Since last featured by Stone World in April 2005, Fine Line Pacific of Kent, WA, has increased its production rate, added new machinery to its operation and moved both its stone plant and solid surface fabrication under one roof. On May 19, Fine Line Pacific celebrated the Grand Opening of its new facility, which occupies 110,000 square feet on a 7-acre site. The facility is fully served by six overhead cranes ranging from 7.5 to 22 tons, and it also contains two separate semi-truck drive-through bays. “If you can carry it on the road, we can unload it,” said Tom Risinger, one of the two principals of the company.

Before moving into the facility, Risinger and his staff designed and built a water treatment system which recycles 100% of their water capable of serving 10 CNCs with a 44,000 gallon capacity. They also assembled 11 Gorbel cranes to individually serve each piece of equipment, and designed and built galvanized carts to easily move stone from one station to the next. Stone is never moved by hand and all work is done wet. “In this day and age the safety of our employees must be our first priority,” said Luke Moore, another principal at Fine Line Pacific. “Not only is it a financial necessity, but it is the right thing to do.”

In July of last year, the company moved in its three CMS North America/Brembana Maxima CNC stoneworking centers and Marmo Meccanica edge polishing machine, and began production. Since that time, they have added two more Maxima's and a CMS North America/Brembana Antea 750 CNC saw. “The Brembana machines are incredible,” said Risinger. “We have almost no down time, and we can train an inexperienced operator in about a week.” The company is 100% digital and runs their equipment 24/7. According to plant manager, Otis Moore, “keeping everything digital keeps it very simple and cuts down on mistakes as well as management time.”

To celebrate their Grand Opening, Fine Line Pacific hosted the spring dinner meeting of the Northwest NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association), which featured speakers and shop tours. Over 150 local kitchen and bath professionals were in attendance. Two weeks later, the company hosted a less formal afternoon open house.

The new facility also houses a 5,000-square-foot showroom that features over 24 full slabs of 3 cm granite and a staggered 40-foot-long “Quartz” wall composed of large panels of Cambria® and Zodiaq® in a patchwork display. “We realized from early on that we needed a stimulating place for our customers to bring their clients to select material,” explained sales manager, Mike Birdwell.

Fine Line Pacific has also been utilizing JobTracker software from Moraware of San Mateo, CA, since 2004. All aspects of each job - from quote to scheduling - are processed and tracked with the program. Sales people are able to quote jobs from remote locations and any employee can check the status of any job at any time. All drawings, AutoCAD files and template notes are now readily available online, thus streamlining communications and increasing efficiency.

Due to a substantial increase in production, the company recently increased its staff size from 135 to 190 employees. Additionally, Risinger and Otis Moore recently returned from Detroit, MI, where they purchased a used Maxima for their operation in Spokane, WA. The company also has another brand new Maxima ready to install at their subsidiary company “Millennium Stone” in Portland, OR, in what they call “continued expansion.”