do try to way we are going to keep it.” as well as the cost of acquisitions. something new comes out, I want surprised. It is completely free for drive more and more traffic to it, to know about it! Manufacturers fabricators to participate online, but we keep (all) sales stuff out of Looking Down the Road Please turn to page 3 also want feedback, and without The only cost to our members for the group, because we’ve seen too “We are going to do a little bit of Left: All Slab Fabbers group members also post in-prog- ress updates, photos and videos on notable projects from their shops. Right: This recent poster asked for help identifying a mystery problem with a dark, spreading stain on marble. The most likely culprit? Stain is coming from underneath, due to oils leaching from plumber’s putty. The faucet was installed by a third- party plumber. | SLIPPERY ROCK GAZETTE JUNE 2020 3 Continued from page 2 All Slab Fabbers From shops offering masks “As for where the All Slab Fabbers is and supplies to another shop going, we are not really sure, and we are just during the COVID-19 crisis, to going to let it take its course.