A couple of weeks ago, I took a very unique trip with a trade delegation of almost 30 North American members of the Stone Fabricators Alliance. Stretching from Bologna to Verona to Milan - - and, seemingly, all points in between -- the caravan visited the full gamut of technology suppliers. We saw the latest developments in large-scale machinery, table saws, CNC routers, CNC bridge saws, portable routers, grinders, tooling, adhesives, sealers and a heck of a lot more. The days went from 7 a.m. until well past 8 p.m. in some cases (and that's before the traditional three-hour Italian dinner), and it was a packed agenda to say the least.
From the moment we walked into our first manufacturing facility, there was one thing that struck me about this particular group of fabricators, which represented shops of all sizes. They had an unbridled passion for the craft. It seemed that there wasn't a single fabricator on the trip that wasn't full of questions about the various types of technology and how they could utilize it in their operations. Whether it was a floor grinder that could also be used to texture slabs or a new adhesive for mitering, it seemed that every member of the group was front and center -- eager to get a look at what the suppliers had to offer.