Stone People: On Wisconsin! (And Other States, Too)

However, because of the extensive area the company serves, not everyone is working out of the Fond du Lac facility. Ten years ago, when AMC opened its doors, the company began by focusing on kitchen-and-bath dealers throughout a wide area that now includes all of Wisconsin, the upper peninsula (UP) of Michigan, portions of eastern Iowa and Minnesota and, most recently, northern Illinois.

As that has prospered, the company has further reached out to cabinetmakers and contractors. However, the real prize for AMC has been contracts with both Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Click photo to enlarge“What really made us consolidate our service everywhere in this state and in the Upper Peninsula are the contracts with Home Depot and with Lowe’s,” Mendez says. “For instance, we’re in the UP because there’s a Lowe’s in Marquette, Mich. There’s also another home-improvement chain up there that goes all over the area, and that gives us the opportunity to knock on doors.”

Working with kitchen-and-bath dealers miles away from the Fond du Lac facility isn’t that difficult, either, she says. One big advantage is the line of Cosentino products the company represents, which includes not just Silestone, but Sensa® granite and ECO™. Because of the nature of the products, their appearances don’t vary much from slab-to-slab, and it’s easy to provide sample boards and display towers to AMC’s customers.

The same holds true with other lines the company also fabricates, including Vetrazzo® recycled-glass product and Caesarstone® and LG Hausys America’s Viatera® quartz surfaces. (AMC also offers sinks and faucets.)

“They have tangible samples to show people, because our suppliers work with us on display programs and samples,” Carmina Mendez says. “A lot of them also like showing clients our catalog on the Internet.”

Mendez adds that the company also will fabricate granite materials besides Sensa, although that becomes more difficult for clients trying to pick slabs.

“When it comes to the unbranded granites, it’s very difficult to get samples,” she says. “That’s where the dealers will rely more on the Internet. We don’t have those slabs on our website, but they go to our suppliers and see their inventories.”

From there, the process is fairly straightforward. AMC handles the templating, fabrication and installation. The company’s goal is to install new tops in two weeks or less, although that doesn’t always happen.

“We’re occasionally caught off-guard,” Mendez says. “All our suppliers are taking much longer to fulfill their orders right now, which is actually great news. Nobody was expecting such a good, decent spring.”Click photo to enlarge

The company has both templaters and installers located in strategic spots around its service area. All the templating is done electronically, although she says not everyone uses the same technology. The main advantage, of course, is its convenience.

“It’s also more-accurate,” Mendez says. “Plus, there’s a little show about it. The customers like to see how these things are done, and it gives a high-quality installation.”

NO FEAR

The idea of a templater or installer as a showman isn’t common in the industry, but Mendez says the crews that go out from AMC are just that – all in the name of customer service.

“Of course, their craftsmanship is very good, but they also dress very professionally for our customers and they put on a little show of covering the floors and cleaning up after themselves,” she says. “And, all our crews carry electronic tablets, so that everyone can see our calendar and they can attach the signed customer approvals and waivers.”

The electronic tablets go a long way toward keeping everything flowing smoothly. Remote crews come to the shop usually twice a week to pick up jobs, with schedules and communications being done on Moraware Job Management Software’s JobTracker.

“We’re trying to be as paperless as possible,” says Mendez.