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The annual trip provided fabricators with insight into the various areas of Italy's stone industry
For over seven days, more than a dozen fabricators from all over the U.S. traveled to Italy to learn more about the stone industry. The Stone Fabricator's Alliance (SFA) put together for the sixth year an educational tour to give fabricators insight to areas of the industry they may not know about. Checking in and out of hotels each night, traveling several hours a day on a bus, fabricators from shops big and small were able to visit quarries, slab processing plants and machine manufacturing shops.
Hosted by Tenax USA, located in Charlotte, NC, the trip started in Florence, Italy, with a day and a half to get into town and explore the city - taking in the sites and appreciating the stone that has been standing for more than 400 years.
"Tenax is committed to being a true friend to the stone worker," said Josh Parker, marketing coordinator for Tenax. "That means that it is in our company values and DNA to promote stone and the stone industry worldwide, being a true source of knowledge for our customer, and to help them solve their problems. We want to spread culture in the U.S. by teaching to a relatively new industry how to develop and prosper by learning from the Italian culture where stone has been used for thousands of years in constructions and buildings. The SFA needs a true partner that can share its worldwide expertise, and we need the SFA to prosper in the U.S. market. It is a truly win-win situation that enriches both parties and helps the overall stone business."
First day
The first day of vising companies started with Henraux's factory and quarry, located in Querceta, Italy. Henraux, first started by Jean Baptiste Henraux, is located in the Carrara region of Italy and has been established since 1821. The tour started at the base of the mountain where Henraux processes its blocks and cuts them into slabs. Gianluca Buschi of Henraux walked the fabricators through the factory, giving them time to ask questions on how the plant worked and letting them examine every aspect of it to learn more about the process.
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