Fabricators head to Italy with the SFA to learn not only more about the products they buy and the machines they invest in, but also the culture of Italian workers
For the past eight years, the Stone Fabricator’s Alliance (SFA) takes a group of fabricators from North America, many of which have never traveled once outside the country, and brings them to Italy to learn about machinery, tooling and different types of stone. The trip is hosted by Tenax, and I have personally been fortunate enough to be invited to join the group for the past three years — each time being 10 days long and packed with education. It’s amazing what someone can learn just once, let alone three times. Now for a quick disclaimer, I have never hand polished a countertop, never operated a CNC machine or had to deal with an angry customer. But from spending about a month’s worth of my life on a bus full of some of the most skilled fabricators in the industry, I think I could pick up any tool and get by. OK, this is probably not true, but I at least know the general idea.
The first time I was a part of the SFA trip, I was under the assumption that the main reason people went on it was to learn more about the machines they buy from Italy, to see where Carrara marble comes from or how CNC tooling is made. Some of this may be true, and it definitely is a draw, but one of the biggest things people learn about is how to transform their shop. How to make their shop stand out compared to the competition. Most fabricators generally don’t want to compete on the lowest prices, but want to create an atmosphere and a service that no one else in their market can touch. Last year, while out with a few of the fabricators on the last night, one said, “I am going to do what the Italians do. I am going to have my sales people dress up in suits and serve Prosecco to my guests.” Now while he said that in jest, there was some truth to it, and it’s the unexpected thing that I have realized many of the fabricators take away from the experience and apply to their business — the service and atmosphere of the Italian culture.