Cultured Marble and Solid Surface Factory Layout        Cultured Marble Factory Equipment            Cultured Marble and Solid Surface Factory Equipment

A well planned factory layout and a good proportional balance of equipment and molds is crucial to establishing a successful cultured marble factory.  A complete system will include matrix blenders, vibrating tables, transfer carts, multi-level storage racks, conveyor lines, scissors lift, floor rails, gel coat spray booth, dust collector and working tables.

Smart manufacturing includes a well planned factory layout and a good proportional balance of equipment with your molds, which is crucial in establishing a successful factory.  A complete system will include matrix blenders, vibrating tables, transfer carts, multi-level storage racks, conveyor lines, scissors lift, floor rails, gel coat spray booth, dust collector and working tables.  We promise to never oversell you or sell you more than you need.  We will work with you and explain the details that will keep you within your budget and yet give you everything you need to manufacture.  For example, a Tilt/rotate Gel Coat Spray Cart is convenient and nice to have but many factories are producing marble with a fixed level cart which costs less than half the price.

The layout below shows the sequence a mold goes through during the manufacturing process and under that are brief descriptions of each piece of equipment.  The manufacturing steps are numbered 1 through 8 in the drawing and the description of each piece of equipment is numbered the same.  Every building structure and every new manufacturer’s requirements are different but you can use this as a general guide keeping in mind that we will lay out your factory to fit your needs, requirements and balance your needs with your budget.


Cultured Marble Manufacturing Equipment Layout


Below are descriptions and photos of the various pieces of equipment.  Having a A factory that doesn’t have a well-designed manufacturing system in place to move the molds through the manufacturing process will end up being as chaotic as a bumper car ring at an amusement park.  This guaranteed chaos will waste time and energy that should go towards producing the products that will make you money.

(Click thumbnails to see larger view)

1. The Set-Up Lines are where you set up and prepare the mold per the customer’s order.  These are also used as conveyor lines to move the molds to the next step.

Setup Line

2. After the molds are set up you will transfer them to the Spray Booth where the gel coat will be applied. There are four types of gelcoat spray carts to choose from. There is a flat, a Tilt, a Rotate and a combo Tilt/Rotate. 

Gelcoat Spray Booth         Tilt-Rotate Gel Coat Spray Cart

3. After you’ve applied the gel coat it needs to partially cure before you can pour on it.  In a cold climate this can take up to an hour but a Gel Coat Curing Tunnel will cut this time in half, eliminate a bottle neck, and keep the production line moving.  If you’re manufacturing in a warm climate a curing tunnel may not be required, but would keep dust and other contaminates from landing in your fresh gel coat.

Gelcoat Curing Tunnel

4. After your gel coat has cured you will move the mold to the vibrating table where the matrix will be poured.  The vibrating table levels the matrix and allows the air inside the mix to rise to the surface.  The matrix is mixed in one of three sizes of blenders; a 150, 250 or  a 350 pound.

Vibrating Tables

5. Once the mold is filled you will move it to a Multi-Level Mold Storage Rack that can be up to five levels high and which obviously stores five times more molds in the same size factory than one that doesn’t have a system.  As you expand your market and your business grows, you will need to add additional molds to your inventory.  Instead of a costly move into a larger building, you can simply slip in another storage rack to accommodate the added molds.  (We keep future expansion in mind with every factory layout we do.)

Multi-level Molds Storage Rack

6. After the marble is sufficiently cured, the mold will be pulled out of the rack using the scissor lift and rolled over to the De-Mold Line where the parts are removed for detailing.  The mold is ready to run through the cycle again.

De-Mold Area

7. Every part you produce will have flashing around the bottom outside edge that will need to be sanded off.  A Dust Collector will contain the dust, giving you a healthier environment and preventing contamination on your freshly gel coated molds.  There are several dust containment systems available including one that will recycle the air inside your factory, saving you substantial heating or air conditioning costs.

Grinding Booth

8. Buffing line. After the product has been sanded around the edge, you will want to look the product over for any blemishes and buff out any imperfections.

Buffing Line 

Densified Solid Surface equipment is also available so if you intend to produce solid surface, visit here.  Much of the equipment is the same so if you intend on producing both, let us know and we’ll do a layout to utilize the equipment for both products without duplication.

 You can see some various size Factory Layouts or Production Lines by clicking the thumbnails below.
To see the list of required Equiptment, Click Here

Layout 1 Layout 2 Layout 3 Layout 4 Layout 5


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