MGroup™ Announces a New Supply Chain for Quartz Countertops

Commencing January 1, MGroup™ will produce all quartz slabs and fabricate cut-to-size orders in countries other than China, for US domestic projects. Quartz slab production will come from low cost resources, primarily in Eastern Europe, providing a high quality, relatively low cost source. Currently the quartz slabs are being made exclusively for MGroup™ in Europe on Breton production line equipment with an additional Breton line being installed presently, for production of additional slabs anticipated in early 2019.

Production of international orders, which are not affected by the current Political Administration’s biased anti-dumping actions, will continue to be produced in our Chinese facilities.

It is important to note that this new supply chain for quartz provides Quartz products for the hospitality and time share industry, with no anti-dumping and no increased tariffs or duties. This product meets all current Brand Standard specifications. MGroup™ is in position to take orders immediately and offer shipments without any delays caused by Chinese New Year. We’ll be fabricating primarily in Eastern Europe, right through the normal CNY break, providing an additional service advantage to our clients.

While we anticipate that this announcement will meet with an influx of orders, please note that existing MGroup™ customers will receive priority consideration for both estimating and production slots

MGroup’s™ Manufacturing & Product Development team has been working tirelessly to provide a workable solution to the disruption caused by the Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties and Tariffs decisions recently put into place. These absurd and punitive measures have created an unusual ripple through the hospitality market. The disruption caused in the construction supply chain for the hospitality industry has been major. It has taken some time to manage this chaotic situation, but we are very excited to announce a new supply chain for quartz countertops that provide the answers to your concerns regarding:

- - Consistency of supply
  - Matches to Brand Standards programs
  - Budget friendly
  - Reasonable Delivery dates
  - Purchasing from Mstone™ a well-known entity
  - No additional duties or tariffs
  - No impact from Absurd Anti-dumping actions by bloated and over-costed domestic resources

As we developed this new supply chain, one fact remained clear. No one country or region was going to replace the capacity of the Chinese supply chain. MGroup’s™ new supply chain solution recognizes this important fact. A viable “village” type of approach to the creation of a new supply chain had to be undertaken. With patience and a hands-on process, we have researched and explored the options and I am pleased to share then with you now.

MGroup™ has re-positioned the supply chain for quartz from a China-centric to a Euro-centric model. As many of our clients may already know, the Mteriors™ brand has been producing case goods and seating in Eastern Europe for three years and this area is very familiar to us. We know that this region has low cost and high quality, coupled with a highly productive work force. For MGroup™ customers, this supply chain will offer the most consistency of product availability, quality, fabrication and timing to job site of any model we reviewed and considered.

High quality product and a normal delivery date to job site maintaining our current goal of 10-12 weeks was a critical driver in this supply chain decision. And high quality, as good or better than what we have supplied in the past, was a critical factor for success.
Pricing, always a factor, is competitive. The balance of good delivery, high quality, consistency at a competitive price will drive orders to MGroup™.

Most fabrication of countertops and furniture table tops will be provided by resources in Eastern Europe. The primary fabricator is a Baltic team operating from an ISO 9001 certified facility. Our MGS QA team has recently spent a considerable amount of time in this facility setting up the process last week and I have also inspected the facilities, noting MGroup’s™ reputation for our industry leading “feet on the street” hand’s on approach to supply chain management, that has served us so well. In researching our need for capacity to meet the needs , we anticipate adding additional fabrication in this region to take advantage of the relatively short carbon footprint of moving product through the supply chain, a major consideration today.

We also have inked an agreement with an Indian resource to provide for lower cost and budget production, and also for the critical needs of additional fabrication capacity. This source is in India and will provide much needed back up as we anticipate our solution will be very well received by the market and increasing Group’s market share. Our MGS QA team will provide oversight in this facility. Due to the added time for shipping, Indian fabrication will average 12-14 week delivery, on average.

The new supply chain addresses critical client needs in filling orders for brand standards countertops currently in the pipeline. Going forward, there will be an additional announcement from MGroup™ in the coming days that will introduce a new and innovative product that will tap into our existing Chinese supply chain, its factories and production, its experienced productive labor market and management experience and use the same team that has been with MGroup™ and Meridien for the past 17 years. We have filed for patents on a new product development effort that initial testing shows will provide a product that is as good or better than quartz from a specification and performance standpoint. We anticipate this new product to begin shipping late second quarter of 2019.

Thanks for being patient with us as we have crafted what we believe is the best alternative supply chain available in the market.

Please do not hesitate to contact MGroup™ at info@mgroupcorp.com or 706.350.4300 for additional information. We are ready to meet your quartz countertop needs, in addition to your shower/tub surround and millwork requirements.