Top Spanish Firm Packs Technology, Craftsmanship to Offer Unique European Artistry in Bronze

Nov. 25, 2002

ALCOY, Spain - Francisco Jorda Fornes personifies a company that prizes traditional craftsmanship as much as high technology. The third-generation technical director of family-owned Bronces Jorda, Europe's leading manufacturer of bronze memorial products, stakes his firm's future on these two, often conflicting, qualities. "Who says you can't have fine artistic products made by craftsmen with generations of experience that are manufactured by the most modern methods?" says Fornes.

Bronces Jorda was started more than 60 years ago by Fornes' grandfather. The family tradition of artisan bronze casting began with Fornes' great-grandfather a century ago. Bronces Jorda now is among Europe's largest and most advanced bronze manufacturers. The firm's sprawling plant at its headquarters in Alcoy, Spain, on the Mediterranean coast, annually produces more than 250 tons of bronze emblems, vases, crypt plates, lamps, frames and statuaries crafted by sculptors for private and community mausoleums and memorials throughout Europe. Bronces Jorda also produces 90 tons of stainless steel and 200 tons of reconstituted marble products a year.

"It is not necessarily difficult for us to produce a new artistic good," says Fornes. "Our region has many talented artists," he explains, referring to the land that has produced such painting and sculpting greats as El Greco, Francisco de Goya, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro. "To make articles in large quantities without each good losing its artistic quality is much harder," says Fornes. "You can only do that through many years of experience with technical capabilities supported by the most advanced machinery."

The productivity and efficiency achieved in the plant is astonishing. Less than 80 hands manage the operation with 400 machines in a stadium-sized 178,000-square-foot plant. Bronces Jorda fabricates more than 3,500 different types of models every year. These are made from more than 18,000 different pieces. Some 50 new models are made and 30 old products redesigned - 80 new casts in all - every year. Bronces Jorda manufactures bronze using the processes of lost wax casting; sand casting; and on a much larger scale, die casting, which incorporates sophisticated bronze injection technology. The injection machines are fed by robots. Edges of cast articles are cut and shaped by lasers. All products, from casting to polishing, are tracked by a bar code system.

People will notice the variety and detailed artistry of the products, especially the statuaries that are fabricated with a bright gloss developed from a proprietary powder-coating process. "This kind of contemporary and traditional European artistry in bronze memorial products was never widely available in our market until very recently," says John Mattke, vice president and general manager of the Cold Spring Granite Co. Cold Spring Granite, a leading granite and bronze memorial manufacturer based in Cold Spring, Minn., signed an agreement in April to exclusively distribute Bronces Jorda products in North America.

Mattke says the partnership will significantly diversify the range of bronze offerings in the North American market. "Cemeteries and monumental companies now can have high-quality European bronze products that can resonate stronger with certain religious themes and meet the varied preferences of families and congregations."

Bronces Jorda products will be distributed through the national network established by Granit Bronz, Cold Spring Granite's bronze memorial and community mausoleum company. Bronces Jorda products will also be available through Royal Melrose Granites, Cold Spring Granite's monumental company. "We are facing a new trend in the industry," says Mike Baklarz, senior vice president of the Cold Spring Granite Memorial Group. "Bronze emblems, vases, lettering, lamps, plates and statuaries, such as those manufactured by Bronces Jorda, will increasingly be used for more memorials, including flat and upright markers, crypt fronts, private estates and community mausoleums."

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The Cold Spring Granite Co. is a leading manufacturer, designer and distributor of granite and bronze products. The Cold Spring Granite Memorial Group offers the broadest line of memorial products, including upright monuments, flat markers, cast bronze and granite bases, urns, columbaria, community and family mausoleums, benches, and specialty cemetery features. For more information, visit www.coldspringgranite.com.

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