After much preparation, CMS recently opened its new showroom in Caledonia, MI, and held a grand opening to introduce the new display area to its customers on July 31 and August 2, 2019. The 30,000-square-foot showroom, which includes 13,000 square feet for equipment demonstrations, will allow the machine manufacturer to educate its customers on its technology.

“The opening of the showroom was in response to show the technology in action,” explained Chris Nesbit, national marketing manager. “We will continue to bring machines to trade shows, but our customers need to see them year-round. [Also], we want to show that we have machines for several different sectors.”

CMS made significant accommodations to its warehouse space to prepare the new showroom.

“Waste water trenches were cut into the floor like a stone fabrication shop,” said Nesbit. “We want the machines to run like they normally would in a customer’s shop.”

At the time of the open house, CMS was debuting its new Sink Crafter machine, which was built in North America. “It’s the first of its kind, built right here in North America,” said Nesbit. “It’s very cost-effective and built with all CMS components.”

The new showroom also had the first Formax belt-fed bridge saw machine brought to North America. “It’s a completely automated beltline bridge saw,” explained Nesbit. “It’s about 65 feet long and has the ability to integrate loading and unloading robots. It’s incredibly exciting for the stone industry.”

Overlooking the display area, which is complete with 15 machines, is a new conference room. “We decided it is better suited to show off the showroom,” said Nesbit. “We plan to hold technical and informational webinars.”

CMS is committed to training its customers. In addition to webinars, the new showroom is set-up to bring customers in for training on the machines. The company also offers technical phone support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Besides the showroom, CMS is now utilizing its warehouse to stock machines for sale. “This is a newer practice for us at this scale,” said Nesbit. “We also have 30 to 40 shipments of spare parts going out a day. Storing [products] at our facility is a way to shorten our lead-times.”

The open house also included 10 sponsors, as well as representatives from the Natural Stone Institute, which provided an opportunity for attendees to speak with these industry-leading companies and learn about their products and services. The event concluded with a customer-appreciation dinner on the second night.

“We were very pleased with the turn out to the event,” said Cevin Moberly, national stone sales manager. “It was an excellent chance to showcase a broader view of what CMS has to offer. We are working hard to find more automated solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”