ZerO-Fault products with automated CNC machine

“Onix Group” Sh.P.K. is a specialist company in cutting, shaping and finishing marble, granite and quartz. The company owner, who has been in this business for more than 20 years, decided to open this company in 2008. Since then, Onix has been producing fine natural stone products, including countertops for kitchens and bathrooms, wall cladding, flooring, tabletops, staircases and other ornamental decorations. The products are sold to national and international markets, mainly to the private homeowners, but also to construction companies.

The Onix name already stands for quality. However, to further improve the product quality, to reduce and/or eliminate production faults and thereby increase its export potential, the company decided to invest in new machinery that supports this improvement programme.

With the help of the Kosovo SME Competitiveness Support Programme, the company purchased and installed new CNC equipment and relevant integrated software for professional cutting, shaping and finishing of stones. Moreover, the company invested in the construction of a new production facility that houses the new equipment and offers more storage space for raw materials (marble and granite slabs) and finished products. The new building also contributes to the quality improvement goal, as it protects materials and products from exposure to the elements.

Onix Group received free technical assistance to optimize its investment project and a 15% cash-back grant after the successful project verification, funded by the European Union.  

Apart from the enhanced quality aspects, the new machinery also improves Occupational Health and Safety by using computerized directives for cutting and shaping of the stones, reducing the manual intervention and thereby decreasing the possibility of injuries. The computer integrated processes of the new machine vastly increase the preciseness of cutting and finishing, delivering zero error product.

With the investment, the company now meets a wide variety of European standards, including:

• Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on general product safety.
• Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste.
• Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast).