On August 2^nd, Zoller, GranQuartz and ADI held a workshop at the Zoller Inc.’s brand new North American headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI, to demonstrate to fabricators different technology that is going to be coming to the stone industry, how to be at the forefront of it, and finally, how it can improve a fabricator’s business. "We want to give you the complete CNC experience," said Dan Davidenko, CEO of GranQuartz. "We want these guys to be more efficient with their CNC machines and their tooling, and they can do it with these Zoller machines and ADI tooling."

The day started off with introductions from GranQuartz, Michael Puma of ADI and Alexander Zoller, president of Zoller Inc. "We are a family owned company in its third generation," said Zoller. "We have made some great developments over the years and in other industries. We have helped them become more efficient with our machines. That’s what we would like to do with you. Help you become more efficient and successful in your shop." The Zoller machines are presetting and measuring machines for any company carrying out machine work. They are easy to operate, constructed with high-quality brand name components, equipped with all standard measuring functions for professionally presetting and measuring cutting tools and suitable for difficult workshop use thanks to its construction.

Throughout the day, several other companies spoke about their products and the benefits they have for their customers. The day started with Jim Callaghan discussing GranQuartz’s water filtration systems.  "CNC machines have a micron rating for spindles," said Callaghan. "We consider ourselves an insurance policy since a spindle can be 12 thousand dollars in cost. We can integrate your homemade water system into our system so we are using all the parts, no wasted money."

Robbie Tidwell spoke about Northwood’s machines and how shop owners can use the machines to keep track of metrics. "Northwood Live helps you track the maintenance of your machines and tools," said Tidwell. "It lets you know when it’s time to do routine maintenance on your machine or if something is wrong. It also shows you how efficient it is being, how much time its running and so on."

Cevin Moberly of CMS North America discussed the different ways CMS can customize its machines for their customers. "We have the ability to do double tables, saw lines, whatever you need," said Moberly. "We also have our Green jet, which is new. It’s not a hydraulic pump for your waterjet, it’s an electrical pump that is much more efficient. It’s also way quieter." For ADI, Michael Puma discussed the EDM process the tooling company goes through for reshaping tooling that customers send back in for repairs. "We run the tooling through the EDM machine to make sure it’s the right shape," said Puma. "Then after it goes through the EDM process, we redress it. If you ever feel a vibration when you’re dressing the tool, it means it is out of balance. So you must first set it in balance and the redress it." Other CNC machine companies at the event were Breton and Intermac.

After a lunch break, the group started to learn about the tooling and different features of the Zoller machines. Bryan March went into how long it takes the Zoller machine to measure tools. "It takes roughly a minute to a minute and 20 seconds to measure the tool completely," said March. "So you can measure a full set of tools in minutes, transfer it to your machine and you’re up and running. If you have two sets of tools, it’s even better since you can measure while the other set is running."

Zoller went into the different technologies they have introduced in other industries and how they see the stone industry moving forward. This ranges from smart storage systems to robotic assistance with measuring tools. Finally, at the end of the day, there were breakout sessions where fabricators could speak with representatives from different machine manufacturers about various issues and solutions for their machines.

"The event, the first of its kind, went very well according to Zoller. "We’re extremely pleased with the turnout for this event," said Zoller. "It was great to bring everyone together to our new North America headquarters to show how our technology can support the stone industry. At Zoller, we are proud to have presented this debut event, and we look forward to continuing to support the stone industry in the future."