“An investment in technology over the past several years is paying off for GerrityStone,” says Jim Gerrity, CEO of the New England interior stonework company. The results are clear: a 30 percent increase in sales for 2013 alone with further increases projected for 2014.
Some in the industry saw it as a gamble when GerrityStone purchased expensive, state-of-the-art equipment that included a CNC router and SawJet for precision cuts and the Slabsmith planning and design software—especially given the economy. Jim Gerrity knew that it was the right move at the time.
“GerrityStone’s customer satisfaction ratings have always been the highest in the industry and any improvements we make as a result of addressing customers’ needs keeps us that much ahead of the competition,” states Gerrity. “When customers experience attention to detail at every stage of the process and see commitment to our clients’ 100% satisfaction in every case, they rarely leave. Instead, they refer others.”
The CNC, SawJet and Slabsmith work together to give customers a level of precision second to none for fashioning any type of stone countertops. The Slabsmith software uses real images of the customer’s choice of stone and allows one to see exactly where the veins and other distinguishing features line up and what it will look like as a countertop once it is fabricated. Here the customer can make adjustments so it is exact. The slab is then moved to the CNC table which cuts the stone and routs edges to within 0.2 millimeters.
“Customers see on the computer screen exactly what their countertop will look like. And, because of the accuracy of our templating system, the design you see is precisely what you get in the finished product,” states Gerrity.
The system is more environmentally friendly, considerably reducing waste, dust, and noise pollution. It is also less labor intensive, allowing GerrityStone to streamline its operations and provide a better customer experience.