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IPS Cares #2: Helping Others Be Greener

Posted by Tom Evans on September 2, 2019

IPS Ceramics believe that it is our collective duty to look after our planet and are dedicated to leading by example on this front. To this end, we’ve produced this series of news stories looking at how we’re working to be more environmentally conscious and how we can help the industry – and your company – be greener too.

Our last post discussed what we’ve done in the office to be more environmental. This post will look at two case studies showing examples of when we’ve worked one-on-one with our customers to make their set ups greener and more efficient.


Example 1: Silicon Carbide Kiln Car

IPS Cares #2: Helping Others Be Greener IPS Ceramics

[Picture 1: IPS Ceramics’ Silicon Carbide Kiln Car for Heath Ceramics]

Heath Ceramics is a renowned Californian manufacturer of trendsetting dinnerware and tiles. They wanted to increase their production capacity, planning to buy a new kiln. IPS Ceramics USA, our American subsidiary, had a more cost-efficient and greener solution though – a compact Silicon Carbide kiln car capable of holding a much higher volume of product.

Two kilns would have meant double the emissions produced by them and double the resources required to run them (as well as double the production costs). By making a kiln car that could fire more product at once, we avoided this situation. And because the same amount of energy was being used to fire more product, each individual product took less energy to make, making them that little bit more environmentally friendly.

Our kiln car increased the customers’ product capacity by 45% while reducing their energy consumption, a result that we’re both deeply proud of. It’s proved so successful that the customer has since ordered more silicon carbide cars with plans for even more in the future. By going the extra mile and keeping the environment in mind, you can create new systems which outperform all others.

You can read more about our work with Heath Ceramics here.


Example 2: Lightweight Cranks

IPS Cares #2: Helping Others Be Greener IPS Ceramics

[Picture 2: IPS Ceramics’ Lightweight Cranks, part of our Kiln Furniture range]

Steelite is an award-winning tableware manufacturer whose products are available in over 140 countries. They commissioned us to redesign their kiln furniture and increase their production capacity.

Our solution was to move them from single-deck firing to multi-deck by introducing lightweight cranks to their processes, maximising their kiln fill. This came with all the environmental benefits mentioned last section, but we didn’t stop there. The design also featured new base plates which were easier to handle, and we made it so that its height could be adjusted based on the requirements of each firing.

As we’ve found in the past, being greener usually comes with a wide range of benefits outside of its environmental impact. If seen as an opportunity to refresh your business, becoming green can offer benefits which go way beyond your expectations.


IPS Cares #2: Helping Others Be Greener IPS Ceramics

IPS Ceramics have Sales, Technical and Design teams who can boast a collective 250+ years in the ceramics industry, making us experts on getting the most out of your equipment and process. To find out how we can work one-on-one with you to increase your production capacity and green credentials, please feel free to get in contact with us.

Don’t forget to watch out next month for our third #IPSCares post, highlighting other services we use to be green and can immediately offer to you. It shall be posted on our news page, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.