MicroMilling

French and Spanish speaking islands as well. We are looking for strategic partners in a lot of those islands - Martinique, Guadeloupe, Domini- can Republic, Haiti, Aruba, Curacao - those plac- es where we don’t have a real presence yet. And finding the right partner in those places would be really beneficial to us. I would be happy to speak to anybody that thought they had some- thing to offer us in terms of their relationships and networks in those places.” Micro Milling would also like to penetrate a much bigger market: Jamaica. “Jamaica has some of its own thin set manufacturers, so it’s difficult to break into the islands that have their own manufacturers, in terms of price,” de Verteuil laments. “When you start to ship these heavy products, it adds a lot of cost. Ocean Freight between the islands is also very expen- sive. That’s what makes it hard to compete.” De Verteuil admits that he also has to com- pete against foreign products, even in his own country. “Trinidad has always had a mindset that foreign products are better and we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that we meet all Amer- ican and international standards, and that we can compete with foreign products on quality and price.We’ve done a good job over the years in convincing the population of that and now, we are the preferred brand. So, we need to translate that across the other islands.” Key to Micro Milling’s commitment to quality is its constant attention to the continuing edu- cation of its workers. “Education is going to be key for us, going forward, in terms of training our re-sellers and tilers, not only about our products but also best practices in the tiling industry,” de Verteuil says. The company held its first training workshop a few years ago, hosted by the National Tile Contractors Association, Inc. (NTCA), the largest tile contractors association MICRO MILLING, LTD. in the world, with over 1,000 members. One thing that will, no doubt, continue is Micro Milling’s focus on quality. “In our type of business, when it comes to plants and ma- chinery, upgrades are a constant thing; always on your mind,” he states. “Anything to improve your processes, or better your service toward your customers – it’s an ongoing thing.We spent quite a bit of time, effort, and money setting up our own internal lab a couple of years ago. It has all the latest equipment ca- pable of doing all the tests related to all the standards that our products meet. Usually, what companies do, is they send their products to the [United] States – there’s a place called the Tile Council and they test for ANSI (Amer- ican National Standards Institute) standards. This process could take up to three months before results are received. But we do all our own testing.We do send it to the States to be verified that our tests are correct, but that is a large part of ensuring quality for us.” So, while the economy in Trinidad is not as healthy as some would like, Micro Milling Ltd. is staying the course by expanding its staff and focusing on extending its market reach, while still maintaining the same high standards of quality that has made the company the num- ber one supplier of thin set and assorted plas- ter and concrete mixes on its home island. PREFERRED VENDOR n Republic Bank Limited www.republicbarbados.com