Changing a raw material supplier sounds simple until you think about what it touches. The new material has to behave like the old one in your mixer, on your coating line, or in your kiln. Your quality team needs time to approve it, your purchase team needs a fair price, and your production team cannot afford a week of rejected batches. That is why many plants stay with a supplier they are...

If you have ever held a plain white dinner plate and wondered why some feel silky and bright while others look dull or slightly grey, the answer often starts with the clay. Among all the raw materials in a ceramic recipe, china clay has the biggest say in colour, surface finish and how a piece behaves in the kiln. And not all china clay is the same. The way it is processed, especially through...