The organisers are hoping that the number of visitors at the upcoming Brazilian event will be record high. It may be caused by … football fans.

First boycott of Kamień-Stone 2013 fair by Confindustria Marmomacchine, which is the organisation that represents leading Italian companies, and soon after the communication of the director of the Group of Products of International Poznań Fair saying that the November edition of the fair took place for the last time – the result is that the capital city of Wielkopolska from this moment on will not be associated with any international stone branch event!

Our to be or not to be will mostly depend on our cooperation with universities and scientific research institutes. This is an ambitious strategy, but we have to do it if we want to develop stone business.

At the end of 2012 the Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Economy, during her speech, strongly emphasised the fact that our national industry is and must be even a bigger carrier of innovation. When referring to the trends that can be observed on the Asian market, she also discussed the activities undertaken by the Ministry of Economy.

- In the new financial perspective, we are relying on research and development. There will be finally the possibility to finance innovation-related projects. This is what we also want to get from our cooperation with scientific research institutes. I may assert you – there will be funds for supporting research centres – emphasised Ms. Grażyna Henclewska.

We could hear those words at the 7th Conference of the Association of Suppliers and Manufacturers of Automotive Parts, but it is worth recalling the speech of the Minister in the context of challenges that every sector of national economy is ahead of. Stone sector, too! The time horizon of the new policy of the state is right now limited only by the 2014-2020 financial perspective. In that period, the expenditure on research and development in Poland is supposed to amount to 1.7 per cent of GDP. A new operational programme – Intelligent Development – will aim to increase innovation of Polish economy.   

When recalling this event from automotive branch, we have to pay attention to one fact. Modern cars are manufactured by automotive concerns, but the producers usually just put together parts and components produced by tens of leading, hundreds of important and thousands of small production plants. To put it simply, 80 per cent of a modern car is a creation of an independent market. Here we can see an interesting analogy to stone branch, because we should officially say that the companies which used to deal mainly with trade have no chance to survive on the market now.  

Dear Sir and Madam, today the sale of stone products will be done by mines (exploitation of deposits), which would enjoy a good, international reputation of trading companies (stone wholesales) and ... that would be it. We can observe this trend in selling imported tombstones from Asia.

- The time of great prosperity has finished. Concentration of the market and unprecedented price competition used up the patience of companies competing against one another with the product quality – summarises the situation on the market Marek Szwaj, the director of VERICO from Gdynia.  

- I have been in business for many years, but nowadays the absolute minimum margin was reached. We have already reached the break-even point and, what is worse, nothing can be done with it. I don’t believe that somebody is offering an incredibly cheap stone because he reduced his prime costs. It may happen only if we buy a low quality product. We will not do that. The rule “to buy it for a low price and sell it for a higher one” is outdated. With extremely low margins, it is hardly possible to earn something on tombstones from China, and the companies compensate for this by means of other, less popular products.

This comment is even more interesting due to the fact that it comes from the company which deals with foreign trade in a comprehensive way, that is it matches both parties (the manufacturer and the buyer), transacts import on behalf of the customer, and after the contract is completed the company gets its pay (that is earlier agreed on by the parties) like a concierge. Nowadays, looking for the so-called “bargains”, that is extremely cheap tombstones from Asia, is getting less and less common.

High quality products must be expensive. Therefore, resin tapping is more and more often a way to manage a low quality stone. It is also symptomatic that many companies are presenting more and more modern machines for resin tapping. The system of hiding stone defects works if we speak about a temporary aesthetic effect, but this method is said to be controversial when we use stone “outside” in our climate. This is a subject for a separate article, but also this time it is worth recalling the opinion of a stone wholesale expert.

- A product with original design, high quality, processed as highly as possible and at a good price as compared to offers from the West of Europe should be a driving force of our branch. If the situation in the branch of rock minerals is a barometer on the national market of stone production, the repetitive, run-of-the-mill, dull tombstone from China, or a resin-tapped, low quality granite slab from India will be getting less and less attractive – says Tomasz Staniszewski, Inbra.

- This is also a chance for Polish stone entrepreneurs who invest in machine parks and can surprise the market with a new product at a reasonable price. The horizons of using stone are limited not only to tombstones or building. Recently I have received a question from a manufacturer working for ... automotive branch. Production of precise car parts requires using test benches. It would be an order for table tops made of stone with a great precision. It would be a lucrative order if we compare it with prices of such tables on German market.

Stonemasons should follow modern design trends and here we can see first effects of their cooperation with industrial design specialists. Furniture, luxury goods – why should we limit ourselves to traditional forms if we are perceived as those who successfully improved our machine park? For sure Polish machine manufacturers do not have to worry – there are no signs that they should be afraid of foreign competition.

- To prove that prices of our stone machines are unbeatable, I will recall fruitless attempts to establish cooperation with sub-suppliers from Asia. A selected (by us) group of several manufacturers of supports and frames could not reach the quality level of our products. We assumed that the price would be low enough to import this type of components. Besides, we would have to be more careful with quality of such supplies.  Finally, we stopped thinking about cooperating with companies which are famous for producing high quality components at reasonable prices – reveals Wiesław Berezicki, ZPU PROMASZ.

Once again, let me come back to challenges waiting for the Polish industry in the context of 2014-2020 financial perspective. The pressure to reduce energy consumption is increasingly affecting our companies. It can be observed best in case of stone industry in Scandinavia, where labour costs are high, so investing in CNC machines is more rational.  

- CNC and division of labour – this is how Norwegian stone branch is working. Norway is famous for processed slabs. It was impressive to see how fully automatic production in Eide is. The company owner, alone, operates a 30-metre long polishing line and 2 machines for cutting blocks – describes Łukasz Jekel, a technical sales advisor, MC DIAM.

- A one-man company got specialised in producing 5-cm thick slabs and now the material is supplied to nine other companies, which, of course, also specialise in a specific type of production, for example table tops, stairs, etc. What is more, instead of competing against one another, Norwegians created a cooperative and they are buying consumables together, because it is simply cheaper!

The above mentioned agreement brings cluster structures to my mind. There, the cooperation overrides the destructive price competition. Geographic concentration of competitive companies would surely favour reducing costs related with running businesses, both big and small ones. When being in a group, it would be also easier to put pressure on media providers. Energy consumption of our production plants is huge, and, according to specialists, the interest in technical solutions which aim at raising efficiency of drive units will be crucial to increase competitiveness of stone branch. It is important that the EU directive, which entered into force in 2011, has obliged engine manufacturers to produce their goods in accordance with new standards of energy efficiency. The price of electric energy is constantly rising (price forecasts can be found in the table) leading to higher costs of running a business. By applying modern drives (inverter drives) and highly efficient engines (induction), it would be possible to reduce electric energy consumption which means lower energy bills.  

Is the next step going to be about recycling of consumable tools? It seems so. We know that one can make money on waste. Stone waste, slurry for sure, as a product? For sure it is worth having a closer look at this issue. But first we should inspire scientists working in the field of exploitation of minerals with this. Here we should mention the EU research project on the development of efficient extraction technology (we were writing about Hydrasplit system in our September issue).

Ok then, but how can we summarise the previous year in stone industry? For sure the consolidation of stone branch as well as promotion of natural stone in Poland and abroad is now a reality. The publication by WONASA (World Natural Stone Association) entitled “Do you know” was announced at Marmomacc 2013. They are 10 arguments for choosing natural stone as a material. Another premiere was the publication “Hard Floor Coverings”, which comprehensively discusses advantages of using stone as compared to competitive building materials (for example glass, wood, ceramic tiles). The guarantee of using best natural materials and high quality of stone craft are to be leitmotifs of the new programme concept of EUROROC members (branch organisations). At the meeting in Verona they agreed that this year the logo NATURAL STONE will have a European character. Following initiatives of German stone branch, Polish representatives of stone industry also started to put bigger pressure on Polish authorities to make those that create records of acts favour Polish and, for sure, European stones in tenders.     
 

A granite pyramid, which the authorities of the borough accepted very quickly, is supposed to make the planned park more attractive in the future.

Organisers of International Construction Fair and the authorities of Polish airlines LOT signed a cooperation agreement. As a result of the agreement, LOT has become the official carrier of International Construction and Architecture Fair BUDMA 2014.   

The second edition of International Conference on Stone and Concrete Machining (ICSCM) will take place on 14-15 November. The symposium devoted to stone machining will be organised on the premises of Westfalenhallen Congress Centre in Dortmund.

One thing must be said first. It may be difficult to write a report on the 48th edition of Marmomacc fair (25-28 September). A decade ago the press centre hosted important meetings and announcements. This year only a few companies (sic!) decided to inform journalists about their participation in the fair. Therefore, I guess, having in mind all the participants of Marmomacc fair, the organisers of the Italian event prepared a special application for smart phone and tablet users. This,  sort of, organizer had a QR decoder built into it which was created in order to store all the information “acquired” when visiting stands of stone material suppliers.  

The hosts are strongly emphasising the fact that Marmomacc 2013 has become a kind of cultural centre. Best Communication Award, Marmomacc & Design, INSIDE Marmomacc, Marmomacc & The City, workshops and seminars, finally the performance of a famous figure skater (Carolina Kostner) – it is true that projects and events which attract media to a stone branch event are getting more and more popular. The organisers of the Italian fair are proud of the fact that, compared to 2011, in 2012 the fair was visited by 15,4% more architects. If this year there were more specialists who are not associated with traditionally perceived stone branch, it seems to be a good reason to be satisfied.  

A four-day long event was full of interesting offers presented by over 1,400 exhibitors from nearly 60 countries. The companies from Tunisia, which had not participated in this fair before, joined the group of exhibitors. Companies from Palestine had their big comeback. Perhaps the most important for the prestige of this event is the fact that Marmomacc was the destination for as many as 44 official trade missions. International Exhibition of Stone Design and Technology also hosted presentations prepared by 16 international branch associations.  

Marmomacc 2013 was visited by stone branch experts from 143 countries. The event in Verona was international because of one more reason. The organiser stresses the fact that the number of foreign visitors increased by 6% and they constituted the majority (56% out of 56,000 visitors). The countries which sent the most representatives were, except for Italy, Germany, India, Spain, Turkey, France, the USA, Great Britain, China, Russia and Brazil.  

– The figures of the 48th edition of Marmomacc prove the success of the formula of the event which is based on a unique symbiosis of a business event with cultural-like and educational events – says Ettore Riello, the president of Veronafiere fair.

Ghines Group presented a well-known range of cutters. Diabu Diamantwerkzeuge Diamond Tools advertised a 7,3 mm diameter diamond wire. 35, 36 or 40 beads per running meter of steel galvanised wire are to ensure silent work, smooth start, and, thanks to its advanced technology, fewer vibrations. The novelty product from the last year – Axis discs – was also presented.  

Sorma company, on the other hand, exhibited a range of cutters for CNC machines. They are very popular among customers this year. Nearby, at the stand of Tyrolit company, a whole range of diamond wires was presented. Diamant Board offered wires (diameter: 12 mm) produced in cooperation with specialists from Husquarna AB Group. Dellas company appeared at the fair in order to announce the 40th anniversary of its existence on the market. This global company made important investments on new markets last year boosting its potential in its branches in Spain, Ethiopia, China and Turkey. The company sales in 2012 amounted to 15 million euro.

There were not many debuts at the stands of machine suppliers, either. Simec showed NPS 2200 RX buffing lathe, which has become a very successful model. Popular machines for making mosaics were shown at Ferrari & Cigarini stand. At Thibaut stand we could see the Transformer robot. A competitive solution – Robotool TOP – was presented by specialists from Agut Group & Robotics Italia. Fantini exhibited last year’s novelty product: JCB tractor with a side cutter. Breton presented Combicut, which is a 2-in-1 machine where the head consists of two elements which cooperate with each other: a saw and a water cutting nozzle. Contourbreton NC 300, the successor of NC 260 model, had its debut in Verona. The magazine holds 17+17 tools in NC300K26 model and 31+31 in NC300K40 model. The user-friendly software is based on an open architecture of Siemens Sinumerik 840D SL control system. Our attention was also drawn by CNC machines manufactured by d2 technology, which is a new Portuguese company in stone branch. In Verona they showed Monster 4 TWIN model which is an extension of Monster 4. Other products which attracted visitors’ attention were an automatic bridge saw Tango by Prussiani company or a vertical side polishing machine Verticale by Comandulli.
 

Engravers were shown by Pavoni and Helios. The first one presented the novelty product from Stone+tec fair – the device for making images, but also for drilling, cutting and milling. Competitive solutions could be, of course, found at the stand of ABRA company. Polish manufacturer was presenting the advantages of CNC Tornado.

– Automatic sandblasting table with an additional drilling head and our Photomaster series plotters with new, high quality engraving were very popular among visitors. Cliparts we engraved at Marmomacc fair showed their supremacy over Italian designer machines – said Marcin Mochocki, a sales & marketing specialist.

Finally, the launch of a new product by Fila needs to be mentioned. Among the popular series of agents there appeared Fila PW10 – the based-on-water solution which ensures high protection of stone plotters against moisture. The product is addressed to professionals (it is applied before installing stone elements).

The visit in pavilion 7b was much more inspiring. Flexible stones – this is how we can interpret the idea of 10 designers whose projects were made in cooperation with natural stone specialists. All creators are young (23-28 years old). Interestingly enough, only a few designers from this year’s Marmomacc & Design zone got university education (architecture, industrial design); most of them are visual art and computer graphics specialists. Almost all of them graduated from a Milan branch of the Institute of European Design (IED) where studying is combined with practice at manufacturing companies.   

Those young people’s proposals are worth a closer look. All the authors of the installation decided to redefine a complex stone matter and focused on one thing. The concept of flexibility was the motto: on one hand as an attempt to soften the hard nature of marble, and on the other as a new interpretation of processing technology. The goal: to connect two inseparable features: weight – gravity.  

Let us say a few words about three concepts presented by them. The most surprising one was a kind of manipulation done by Federico Elli. Stone can be soft, too! The design zone was well prepared to produce such an impression among visitors. “Flexible stone” also refers to the new definition of a paving stone. At the entrance there was a carpet made of mosaics which was sagging as the visitors entered because of its flexible bed. For Isacco Mantegazza’s installation (for Margraf company) the size of the hall appeared to be too small. The idea seems to be simple – to place (literally!) a dozen of several-tonne blocks of stone on gigantic pillows; all in a free 287 sq metre exhibition space. We must admit that it was so unusual that attracted the attention of visitors who were bored with walking through the exhibition area. This place became an informal relax zone and was visited by those who wanted to get some shade among stone blocks!

Alice Schillaci commented on it very aptly. The installation was made especially for the fair and the mechanism of the machine was made by Recipient CC. We are speaking about a machine here because its eccentric mechanism made the installation (made of 4 mm thick stone belts) wave smoothly. Swaying of sea waves? Cornfields rhythmically bending in the wind? One thing is for certain: the research and technological development in the last years gives a chance to obtain even thinner slabs. And, indeed, Marmomacc 2013 fair was full of such proposals.

Research, vision, innovation – these most important slogans which decorated an impressive Antoni Luigi's outdoor pavilion perfectly reflect current challenges for stone industry. Numerous representatives from Turkey (44 companies) decided to have traditional stands with marbles and onyxes, sometimes mosaics. But what attracted our special attention were the stands which wanted to satisfy expectations of aviation, boat-building and furniture branches. Willow Center presented its latest achievements in the field of stone veneers. The final product named Tunn Stein® was presented on the board made of natural cork, 2-mm thick stone particle boards were made for furniture production.

– We are working on the technology of making stone composites connected with MDF and HDF boards, steel, concrete… – Santiago Gonzales from the Spanish branch of the company enumerated numerous new applications.

Obviously, designer patterns of granite washbasins attracted many visitors to the stand of the Italian company Scalvini Marmi, but the offer prepared by the German company Quartzform appeared to be a better place for meetings with architects. Sintered quartz specialists are highly engaged in various projects for the needs of catering industry and support, for example, such events as a Restaurant & Bar Design competition.

Lightness – this is what many sectors of economy expect from us. We were surprised with the visit at CEL COMPONENTS stand. In its catalogues we could see a huge passenger plane, a modern train... Well, the company specialises in producing technical stone slabs. The sandwich is, of course, mostly very light and resistant to bending. The face made of stone, the undercoat in a honeycomb structure. In the company's offer we could also find materials for producing light composite materials as well as glues.

Exclusive things of non-daily use were shown in Verona by Luxury Radica. In a special exhibition area, luxury specialists installed … a safe. Thin facades made of stone decorate its interior and head wall – this is something new, because so far carpenters have been responsible for decorating safes. This time this 100-year old company was inspired by the cooperation with Marmo Bruno Zanet. By the way, this well-known stone supplier was present in as many as 3 places, and its boldest projects were announced as stone experience.

Marmomacc 2013, of course, included many more events. The Italians also proved how important the synergy effect is. Academics have been cooperating with our branch for many years, and the projects announced as INSIDE (including urban space projects) are visible effects of this cooperation. Many ideas could be “tested” when taking evening trips. Marmomacc & City include in total 13 points on the map of Verona.

Verona is a great example of a place where economy and culture meet. The potential of stone branch and a fresh look of young people. The exhibition space prepared by stone specialists is more and more often a result of experiments made by experts who deal with building competitive advantage. Every time the main aim is to show the potential of the company.  

– Exhibition space is a very important and effective tool of communication with potential business partners – we could hear at the awards ceremony. Those words referred to the Best Communicator Award. This year's winners are the following companies: Fibra, Scandola Marmi, Testi Group. Special distinctions were given to CO.ME.S, Cava Romana, Tyrolit, Favorita, Solancis, Premium Stone. Besides, the resourcefulness of the following companies was also honoured: Piba Marmi, Promotec. A much more prestigious event, however, during the fair in Verona is the best architecture projects competition involving the use of natural stone.  (szczegóły obok).

At the end it is worth to mention a quite original initiative of the Italian mine. La Terreni & Coa srl decided to promote its quarry taking advantage of the popularity of an Italian edition of “Got Talent” programme. The winner (Daniel Adomako) recorded a video to his song “Per sempre” in the mine and, so far, 20,000 fans have seen his video on YouTube.

The monument shows a huge cross made of white stone with Jesus with chopped off hands on it. The granite monument was revealed during the ceremonies related with 70th anniversary of the massacres of Poles who lived in Volhynia (11 July).

Destroyed concrete cubes and slabs are going to be replaced by a new surface, which is going to be made of granite. Stone and building works at Piłsudski Square will finish by the end of October.