Teamwork and Savvy Judgement Fuel Growth at Premier Surface Design
by Peter J. Marcucci
Photos Courtesy Premier Surface Design
“Build a company on a good foundation. Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.”
Entrepreneurs who follow those two simple adages will almost certainly find success, and Premier Surface Design founder Chrys Bishop took this to heart when he opened the doors of his company in 2014.
Strategically located between St. Augustine, Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida, Premier Surface Design is located in Green Cove Springs, Florida. Nearing its 10th anniversary, the company also has customers in to Daytona Beach, Ocala, Lake City and as far as southern Georgia.
From luxury high-end homes to the smaller, simpler jobs, the company’s current mixed bag includes walk-in residential, big box stores and lots of builders. While developing these markets, Chrys Bishop was able to put his many years of sales experience to good use by growing territory and volume. During this time, however, his three original team members, using only a semi-manual Coch bridge saw and finishing fabricated parts by hand, struggled to keep up with the demand. It was stressful, to say the least, recalled Chrys.
“In the beginning, I was very reliant on every person. If one guy called in sick, I was in trouble, because there were a lot of moving parts to our basic fabrication process! I was ordering material, doing the accounting, checking the templates coming in and checking the jobs going out. Now things are a little bit different. We now have an automated machine-based operation and a team that operates and maintains them. ”
Chrys shares the helm of Premier Surface Design with partners and family – brother Brandon and father Rocky. Along with PSD, they operate sister companies providing cabinetry and windows. This relationship works well, said Chrys.
“If a customer comes in for countertops and needs one of our other services, we have them covered.” It is notable that Brandon came onboard Premier Surface Design a few years ago, and fine-tuned their day-to-day operations, such as data flow through the shop, scheduling and accounting. Additionally and notable, according to Chrys, is that the company is now fully paperless. Basically, if you don’t have a computer where you work, you will have a tablet. This includes all shop personnel. “It’s amazing how this has reduced clutter, increased productivity and modernized our operations,” said Chrys.
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Now approaching their 10th anniversary, the Premier Surface Design shop is located in a high-growth area in Florida.
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Team Safety is Priority
In the beginning, like most small shops, Premier Surface Design was shaping fabricated components using dry cutting and grinding methods. Chrys soon realized this could not continue for long.
“We made a commitment to going fully wet, solely for creating a healthy work environment for our employees, That said, silicosis prevention is a really big thing these days, especially in California, and it’s just a matter of time until there are some requirements and our industry is regulated. How will this be instituted in Florida? I’m not sure, but better safeguards are needed.
“We just picked up a partnership with IKEA and their onboarding process was extensive. We just did a dust test through the University of South Florida. Their people came in and we passed with flying colors. They said that the new laws regarding silicosis and safe fabrication are coming, need to happen, and will happen. So, we know things will change. However, the shops out there that need to change with it, don’t need to go automated. There are a ton of other options.”
Current shop equipment consists of a Northwood dual-table Raptor Sawjet and a Northwood 138 CNC Router, a Park Industries Saber CNC, a Marmo Meccanica LCR edger, as well as their original Coch semi-manual bridge saw. Air filtration and particle monitors are strategically placed, while one 3-axis overhead crane and one jib crane help to keep daily operations safely moving along. The company currently employs 35 direct team members, while nine subcontracted installation crews handle an average of 2,000 square feet of fabrication per day.
The company’s current markets have a strong appetite for quartz, to the tune of 70% of the company’s volume, with Dekton and natural stone rounding out the final 30% of customer-preferred surfacing.
As for turnaround times, jobs less than 100 square feet (custom residential kitchens) are usually installed in 6 working days, while un-mitered jobs over 100 square feet are usually installed in 9 days. Cabinets from sister company Premier Cabinetry, be it custom or pre-made, can also be mixed into a fairly short turn-around time due to the efficiency of both companies and their well-organized team members, said Chrys.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without them. We have a few guys who have been here for eight years, and I have always tried to promote from within. My CAD programmer used to be a cutter, and my big box account manager was a fabricator when he started here. We’ve always done our due diligence when hiring, and we are more like a family than a company. From front office to fabricator, we try our best to take care of each other. Brandon and I could leave for a month, and this company would still run very well with the team and processes we have in place. I can’t emphasize enough the quality of our staff and their commitment to our customers.”
According to Chrys, the company does not advertise, because the majority of their customers are builders.
“When we started, we were strictly residential, but I wanted to diversify between big box, commercial, and low- and high-end new construction. Having a diverse client base is important, because you never know what direction the economy is going to go, and what you are going to gain or lose.
“Big box work is very supplier-driven, and manufacturers like Caesarstone or Cosentino can come in and say, ‘This isn’t working.’ So, you can easily lose this type of work to another fabricator.
“That said, working with residential builders allows for a more direct relationship to be developed. Combining that with pricing and great service makes performing that area of our work very manageable. So diversification is important.”
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Above, Left: Full-size island and glass-fronted display cabinets for a custom builder client. Above, Right: A partnership with sister company Premier Cabinets provides additional high-end services to offer their customers. Below: This spacious main bath features double vanities and custom walk-in / roll-in shower. |
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A Big Difference Where it Matters
“Our company is unlike many others because of our people and the way they handle our customers.
It hurts sometimes when we make mistakes. We are not perfect. Someone is always going to trip-up, but we always do the right thing to satisfy the customer.
Without satisfied customers, you cannot flourish.
“Over the next five years, we want to hire more sales people, be more aggressive, and stay focused on being more efficient and doing better in all ways. We want to build new customers, while still taking great care of the ones who have gotten us to where we are today. We have very personal relationships with these folks, and spend as much time with them as we can.
Right now, my dad is on a fishing boat charter with one of them. Sometimes people lose that ability to stay close, because they are so focused on growth and more volume, and they forget about the customers who got them there. It’s simple and basic and a big thing for us, and we work very hard at doing it right.”
For more information visit www.premiersurfacedesign.com and www.facebook.com/premiersurfacedesign.
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Above: This spacious kitchen features a counter-to-ceiling splash behind the range hood, and custom glass-fronted cabinets. Below: This high-end kitchen installation for a builder partner features a full-slab island. |
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