The Fireclay Tile team recently had the opportunity to visit Kelly Moore Paint in San Carlos, CA. Just like so many people think all tile is made abroad, we thought the same of paint and we were surprised to find one of the most successful paint manufacturers so close to us in the Bay Area. After visiting the Kelly Moore website, we disovered that not only do they manufacture locally, they are also known for having one of the most sustainable plants in Northern California. We thought Fireclay Tile had a very sustainable manufacturing operation, though aftrer our visit to a true expert we realized we have much to learn!
Kelly Moore's plant manager, Keith Hussinger, was kind enough to invite us for a visit, so the entire leadership team and manufacturing managers joined Keith for an inspirational tour of Kelly Moore. But first, a bit of history from the kelly Moore website:
History:Kelly-Moore is one of the largest employee-owned paint companies in the United States. A leader and innovator of waterborne coating technology, Kelly-Moore was the first major paint company to offer recycled paints along with the large selection of colors and decorative sheens. Trusted and preferred by professionals since 1946 as the “Painter's Paint Store” for its high quality, performance and consistency, Kelly-Moore's paints are safe and easy to use for everyone. Kelly-Moore has three strategically located, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in key markets: San Carlos and Sacramento, Calif., and Hurst, Texas (outside Dallas). Its reputation for quality products is unsurpassed in the industry. The company produces some of the most technologically advanced paint products and sets the industry standard for new product development and quality control. Kelly-Moore has over 150 retail stores in seven states: Arkansas, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington. Kelly Moore has 1,500 employees.
Sustainable Manufacturing: Its main environmentally friendly manufacturing facility in San Carlos is the recipient of five widely recognized green business awards from the State of California and San Mateo County for outstanding efforts to reduce pollution and solid waste and conserve water, energy and other natural resources. California is well-known for having the toughest regulations and inspection processes in the country. Kelly-Moore is proud to have received prestigious awards including the 2009 Large Green Business of the Year award by San Carlos Chamber of Commerce and it is a San Carlos Certified Green Business, California State Assembly.
The Tour:
Keith hosted 5 of us on a full 1.5 hour tour of the Kelly Moore facility. Here's a photographic recap of what we learned!
Air Compressor: Keith pointing out a new air compressor system that has saved the company a tremendous amount of energy. He said it had a 40% per year return on investment! This proved to be a common theme in our tour - Kelly Moore has recently invested a lot in new manufacturing technologies to reduce energy consumption and save money!
Raw Material Storage: We were so impressed by how clean and well organized everything at Kelly Moore is. Their raw materials are extremely well kept, seperated by material, all clearly labeled on pallets. It gave all of us a good idea of how a larger company manages raw materials.
More raw material storage. Not a speck of dust on the floor...literally!
Paint Mixers: Keith next showed us mixing vats. These each hold something like 55,000 gallons of paint. Many of these vats are new and recent purchases, and Keith credits this investment in better vats as allowing them to keep up with the development pace in the paint industry for more eco-oriented paints.
Paint being mixed live!
Super Sacks Recycled: We learned that Kelly Moore recycled everything, or everything that they can. An example are super sacks, which they keep well stacked and organized to be used later. Ramiro, our Factory Manager, was taking a lot of notes at this point!
Signage and Quality: We saw many examples of signs like this throughout the factory, speaking to Kelly Moore's values and history.
Quality Control: The QC department at Kelly Moore checks each and every paint made across a huge number of variables. This ensures that every batch made meets their very strict quality standards, and there is a team that is solely responsible for this.
Stocking Colors: Something interesting about Kelly Moore is they are one of the only paint companies to make stocking colors, whereas most other paint companies use pigments you mix in the paint store. By making stock colors like this, Kelly Moore ensures any paint you buy from them today they will make exactly the same way in 5, 10 or 20 years. Their paint never goes out of style!
Technology: This is another example of technology at work - each valve directs what paint ingredient goes where
Waste Watre: Kelly Moore reclaims all water it uses to clean its paint mixers. This is a huge initiative for them, and one they have received tremendous recognition for. These vats of waste water then get used when making the next batch of that same paint color, also saving them money. Each waste water vat is labeled by paint color, and organized perfectly just like everything else at the factory.
Waste Reduction: Keith told us that in the past 6 years they have reduced their garbage by 85%! That is incredible. They actually were smart enough to go find other local companies to retool their machinery to reprocess and recycle some of Kelly Moore's waste. Unbelieveable smart!
Inventory Management: Kelly Moore recently went through a large Oracle implementation and they can now track each and every paint can throughout its entire operation. It is truly impressive.
This was a picture of the damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake at the Kelly Moore paint factory. Literally paint everywhere!
Dust Collector: Kelly Moore replaced a HUGE dust collector with one much smaller shown here. This had huge economical advantages, as well as environmental for its staff.
Robotics: Keith pointed out certain robotics that Kelly Moore had spent about $1.5M on. He said in its first year the new "toys" saved them $1.3M, not even counting the safer work environment for their staff.
Robotic arm at work lifting paint cans and pallets.
Paint fill line.
The Kelly Moore facility is carbon neutral. Very impressive!
That concluded our tour, and as you can see it left us with a really tremendous impression of Kelly Moore, their paint, and their commitment to a better environment. As a small manufacturer, Fireclay Tile has a lot of work to do to keep up wtih larger companies, but seeing Kelly Moore thriving while doing the right thing gives us even more motivation to keep making improvements.
Next time you are looking for paint, we highly recommend Kelly Moore Paint!
Today I had the opporutunity to visit with one of our favorite customers. What was different is that this customer serves food - and the food is quite delicious. I'm talking about The Melt, one of the hottest restaurant concepts of 2011. Started by Jonathan Kaplan of FlipCam, The Melt's goal is to be the premier quick served grilled cheese and soup destination. After my experience today, I can say they are well on their way. Plus, we love The Melt because they were our first customers of our new glazed thin brick line (Launching January 2012)
1) FAST SERVICE: For a holiday week in SF, it was super crowded, but the line moved really quickly and very efficiently.
2) COOL ORDER SCREEN: After ordering, we saw our name show up on their "order board" which was super cool and something I'd never seen in a restaurant before. We knew exactly when our food would be ready!
3) SODA FOUNTAIN: I love a good fountain soda, and The Melt's fountain soda machine is totally unique and serves delicious Diet Coke.
4) GLAZED THIN BRICK: We may be biased, but we think the glazed thin brick in The Melt looks spectacular!
Fireclay Tile's Toilet Recycling Inspires Other Manufacturers
Last October we announced a new post-consumer porcelain recycling effort in collaboration with the Zanker Road Landfill and Recology of San Francisco. It was covered by NPR's Morning Edition, and for awhile it was the talk of the town.
Earlier this month as we were scanning through the latest edition of Architectural Products and caught a glimpse of our new Crush Recycled Glass Tile, we were thrilled to see a blurb about Crossville and a new effort they have with Toto to recycle pre-consumer toilet manufacturing defects. Check it out here:
We love this about our industry and about the role that Fireclay Tile plays. Though we are a midget next to Crossville and probably the size of an ant next to Toto, here we are, a small tile manufacturer, inspiring the largest companies to think differently about their waste stream.
We might add that a big difference is that Fireclay is using post-consumer waste vs the pre-consumer waste that Crossville is obtaining from Toto, but regardless it is a step in the right direction.
Here is a look at the toilets direct from the landfill we are using.
Recently Fireclay has started recycling other scrap materials that we were previously unable to, such as bisque fired seconds from all our ceramic lines, allowing us to replace a grog ingredient that we now never have to again purchase or ship. Another great example of how environmental initiatives not only help the planet, but also help the bottom line!
Last week we had the honor of attending the opening launch party for Ciao Bella Gelato's remodeled Ferry Building location in San Francisco, CA. In the Spring Ciao Bella solicited Fireclay Tile for the backsplash tile, focusing on Fireclay's huge range of bright, vibrant colors. This is what they came up with!
We are so thrilled with how it turned out! Using a combination of 36 colors from our Debris Series Recycled Tile line (and 3 colors from our Vitrail Series), Ciao Bella designed a backsplash that emulated its brand perfectly, highlighting bright, beautiful colors, just likes its delicious gelato.
You can read more about why Ciao Bella chose Fireclay in this great blog post here.
To check out some Fireclay Tile for your own backsplash, consider ordering some samples!
Last week Eric Edelson, Fireclay's VP and Co-Owner, was quoted in the small business section of the New York Times. Receivables are a big issue, especially for a small business, as your cash becomes tied up in your customers' hands, and there is a fear that you may never actually see the pay off for all your hard work. At Fireclay, we had an issue of people not paying us on time, and over time those customers' ability to pay wained as their business faced new challenges. By tweaking a few internal processes, we were able to realize substantial improvements in cash flow just by more tightly controlling our customers' terms.
Ultimately, this has allowed Fireclay to be a better partner for our customers, and for our relationships to be stronger with customers than they were before. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Eric @ fireclaytile.com.
Fireclay Tile was honored to be highlighted in the July 27, 2011 "Workplace of the Day" section of the Wall Street Journal. Basically, the WSJ looks for different types of businesses with the goal of featuring the interior spaces so folks can see what it's like to be in the workplace for a day. Check out what it's like at Fireclay each and every day!
We are so excited to announce a wonderful collaboration between Fireclay Tile and New Avenue Homes, a Northern California start-up that finances and builds backyard cottages and second units. A fantastic new concept being led by Kevin Casey, when New Avenue went to look for surfacing material partners for its kitchens and bathrooms,we were so happy they found their way to Fireclay Tile.
The idea behind New Avenue Homes is that home renovations and additions are expensive. At the same time, many homeowners have unused land and would like to create additional living space, either for friends, family, or perhaps additional rental income. Though the idea of modular homes has been tried numerous times with so far little success due to the financial costs and scale, New Avenue’s model of modular cottage homes makes perfect sense, both financially and aesthetically.
Debris Series Recycled Tile in 2x8 Coral and Crush in .5x8 Rail Forget Me Not (27)
Kevin and the team at New Avenue Homes have made a smart decision to focus on environmentally friendly cottages, with everything from power, to sewage, to building materials. They chose Fireclay’s Debris Series Recycled Tile and our new Crush 100% Recycled Glass Tile for both their beauty and sustainability, and for their first two homes Fireclay’s Design Specialist, Amie, came up with an eye-catching mix of ceramic and glass tile colors that carried through New Avenue’s desire for a natural looking surface.
Crush in 3x6 Freesia (16) in Matte and Gloss with Debris Series Bamboo Matte 4x4
“I chose Fireclay Tiles for several reasons. They are beautiful, high quality tiles that have a fantastic natural look. Fireclay Tile is also a domestic company focused on sustainable manufacturing through great recycled product lines and low environmental impact processes. As a company their values matched the values New Avenue Home stands behind and very simply their tiles are stunning.”
– Kevin Casey, Founder New Avenue Homes
Today, New Avenue unveils The Home of Innovation - The central home for the Pacific Coast Builders Conference. The home is sponsored by GE, New Avenue, Southern California Edison, Apple and many others, and it is located inside the Moscone convention center. This home is open for three days - Wed June 22 through Friday June 24. To register for your free pass go to www.pcbc.com/go/freepassand at check out, use discount code newavenue.
Inside the Moscone Center you will also find the San Jose Clean Energy Showcase Eco House - A model of sustainability and energy efficiency. This modular home is located in front of the main entrance to Moscone Center on Howard Street (at 3rd Street and Howard in San Francisco). This home is open for four days – Wed June 22 through Saturday June 25. Tours are open to the public, with no registration required.
Also be sure to check out Kevin Warnock's blog highlighting the cool journey of these modular homes from San Jose to San Francisco.
New Avenue makes it possible for every homeowner to turn their house into two homes so they can share their lives with family and friends or earn additional income. Backyard cottages and second units are one of the the most sustainable, convenient and enjoyable ways to live. For a free consultation or to learn more visit their website: www.newavenuehomes.com or email them at: info@newavenuehomes.com
Every once in awhile we get emails from folks looking for help in all kinds of things. Recycling, manufacturing, possible partnerships, etc. This week I received an email from an amazing woman named Victory Ground about her and her non-profit pottery studio, Old Town Artisan Studio.
Her email referenced some marketing initaitives that Fireclay Tile employs through Salesforce.com, and she mentioned that she was struggling to launch Salesforce.com and get an email marketing initiative off the ground. This is a common problem in our industry - amazing artisans are doing amazing work, yet finding it challenging to employ modern technology to enhance their business.
After spending some time looking into Victory's company, I felt compelled to share it with our friends:
Many of you already know that Fireclay TIle has recently been trolling the Bay Area for recycled porcelain to add to our Debris Series Recycled Tile. Sunset Magazine learned of this initiative and decided to highlgiht us in the backpage of the March issue. Beyond being an absolutely beautiful magazine, we were thrilled they wanted to feature us and the Zanker Road Landfill, pictured above where we get most of our recycled porcelain.
To read more about our porceliain recycling effort click here.
The Fireclay Tile Boneyard gets to see its fair share of local Bay Area artists. Many of these are mosaic artists interested in finding beautiful tile to use in their designs, but sometimes we get an artist of another medium scavenging the yard for the perfect material to complement one of their other works. Over the past few weeks, we've been fortunate to get the chance to meet a local metal sculpter, Hardy Jones.
Hardy found Fireclay as most do, through Google and searching for local tile. We were lucky to strike up some conversations with him, and discovered his passion for sculpting and using locally scavenged recycled materials, something you all know we at Fireclay LOVE! After checking out Hardy's website we were floored not only at his story - a successful orthopedic surgeon turned metal creator - but also his works, over 30 of which are displayed in public areas in and around Silicon Valley.
From his website: Hardy Jones sculptures are whimsical and alive. Welded from scrap metal, old tools, and found objects, each sculpture is as unique as its parts: a 1952 Buick steering linkage, old farm equipment, truck and railroad yard fittings. With their metal parts rearranged and welded together, creations come to life--reborn as dancers, animals, or warriors, inspired by the exciting discovery of some new found art treasure. (see sample)
Most sculptures are one-of-a-kind, although themes run through Jones's work: dancers, angels, shamans, fish, horses, and occasionally giraffes, dragons, cats and dogs. Sizes range from a one-foot baby alligator to monumental. Jones, retired from his career in orthopedic surgery, now joyfully devotes his energy to art and sculpture. His passion for found art spans 25 years, and sculptures number over 200 in private collections in California, throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico. His works are recognized in public locations--including city parks, restaurants, and a variety of businesses--throughout Santa Clara County
Circles in Motion
Magic Fish
The Wedding
Junkyard Dog
These are just a few of our favorites, but we highly encourage you to check out Hardy's site at http://www.hardyjones.com to learn more about him.
Hardy, good luck with the tile project, and keep up the great work!
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