IX World Congress on Ceramic Tile Quality, Castellon, Spain, 12 - 15 February 2006, pp.94-96, (Full Text)
The development of industrial ceramics has spread across the world. Among the leading manufacturers of ceramics, the Turkish ceramics sector holds a position of world wide importance due to both its production capacity and its quality. Even though the world wide prominence and the great capacity of ceramic production; the Turkish ceramic industry has been influenced by the economic crisis. In spite of this, small manufacturers in Turkey have begun to experience the economic crisis in expanded level. As some of these smaller manufacturers began to go out of business, others tried to find a unique design range to make their production a brand name on the market. Those small businesses who rejected standardisation, industrial production and the use of automated technologies, have directed their manufacturing method towards traditional hand-made production. In light of this, the aim of this study is to develop a colour scale using raw glaze recipes for hand-made ceramic covering materials.
The outlines for this work have been determined through the harmony and cooperation that exists between the manufacturer and its associates, who strive for the realisation of this project. One of these companies produces hand-made roof tiles and covering materials and basis its production on traditional pottery making in order to reap the benefits. The starting point for outlining their strategy was to pause technological and sociological movements at a certain point and then to reach the more sophisticated communities by offering a privileged and qualified range of products which moved towards the development of new trends.
Today, the disappearing of geographical and industrial borders make global competition conditions inevitable; within the ceramic industry as in all other sectors. Manufacturing diverse products to address the developing tastes of society creates a solid and distinctive position for the manufacturer amongst his competitors in the market place. At this point, collaboration between the manufacturer and the other professional corporations becomes more important. The manufacturer’s professional experiences amalgamate with reformist visions of educational institutions and enables better management. Finally, this work embraces both scientific qualities and aesthetic issues in cooperation with current trends.
During the initial stages of this study, manufacturers of hand-made ceramic covering materials have been evaluated in the context of global dynamics. The application and documentation stage has been achieved by working within the boundaries of scientific research in laboratory conditions.