A&R Countertops: Writing the ABCs of Success Wichita-based A&R Countertops is a small fabrication shop that isn’t afraid to think big. Owner Andres Banuelos has leveraged industrial robotics technology to increase his shop’s output by more than 650 percent in less than a year. A&R Countertops has been in business since 2005. “We started out doing everything by hand, with rail saws,” Banuelos said. “We’ve grown quite a bit in the last few years.” Before moving into granite and quartz fabrication, Banuelos specialized in producing Corian countertops for homes, but he became dissatisfied with the material’s longevity. He began looking for more durable alternatives and moved into manufacturing granite and quartz countertops just as their popularity began taking off. “We just ended up going from there,” he said. “I want to provide a great service and great quality and be able to put my name behind it and feel comfortable at the end of the day that we did our job and made a customer happy.” As the years went by, Banuelos began researching ways to improve production efficiency. Using rail saws for fabrication were time consuming and wasteful. “It took me quite a while to be confident to pick the machine I wanted to have for our production needs” he said. “I looked at many CNC saws and many different saw jets all over the place. We were looking for something I could jump into full-force and put it into our production without having to hire expensive operators for programming.” After researching the best fabrication options, Banuelos invested in a BACA Systems Robo SawJet, which couples the functions of a high-pressure abrasive waterjet and a 20HP direct-drive saw with a precision KUKA Robotics industrial robot, in January 2016. “While shopping around and listening to other people talk about their operations, the main thing I heard from shops that used a CNC saw was that it was broken down …again,” he said. “With BACA, there is virtually no maintenance and I was much more confident about the durability of the machine.”
Increased Production Buying the Robo SawJet has helped keep A&R Countertops in the top of its market, he said. “Before having our sawjet, we were only able to complete about one to two kitchens a week. Now, we’re cutting a kitchen about every hour and installing about 15 per week,” he said. “Being able to use the waterjet to finish off the cuts allows us to nest parts tightly to maximize our material, and we get about an extra two slabs on average per bundle we go through.” The investment in the Robo SawJet has more than paid for itself since it was installed in January 2016, Banuelos said. “Just in hours alone, it has helped streamline our process by allowing jobs to get through