Ceramics & Porcelain
Ceramics & Porcelain: production orders and BOM, stock and warehouse, quality and reporting.
Challenges
- Body and glaze recipes are unrecorded, so colour and pattern drift from batch to batch.
- The kiln firing cycle is not tied to the batch, so crack complaints cannot be investigated.
- Firing shrinkage is not taken into account, so dimensional tolerances are missed.
- First- and second-quality goods get mixed in the same stock item.
Workflows
From body preparation to forming
- Body and glaze recipes are defined with their raw-material ratios.
- The forming work order is opened with its mould and target dimensions.
- The shrinkage allowance is written into the recipe and the green dimension is set accordingly.
From firing to quality grading
- The kiln cycle is written to the batch record with its time-and-temperature curve.
- Output is stocked separately by pattern series and quality grade.
- Second quality is linked to its own price list and shipped separately.
Documents
- Body and glaze recipe
- Forming work order
- Kiln cycle record
- Quality grade and pattern series slip
Reports
- Kiln cycle by batch
- Quality grade distribution
- Shrinkage-rate deviation
- Stock by pattern series
Metrics
- First-quality rate
- Kiln cycle time
- Shrinkage-rate deviation
- Cost per square metre
Compliance
- CE declaration of conformity for construction products
- Industrial emissions and energy-efficiency records
- Food-contact ceramics regulations (for tableware)
Glossary
- Body recipe
- The bill of materials that holds the raw-material ratios
- Glaze
- A surface-coating component with its own recipe
- Shrinkage allowance
- The field that defines the gap between green and fired dimensions
- Pattern series
- A mould/pattern group tracked as a product variant
FAQ
Can I standardise the body and glaze recipes?
Yes — each is defined as its own bill of materials, and every batch is produced to the same ratios.
Can I tie the kiln cycle to the batch?
Yes — the time-and-temperature curve is written to the batch record, and the cycle is reviewed when a complaint arrives.
Can I factor in the shrinkage allowance?
Yes — the shrinkage rate is defined in the recipe, and the green dimension is planned from it.
Can I sell second quality separately?
Yes — the quality grade is managed with its own stock item and price list.
Can I track the pattern series?
Yes — the pattern is defined as a variant, and stock and sales are reported by series.
