The International Surface Event (TISE) brings together thousands of fabricators, suppliers, and technology providers to talk shop, literally. We spent the week connecting with countertop professionals from all over to hear what’s working, what’s not, and what’s coming next.
If you missed the show this year (or got caught in the winter storms), here’s a quick rundown of what we saw, heard, and shared.
Slab Scanners Are Picking Up Steam
Interest in slab scanners was high again this year, with more options on the market and more shops looking to digitize their inventory workflow and reduce the footprint of slab cameras in the shop. The scanner options people were exploring included:
- Horus’ Iris Scanner
- Park Industries’ SlabVision
- Stone Vision, partnered with SlabSmith
- Plus, a new scanner coming from Better Built Machines (BBM)
For shops already using Moraware to manage inventory, the biggest news: slab scanner integration with Moraware is coming soon! You’ll soon be able to import slab images and meta data directly into Moraware. Want early access or get updates? Join the interest list here.
Learning From Fabricators to Modernize Shops
Beyond tech, TISE continues to be a place where fabricators learn from each other. Many of this year’s conversations centered around:
- Education to implement silica safety best practices and understand legal challenges
- Improving shop efficiency to navigate slowdowns in the construction market
- Modernizing shop operations with water systems, shop automation, and reducing mistakes
The energy in these sessions reinforced that shops are looking for real strategies to stay lean and competitive.
Our Favorite Part? Talking with Fabricators
The best part of TISE for the Moraware team was meeting with 100+ fabricators face-to-face. Whether you’re a long-time Moraware customer or just getting started, these conversations help us understand your goals, and how our tools can better support you. Here are just a few of the themes we heard from fabricators (beyond that they loved the custom fabricator forklift Lego set).
Maximize What You Have
One of the most common themes we heard: shops want to get more out of the tools they already have.
That’s music to our ears. We loved helping fabricators discover underused features, troubleshoot roadblocks, and brainstorm better ways to use Moraware across their teams. If you didn’t get a chance to meet with us at the event, our team would love to help you explore your current process and get more out of Moraware.
👉 Book time with our team to explore how you can get more out of Moraware.
Digital is the Future and Fabricators Are All In
Fabricators are going more digital. They want to reduce manual work, connect their tools, and run their shops with less chaos.
The new map routing enhancement (launched in December) got great feedback, and we’re excited about the upcoming scanner integrations with inventory in Moraware. Huge thanks to everyone in our early access programs. You’re helping shape tools that work better for everyone.
Learning Never Stops
Fabricators at the front of the industry never stop looking for new ideas, learning new skills, and strengthening their team. They are looking for what works best in other shops and easy ways to train their teams. If you are not already on our list to receive educational resources, now’s a great time to join. We’ll send updates about new features, webinar invites, and helpful tips to get more from Moraware.
👉 Sign up for product updates here.
Have questions or want to share what you’re working on that is working well in your shop? We’d love to hear from you. Until next year, thanks again to everyone who stopped by the booth. We’re grateful to be part of such a strong, forward-thinking fabricator community.
