Campbell: Terry, everyone's just finished providing a little background information on themselves in relation to their involvement with waterjetting. Why don't you bring us up to speed on how you became associated with waterjet technology?

Alkire: I started in 1985 with flow international, basically doing its international, non-European stuff up there in Seattle, WA. A year later, I had the chance to come over to Europe and spend five years developing relationships with a lot of flow's Italian customers. We had just started pushing stone cutting with waterjet from our European offices, starting in 1986 or 1987.

By the time I returned back to corporate headquarters back in 1991, we had sold a couple of machines-not a whole lot. Just a few early pioneers that picked up stone cutting.

Then, by the time 1 can1e back to Europe again in 1993, stone had become a significant part of flow's market, and since that time that market has grown to become 30% to 40% of the business that we're doing right now.

Roughly six months ago, flow decided to appoint various product managers from different places within the company to handle special applications and I was the lucky guy to get stone and tile, so here I am.

Campbell: Great! Glad you made it!

Alkire: Thanks.

Campbell: The first question I threw out to everyone, which tom was commenting on, was: why has waterjet cutting come so far, so quickly? Tom, if you want to finish up, go ahead.

Roundtable Conference: Waterjet Technology - Continued

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Now, seven years later, we're running 14 machines, two shifts, for projects ranging from hotels to malls to residences.

My experience with architects and most design types is that almost every single one of them can conceive of something they can do with a waterjet. Whether their visions can be realized is another matter, but they can at least conceive of something they can do with a waterjet in stone or ceramic tile or in many other materials for that matter.

There really is no other technology that can do the varied and the detailed work that waterjet can do. That's why I think it's popular and becoming even more so.

Ferguson: Harri's right on, of course. The technology is really access to something else. What it really is is that the excitement can be seen. It's a sort of magic and people are realizing that they can do something to stone that could not previously be done. So the next step is to figure out how to present-.

Conference call operator: I’m sorry to interrupt. Mr. Alkire is being added to the conference.

Campbell: Welcome Terry.

Terry Alkire: Hello.

Campbell: I’m sorry you got cut off, Tom, just let me backtrack quickly here.

Ferguson: No problem.