Stone Industry Education Series Bundle
Non-Member Price: $250.00
Member Price: FREE
Add 12 courses to Your Library
Not a member? Consider joining to get access to all courses in our Natural Stone University free of charge.
The Natural Stone Institute and Stone Word magazine are proud to offer regional one-of-a-kind events! These "Town Hall" style events are tailored specifically to the attendees and aim to help those in the stone industry grow and develop by increasing shop efficiency, providing training resources, metrics for developing business plans, and much more.
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B111: Estimating for Profitability
How does your company estimate a project? Are you estimating to ensure profitability? This session covers the basics of estimating, including factors that impact a project estimate and how to create estimates based on actual project costs. During this session, we will also review project-specific risks that are often overlooked. Come away with a list of items you should always consider when estimating a project.
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B115: Perspectives in Benchmarking: Using Metrics to Drive Growth
One of the most important aspects of running a successful business is understanding what metrics are important to measure and how to measure your company against competition. This session will define business benchmarking and discuss what metrics should be measured to ensure a company’s success. The session will also discuss resources for finding industry benchmarks so a company can better measure their metrics against others in the industry.
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B120: Building Your Shop Through Automation and Digital Software
Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World Magazine as we discuss building your shop through automation. Learn how to investigate products that are new to your process, including tooling equipment and digital software. Learn how to develop focused questions that will help you ensure the product or machine you review will perform as anticipated and provide the expected results.
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T120: Right Tools for the Job (Blades and Glues)
What is the best blade for cutting marble, quartzite, or other stones? Are pre-mixed color cartridge adhesives better than mixing by eye? What other tools should be considered? This session will cover the selection process for shop and installation tools and chemicals. Come away with a plan to select the right tool for the job every time.
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B122: Building Efficiency in Your Fabrication Facility
This session covers ways to build efficiency in your fabrication facility by finding and fixing bottlenecks in your operations. Learn how to determine when and where to augment your facility with automation. At the end of this course, you will have a plan to increase productivity through more efficient operations.
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T150: Creating Shop Drawings
Shop drawings are a great communication tool that can clarify details of a project to clients, production employees, and installation crews. During this session, we will discuss key components of shop drawings, how to create them, and how to fabricate stone to meet specifications. Come away with a better knowledge of these documents and a plan for how to use them to create a successful installation.
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T165: Stone Application Case Study: A Technical Discussion on a Los Angeles Home Installation
Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World Magazine as we discuss an award-winning residential natural stone project. This Los Angeles residential project includes exterior stone cladding, vein-cut travertine paving, bookmatched countertops and more. During the session, we will review project drawings and discuss the unique techniques utilized to complete this application.
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T180: Natural Stone Seaming Demonstration
This session covers three specific types of seams (Gluing Miters: Face Down with Clamps, Gluing Miters: Face Up with Tape, Deck Seams & Butt Joints). Learn how to perform each specific seam and answer related questions to each technique. Review basic color matching theory and seam finishing and gain a better understanding of how to utilize each seam on the jobsite.
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T210: There’s Something About Quartzite
Quartzite is a beautiful building material. With that beauty comes unique fabrication and installation techniques. Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World magazine as we discuss the world of geological quartzite. During the session, we will discuss the geology, fabrication, and installation practices that provide the best product application of this material. We will also review how to set expectations with customers to ensure successful installation and a happy client. Come away with a plan to maximize the value of quartzite to both your company and the customer.
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B201: Key Pulse Points for Building A Successful Stone Fabrication Business: Bring Order to the Chaos
Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World Magazine as we discuss key pulse points for building a successful business. Explore ways to build your team and create metrics to inspire success. Learn how to build a company infrastructure that will create future business growth.
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B230: Theories in Templating
Templating is the key to accurately measuring, fabricating, and pricing your product. This session will include a review of manual and automated templating processes and a discussion on the strengths of each. We will also discuss subcontracting options that might be available in your area. Come away from this session with a plan to improve your templating process while keeping cost low.
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B241: Selling Natural Stone: Building Your Company’s Sales Structure
Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World Magazine as we discuss creating a sales structure for your stone fabrication business. During the session, we will discuss the differences between residential, retail, and commercial sales and learn what safeguards should be in place when setting up your sales contracts. Come away with a plan to diversify your sales streams to ensure continued revenue.
