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News & Information . . .

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 6, 2007

Capitol Granite and Marble Continues to Expand Production Capacity by Adding Park FUSION^TM CNC Saw & Waterjet System
Midlothian, VA: In 2002, Paul Menninger opened Capitol Granite and Marble in a 5,000 square foot facility. In just five short years, Capitol Granite and Marble expanded from a five person operation to a 27,000 sq ft facility employing over 60 people operating in two shifts. Menninger recognized that there were many opportunities within the stone business, one of which was utilizing automation and new technologies in fabricating stone and Silestone quartz surfacing countertops.

"When we opened the doors in 2002 we had a manual bridge saw, a single-head polisher, and a radial arm workstation and were able to fabricate about 20 slabs per week," explains Menninger. "With recent cutting-edge technology that I have installed, I am now able to fabricate up to 30 slabs per shift." Earlier this spring, Menninger purchased a Park Industries FUSION^TM 8000 CNC Saw & Waterjet System. When asked why he decided to install a FUSION^TM, he remarked, "On average, I can fabricate a fully nested slab in less than 12 minutes with the FUSION^TM which is phenomenal production."

The FUSION^TM incorporates two technologies; the CNC saw fabricates straight cuts at a rate of over 120 inches per minute and the CNC waterjet fabricates curved cuts at a rate of 17 inches per minute. "We typically run the CNC saw 88% of the time and the CNC waterjet about 12% of the time which allows us to maximize the production capacity of this machine," adds Menninger. "We have fabricated a 211 sq ft project (kitchen, wet bar, fireplace, and bathrooms) of 3cm Black Galaxy and Gallo Veneziano in just 89 minutes and that includes the time needed to load and unload the material. Not only is the production incredibly fast, we are able to cut the backsplash to exact size. Without the FUSION^TM, this 5 slab job would have taken us 6 hours to complete on a traditional waterjet or over 12 hours to finish with a traditional manual bridge saw."

One great feature of the FUSION^TM is its efficient dual tilt shuttle tables for load and unloading. "Material handling continues to be a large manpower issue and Park has hit the mark with the tilt shuttle tables," adds Menninger. "This feature allows us to virtually eliminate any machine idle time with a slab cycle time of about 30 seconds."

For more information, contact Capitol Granite and Marble at (804)379-2641. To find out more about the FUSION^TM CNC Saw & Waterjet series call Park Industries® at (800)328-2309.