The Client Organisation
A major international sanitaryware manufacturer having manufacturing plants in many countries worldwide.

The Project
To visit one of the client's principal manufacturing facilities to review all aspects of glaze manufacture and application.

The Objective
To identify the types of faults found in the fired glaze surface and to establish their causes. To make alterations and improvements to the overall glaze system, to minimise these faults and their impact on the quality and yield of the fired pieces.

The Approach
A step by step appraisal was made of the system, including

• Raw materials
• Glaze recipe
• Milling
• Rheology control
• Spraying technique and glaze thickness
• Firing cycle and kiln atmosphere.

A continued liaison was maintained after the visit to manage the introduction of the recommended improvements.

The Result
Significant improvements have been obtained by:

• Adjusting the raw material particle size to minimise the 'crawl' fault.
• Improving the glaze rheology by the independent control of glaze viscosity and drying rate.
• Maintaining the set rheology by the use of biocides, to achieve constant spraying characteristics.
• Alter the robot spraying cycle to achieve the correct sprayed thickness.
• Propose alterations to the firing cycle to achieve better bubble clearance at the peak temperature.