With a little thought and preplanning, you can buy a mold package, and equipment, and supplies for the same price that some places charge you for cultured marble molds, only. I'm sure that most of you who are interested in starting a new cultured marble factory have been concentrating mostly on molds, but to manufacture anything, you need a certain amount of equipment and tools to be successful. This will give you an opportunity to learn what equipment is necessary, what equipment will increase production in your factory, and why the equipment is so important for making your marble factory successful. Don't simply go out and buy a package of molds and think of equipment and tools as an afterthought.
Whether you're manufacturing sinks from a small modular sink mold, or casting cultured marble on some of the larger molds like a bathtub mold, shower pan mold, wall panel mold, window sill mold, trim mold or adjustable all purpose mold, a conveyor system will allow you to move all of your molds through the manufacturing process with ease and speed. The conveyor and storage system equipment will keep your manufacturing process organized. It will also eliminate lifting of heavy molds and decrease labor cost, will require you to use less production space, and will accommodate more molds in your factory. Regardless how many times per day you turn your molds, having a conveyor system with cultured marble mold storage racks will increase your production tremendously. Another reason you will consider a roller track conveyor system is that with our mold prices being one-third the cost of some companies who assist in establishing new marble factories, your savings here will more than pay for the factory equipment.
I know that many cultured marble factories don't like visitors in their manufacturing area but if you get the opportunity, visit a factory with a manufacturing system, and visit one without a manufacturing conveyor system. Notice the chaos and shuffling around of molds in the factory that doesn't have a transfer and storage system. You will notice a lot of lifting and transferring of molds by hand and a constant shuffle in the factory that creates a lot of chaos and wastes a lot of time. Ask the owner of the factory with the equipment what he would do if he didn't have the system. He will probably tell you he couldn't imagine it and would never consider it.
There are four pieces of equipment that you will absolutely require. Those are a gel coat spray booth, a vibrating table, gel coat spray system, and the cultured marble blender or mixer. There is a lot of additional equipment available for a cultured marble factory and/or solid surface factory and some of it you may feel you need and some you may feel you don't need. But, the one additional thing that will be most beneficial is a conveyor and storage system. Certainly you can use small carts to transfer your molds from one step to the next, but adding a transfer and storage system will make all the difference in the world in your bottom line.
You may have heard me mention before that every factory is unique. Every floor plan, selection of molds and products being produced, square footage, budget and even every climate is different, and all these things contribute to your decision on what you will include in your equipment package. Let me know what your investment and working capital is limited to for molds, equipment, and supplies, and it can give me a starting point for putting together a total manufacturing package.
If you already have a building for your cultured marble factory, send me a drawing of your floor plan and include dimensions, door openings, and where you will have an office and/or showroom. We will lay out your factory accordingly. If you haven't selected a building yet, I can send you several sample floor plans which may be helpful in selecting a building.
Keep in mind that every mold, from the smallest soap dish mold to the largest wall panel mold or bathtub mold, will follow the same sequence and require the same steps.
#1. The first part of manufacturing the cultured products setting up the molds on the Set Up Line. This is where you wax your molds and set them up to produce the various size cultured marble / onyx / granite / solid surface parts.
#2. The mold is then transferred to the gel coat spray booth on the tilt - rotating transfer cart which rolls on the floor guide rails or roller track, into the spray booth. The tilt - rotating cart holds the mold while spraying the gel coat. A good quality gel coat spray system is recommended for this gel coat application. There are several companies that manufacture a good quality gel coat spray system. You may have seen some simple cup gun spray systems, but these are only good for touch up applications or for occasionally spraying granite. But, the little cup gun will not suffice in a real production factory. They are highly inefficient, wasting a huge amount of gel coat material and taking up to four to six time longer to use than a good spray system. The material and time saved with a quality gel coat spray system will pay for itself in a short period of time.
#3. After the mold has been gel coated, the gel coat will need to cure before casting. This curing time can vary from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on climate, the gel coat manufacturer, and the amount of catalyst used. If you are in a cold climate, I strongly recommend eventually getting an oven to run your molds through prior to spraying your gel coat. An oven is simply a small heater, with a hood, that goes over the roller track just before your molds enter the gel coat spray booth. Even if your molds are warmed up a few degrees, and for a very brief period of time, it will pretty much assure that you can pour your marble matrix within 15 to 20 minutes, even in a cold climate. Having a faster cure time is the key to pouring your molds multiple times per day. If you can only pour your molds once a day due to a cold climate, you can see how an oven will pay for itself in a short period of time if it allows you to pour multiple times per day. Obviously if you have the luxury of operating in a warm climate, the oven isn't required.
#4. Once the gel coat is cured, the mold is transferred to the vibrating tables using the transfer cart. The cultured marble matrix (or other formula) is mixed in the matrix blender and the blender bucket is wheeled to the mold. (The matrix is the mixture of the marble dust, resin, pigment, and catalyst) The marble matrix casting is done while the mold is being vibrated on the vibrating table. If you are producing solid surface, you would simply skip the gel coat step since solid surface does not require gel coat, and send your solid surface mold directly to the vibrating table from the setup area.
#5. Once the mold is filled, the mold is again rolled onto the transfer cart then moved to the storage rack. The storage racks can be single level or multiple level. Keep in mind that the mold storage racks are designed so that you can always start with a small single level storage rack and add levels and/or sections to them as your factory grows. As you can obviously see from the factory layout drawing that a multi level storage rack will not take any more space than a single level, but will hold four times more molds if you have a four level rack. This allows you to quadruple your production using the same amount of space. If you add additional sections, then your production can be increased even more. The mold storage racks come in standard 12 foot lengths but if necessary can be made at custom lengths to maximize the use of your space. So, as you can see, you can utilize and store a large number of molds in a very small space, maximizing production and minimizing production space. If you only plan on having single level storage racks, you will only need a regular transfer cart. If you plan to have multi level storage racks, you will require a transfer lift or scissor lift rather than a regular transfer cart.
#6. When the cultured marble (or onyx or granite) is cured, it is moved from the storage rack and moved to the de-mold area. The cultured marble part is removed from the mold and taken to the finishing area, and the mold is again moved to the set up area.
#7. Whether it's a vanity top, bathtub, wall panel or window sill, you will have an area around the edge of the cultured marble product that will require you to remove the sharp edge by either sanding it or removing it with a coarse file. Some sort of sanding or grinding booth or dust collector will keep your factory much cleaner in this area, but using your spray booth for this purpose is a possibility in the beginning. Eventually, to properly utilize time and maximize production, you would want a separate booth for this purpose.
#8. The last step in any cultured marble factory to assure quality control is a buffing line. Your cultured marble products are an exact replica of your mold. If your molds are properly maintained, they can come off the mold looking like a piece of glass. If you allow minor scratches to remain on your molds, your finished product will show these imperfections as well and these imperfections will need to be removed by buffing the marble piece before it leaves your factory. A less time consuming alternative to buffing each marble piece is to move the mold into the buffing area to remove the scratch marks on the mold, prior to using the mold. Regardless of the condition of your molds, you will probably choose to give each piece at least a quick buffing, if only to take off the mold release wax and give your product a nice shine.
I hope this gives you a little insight as to the importance of the equipment and you realize the opportunities it offers. As I said in the beginning, with a little preplanning and budgeting, you can have it all.... molds, supplies and equipment.
There is other optional equipment that you may look at in the future such as:
Various sizes of cultured marble matrix blenders (150Lbs, 250 Lbs, & 350 Lbs.)
Extra blender buckets (pots)
Mixing pot handling equipment
Pouring area ventilation system
Lower vibrating tables for Bathtubs
Top of the line ‘dust collectors' vs grinding booths to eliminate dust in your factory
Exhaust Stack Packages
Various size work benches
Pot washing machines with fusible fire safety link.
Stainless steel solvent wash tank w/ fusible fire safety link
Also, if you decide you want to produce solid surface in a bigger way, you may want to consider some of the following equipment.
Vacuum Blender
Solid Surface Stainless Steel Molds
Some of the solid surface equipment includes:
Sander to give your solid surface sheets a precise thickness.
Solid Surface post curing ovens to properly harden your solid surface sheets and kitchen sinks.
Hoist and transfer equipment matrix pot.
There is alot of additional information on our website. Click on Sunrise International Company at the top of this page, under my name. That will link you directly to the website, where you'll find a world of information as well as our "Contact Us" page.
» left by Colonial Spirits from Wichita, KS (3 years 171 days ago.)
Sounds like this guy knows his stuff. He needs to be take seriously. I sure wished I had known him/her when I started my culture business. Respond to this comment
» left by M. Scott from Allen, KS (3 years 170 days ago.)
Very informational article. Its obvious, the owner of this company is serious about good customer service. Respond to this comment
» left by jessica from emporia, ks (3 years 168 days ago.)
very informative in the area of starting a new marble mold factory. Respond to this comment
» left by Behrooz from Karachi, Pakistan (2 years 323 days ago.)
I intend to start a cultured marble manufacturing and would appreciate further advice from the writer of this article Respond to this comment
» left by D Kaufman(1,036) (2 years 323 days ago.)
You can clilck on "Sunrise International Company" at the top of the article, under my name. This is a link to our website. You can find our contact information on the "Contact Us" page of the site. Respond to this comment
» left by Christian Robles from Port Charlotte, Fl (2 years 301 days ago.)
I have worked in the cultured marble business for sixteen years for someone else, and now I want to go in business for my self. Please give some advice? Respond to this comment
» left by Keith from TX (2 years 222 days ago.)
We got our equipment installed in our old factory and the results have been incredible. We finished on Wednesday what it normally took us all week to do. I see what you meant by the equipment paying for itself in a short time. Thanks a million. Respond to this comment
» left by Pregy Govender from Durban, South Africa (2 years 126 days ago.)
You have explained the entire process so simpily with such ease and clear understanding, I would like to take this opportunity to compliment you. Please continue to share your vast experience with those of us in South Africa too. Respond to this comment
» left by D Kaufman(1,036) (2 years 125 days ago.)
Hi Pregy. Thanks for the compliment. I'm always happy to 'share all' with those interested in cultured marble, regardless where they're from. If you ever have any specific questions, shoot me a mail. I occasionally write something on the Blog link on my site so keep an eye out. Respond to this comment
» left by Larry G from South Carolina (2 years 107 days ago.)
I'm a contractor and user of cultured marble in my spec houses. I buy from two marble shops. One with and one without the equipment you're talking about here. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see the employees in one factory lifting all those heavy molds and moving them around on wooden carts while the other shop easily slides them along the conveyors, through the steps as you explain in your article. Though the two shops quality and prices are about the same, I can guess who makes a bigger profit from the products I buy from them. Respond to this comment
» left by Afzal from Karachi Pakistan (2 years 24 days ago.)
MY NAME IS AFZAL BHESANIA FROM KARACHI PAKISTAN. I WISH TO START CULTURED MARBLE BUSINES IN PAKISTAN. DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS I DID NOT BEEN ABLE TO START MANUFACTURING OF CULTURED MARBLE BUT MR KAUFMAN WAS ALWAY KIND ENOUGH TO HELP ME IN PROVIDING ALL THE NECESSARY ADVISE, HELP, QUOTATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. I ALSO INVISTIGATE ABT HIM AND AWYAS GOT POSSITIVE REMARKS ABT HIM.
REGARDS AFZAL Respond to this comment
» left by Anonymous (1 year 309 days ago.)
You are just excellent, having shared your knowledge which is in deed quite informative and very useful to starters and producers alike. I shall definitely get back to you for a beneficial association. Thums-up! Keep Going, guiding us at all times! God Bless! FROM SHAIKH, DUBAI
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