14 minute read
ISFA Fabricator Profile: Eastern Surfaces
By Sarah Peiper
With a remarkable legacy spanning more than four decades in the surfacing industry, Eastern Surfaces has left an indelible mark on the hearts of thousands of satisfied customers in and around Allentown, Pennsylvania. Eastern Surfaces believes that every countertop they create is a work of art that deserves attention to detail and precision. Their commitment to excellence shines through each project, elevating spaces and enhancing the lives of those they serve. Their dedication to their craft extends beyond aesthetics; a commitment to quality, reliability and a customer-centric approach has earned them the admiration of their clientele.
Getting Started: From Tile to Slab
Brian Rocca grew up in the surfacing industry. It was when his family’s tile business started getting requests for countertops that opportunity knocked. “We knew nothing about it,” recalled Brian. “We outsourced to other fabrication companies to complete those jobs. When I saw that the demand was growing, I recognized pretty quickly this was a viable business.” Brian did some research, purchased some equipment, and launched Eastern Granite and Marble in 1998.
Despite the growing popularity of granite, solid surface was still the predominant material for countertops, so Brian partnered with another fabricator who specialized in that material. By 2007, it made sense to merge the businesses, and that’s how Eastern Surfaces came to be. “The solid surface fabricator had contracts with Home Depot, and I had contracts with Lowe’s,” added Brian. “He has since retired, but together we had a good foothold on the home center market.”
In addition, what Brian captured from his family’s tile business was an aim to build great relationships within the kitchen and bath, builder and commercial segments. “I had a deep understanding of how to thrive in those markets by providing superior products and services. It was a terrific foundation that we still build upon today.”
In 2008, Brian acquired the office and manufacturing facility they’re operating from today. Since then, Eastern Surfaces has grown to include a second location in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that serves as a sales and slab viewing location.
In the Shop
Today, Eastern Surfaces has a staff of about 130 across all departments, and they fabricate stone, marble, quartz, ultracompact, porcelain and solid surface. The team is completing an average of 40 jobs per day, primarily kitchens. The company has a shop for solid surface and a separate stone shop. They’re running an impressive suite of machinery, including a Fusion CNC sawjet and two Fastback edge polishers from Park Industries, two Robo sawjets from BACA Systems, a Comandulli Omega line polisher, three Intermac CNCs, a GMM bridge saw and a Turrini water treatment system, to name a few.
In 2008, Brian acquired the office and manufacturing facility they’re operating from today. Since then, Eastern Surfaces has grown to include a second location in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that serves as a sales and slab viewing location.
Brian says he is always looking for opportunities to improve efficiencies and provide more value to his customers. “When it comes to porcelain and ultra-compact materials, we try to nest those jobs together to optimize machine time. These materials are more time-consuming; they require different blades, speeds are different — there’s a technique to it.”
Eastern Surfaces has been fabricating Dekton for nearly 10 years, and their fabricators were instrumental in testing fabrication methods and determining best practices. Brian says it’s still challenging but the material and tooling manufacturers have been terrific resources. “It was a lot of trial and error initially, but we’ve figured out what works, and the material has improved over the years.”
Today, most of Brian’s fabrication team is accustomed to working with multiple materials. “We still do a fair amount of hand fabrication, so we will continue to invest in equipment to help us streamline. We have a lot of seasoned, experienced fabricators who do outstanding custom work. But at some point, those folks will be looking to retire. Specialized equipment and machinery are more important than ever.”
Efficiency and accuracy are cornerstones of Eastern Surfaces’ approach to the work. The team of 11 templaters uses Laser Products Industries’ LT-2D3Ds, and the sales teams use Moraware with integrations such as Job Well Done, DataBridge and Slabsmith. They’ve been using it for 20 years; before that, they were scheduling on a whiteboard. They’re looking at other solutions as the industry advances and new technologies emerge. “With this kind of volume, it can be a challenge to keep things organized, so we’re looking at new solutions to help inside and outside sales,” added Karen Kuranda, sales and business development manager.
For tracking the heavy machinery, Brian is implementing Amper, a solution that centralizes insights and provides holistic management tools to help review performance, communicate and execute smooth operations. “We need our equipment to run as much as possible, so if something is down, we need to understand why it’s not running.”
Brian says doing the research is one step that should not be missed when implementing equipment and tech solutions. “Talk to other fabricators who are using them. That’s how you’ll get the most accurate feedback and understand how these solutions can augment and improve your workflow. The equipment always works in theory, but it might not work for you in practice. And it’s always a good idea to bring your maintenance crew in at the beginning to ensure they understand what it will take to set it up and keep it running.”
Brian retained an agency to help build the company’s website, which includes a blog, video library, slab inventory, news, and information to help educate the customers about materials and the fabrication process.
Brian adds that training and preventive maintenance are critical. “These are big investments; they can make or break how your shop operates.”
In the Marketplace
Eastern Surfaces’ market is 85% residential and 15% commercial. They serve five distinct market segments: kitchen and bath dealers, home centers, builders, commercial and retail. They have a dedicated team for the home center segment and account managers for the other channels, but they all work together because there is cross-function. “In the end, they all need to get on the schedule,” added Brian. “Across all those market segments, they have to understand where the crews are traveling to minimize drive time and keep things efficient.”
Karen says that providing a well-rounded suite of materials gives Eastern Surfaces a competitive advantage. “There are about 30 fabricators within our area that fabricate stone, but the solid surface shops have dwindled,” she clarified. “We’re one of the few fabricators in our area that works with that material.”
Cosentino’s Dekton and porcelain continue to rise in popularity among their customers; it was Eastern Surfaces’ biggest growth segment last year, especially for cladding jobs like fireplaces, fullheight splashes and shower walls. They’ve also had some increased demand for solid surface in the residential market. “Typically, we fabricate solid surface for commercial projects like schools and hospitals, but there has been growing interest with consumers, particularly those homeowners who are new to the material — they weren’t around when the material was first popular.”
Dramatic materials and warmer tones that tie into design elements like wood tones and painted cabinets are trending,” she added. “Although quartz remains popular, there is a renewed interest in natural stone, especially quartzite. Our customers see these beautiful materials in magazines and on HGTV but aren’t necessarily aware of the performance properties. Our salespeople continually work with kitchen and bath dealers to educate the customers. We have to make them aware of the options so they can decide on the best material for the project. People often come in looking for a specific material, but when we give them that context, they often go with something else.”
“Quartzite as the example: You have to manage their expectations, that they’ll have to seal it and maintain it to some extent,” she said. “We have our customers sign a document that acknowledges that we’ve made them aware of the benefits and drawbacks of the materials. We want people to be happy, so we must give them the knowledge to make an informed decision.”
Upselling is an essential part of the company’s sales process, and it augments its singular focus of delighting the customer. Eastern Surfaces offers additional services like sinks, faucets, cleaners, polishers, sealers and maintenance services. They also provide mapping, which enables the customer to see precisely how the slabs will be used in the project. “We want to maximize each selling opportunity by providing customers with a vast menu of great products, convenience and amazing customer service,” added Karen.
When it comes to marketing and advertising, Eastern Surfaces has been around long enough to bank a lot of happy customers, so good old-fashioned word-of-mouth brings in a lot of business. Past that, they have excellent branding across their fleet of vehicles — practical billboards, Brian calls them — and Karen leverages targeted digital advertising campaigns to reach new customers. She also runs advertisements in local high-end lifestyle magazines that hook into remodeling.
They retained an agency to help build the company’s website, which includes a blog, video library, slab inventory, news, and information to help educate the customers about materials and the fabrication process.
Company Culture
Eastern Surfaces prides itself in how it treats its employees, which then trickles down to how they treat the customers. “Even though there are 130 employees, I try to know all of them,” he added. “Some have worked in other shops and had negative experiences there. That context can be toxic if you don’t realign their experience and create a more positive environment. It’s all about communication, setting expectations, being transparent and providing the resources they need to help them develop their skills. They want growth opportunities.”
They have training programs for all departments, and Brian has toyed with the idea of creating a classroom for templaters and installers. “With how the labor market is trending, it will be important to be our own trade school in the coming years. Many of our managers and expert fabricators have contributed to the knowledge base. Anytime we have an issue, we document it and how to improve it. There’s such a wealth of knowledge — decades of experience — and you must capture it.”
In addition, Brian has brought in Synchronous Solutions to help with organizational structure and alignment across the company. “The whole goal is to have everyone focused on the same goals — to streamline customer service, production and profitability. We all have active projects that are in alignment with the company goals. These projects are communicated, and their progress is measured. Our employees have great improvement ideas, but we haven’t had a means of hearing them. This system provides us with a way to communicate throughout the organization.” Brian says he’s had good buy-in from the staff. They understand the focus and how they will get there as a team. “Everyone plays a part. Through this process, well, it feels much more like a well-oiled machine. It’s exciting.”
Brian also provides managerial coaching to those who are rising in the ranks. “In the past, we have promoted people because they were the best at their job, and we expected them to train the others to do the job like them. Often, they were not trained on the skills required to manage people, so now we make sure to provide them with the training they need to do that effectively.”
“The ensemble of people here is an extremely talented group. Once you’re here, you can’t imagine being anywhere else,” added Karen.
When it comes to safety, Eastern Surfaces stays proactive. Brian relies on the managers to enforce the company’s safety policies and suggest improvements. “Safety is a major component of our meetings, and we regularly communicate best practices to our teams. We emphasize the importance of safety, not just for them but for the people they are working with.”
Nearby Indiana University of Pennsylvania provides a consultation and training resource for OSHA compliance, and Brian brings them annually. “They do a full inspection. While they’re not OSHA, we must fix any issues they find as a result of the inspection, or they’ll report us for noncompliance,” explained Brian. “Our fabricators wear air testing devices for respirable crystalline silica, which are shipped out for analysis.” He’s considering adding medical testing to get a baseline. “It’s important to our employees and their families to know they are working in a safe environment and that we support their well-being.”
Staying Connected
Being part of and supporting industry organizations has always been important for Eastern Surfaces. Brian is a member of the International Surface Fabricators Association, the Artisan Group, the National Kitchen & Bath Association, the Natural Stone Institute and the Rockhead Group. “Being part of these associations provides access to shared resources, knowledge and expertise. There are a lot of brilliant people in this industry, and the ability to exchange best practices has been a huge part of our success,” he explained. “Membership also offers the advantage of being part of a more extensive collective voice. Today, this is more important than ever. With some of the challenges we have, specifically silica, it will take everyone sticking together and supporting these groups to be our voice. We have to work together to drive the industry forward in a way that benefits us all.”
New Horizons
It’s clear that Eastern Surfaces has positioned itself for growth. Brian wants to expand and believes he has managers in all the right positions to keep going. “This industry continues to evolve and will be different in five years as we embrace learning, changing and evolving.”
“The best advice I can give others is to build your people, systems and processes so your business can run efficiently and support growth. It’s a puzzle; the most satisfying parts are when people are working together and figuring it out.”
Learn more about Eastern Surfaces at www.easternsurfaces.com.
