Quartz countertops on time, perfectly cut, tariff-free less money
Services:
Product Design
Manufacturing (Cut to Size Countertops)
Logistics
Sector: Hospitality Commercial
Purpose
To significantly speed up delivery times on the cut to size process and reduce material, labor costs on quartz countertops by prefabricating the product abroad. To evade the recently imposed 25% tariffs and 300% anti-dumping penalties imposed on Chinese Quartz.
Client Profile
Fairfield Inn by Marriott is a low-cost, economy chain of hotels that are franchised by Marriott International. The properties are geared towards guests requiring a place to sleep with fewer amenities, thus allowing Marriott to offer lower prices than would otherwise be possible. This is accomplished via cost-saving measures, such as consistent building architecture, and bedding, and the omission of a full-service restaurant.
Project Scope
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for engineered prefabricated quartz stone countertops, especially in the hospitality and multifamily sectors. With US labor costs on the rise, it is becoming too expensive for US stone fabricators to fabricate large volumes of countertops locally. In addition, purchasing quartz slabs through local distribution channels also adds a significant amount to the final costs. To make things worse, recently, the Trump administration imposed a 25% percent tariff on all Chinese quartz imports. In addition to the tariffs, Chinese quartz manufacturers lost an anti-dumping lawsuit and were heavily hit with up to 300% in penalties. This posed a significant problem to Marriott and other large hotel operators who have a significant amount of new and remodel construction projects in the pipeline specified with quartz.
Challenge
To manufacture 437 kitchen and vanity countertops, eight different layouts, with high-quality non-Chinese quartz surface in a two month period.
Solution
At CodeStones we created a user-friendly turnkey platform that saved Marriott time and money by simplifying the labor/detail intensive cut-to-size process from start to finish. Our innovative technology kept all users (architects, general contractors, interior designers, and manufacturing teams) to stay organized and in synch by the use of digital shop drawings. Digital shop drawings are stored on the cloud and allow users to instantly view all key data pertaining to each prefabricated countertop such as stone type, location, color, exact measurements, edging details, and hole cutouts.
Furthermore, we added an extra layer of technology to speed up the approval process. With e-signatures, all parties were able to approve shop drawings literally on-the-go.
Last but not least, we applied our patented smart icon floor plan technology to organize and streamline the installation process. By the simple click of a button, installers were able to identify the exact location and match each type of countertop. Thus, saving significantly on time and labor hours.
Our innovative turnkey solution coupled with a state of the art manufacturing infrastructure and highly skilled labor in India allowed us to save our client (Marriott Hotels) time and money by delivering high-quality quartz stone countertops in record times.
Attained goals:
High-quality quartz, Precise fabrication, Easy workflow, On-time, Tariff Free
For additional detail please contact us: info@code-stones.com