Blog
The Art of the Office: Redesigning the IPS Conference Room
Posted by Tom Evans on 27-07-2021
As Covid has moved people away from face-to-face meetings and towards the conference call, we decided that our Conference Room needed jazzing up with a new feature wall. Here’s the story of how we performed that jazz. Origins IPS offers conference calls to all our customers, using Zoom, Teams and other platforms, allowing us to directly communicate with them no matter where they are in the world. Due to the pandemic, these calls have never been more frequent. The view…
IPS Ceramics Awarded ISO 9001 Re-Certification
Posted by Tom Evans on 20-07-2021
After a recent audit by Lucideon CICS Ltd, IPS Ceramics have passed re-certification against the ISO9001 standard. ISO 9001 is the recognised national and international quality standard consisting of multiple Quality Management System standards designed to guarantee the consistency of a product or service, thereby ensuring that customer requirements are always met or exceeded. 2020 was a challenging year to maintain business processes, however IPS Ceramics was recently audited by Lucideon CICS Ltd (perhaps the premier ISO 9001 certification body…
A Brief History of Saggars
Posted by Tom Evans on 28-06-2021
Put basically, the saggar is a deep ceramic box used in industrial applications to hold materials or items while they’re being fired in a kiln or furnace. While they can look relatively simple, the saggar was one of the first items of kiln furniture ever invented and has been through many ups-and-downs during its long existence. We’re here to pay tribute to the elder of the ceramics world and take a look inside the saggar. The Early Age (Pre-1700s) The…
The Red Street Condors: Kicking Up a Storm!
Posted by Tom Evans on 29-04-2021
With lockdown in the UK beginning to ease, many local activities are starting up again. Hitting the ground running are the Red Street Condors, the local under-12s football team sponsored by IPS Ceramics. The Red Street Condors are a local football team for children under 12 based in Chesterton, Staffordshire. Since the lockdown restrictions have been eased, the Condors have played three games, winning two (5-2 and 3-2) and drawing one (3-3). It’s not just these victories providing the team…
Furnace Equipment for the Efficient Creation of EV Batteries
Posted by Callum on 07-04-2021
The race is on to reduce the price of electric vehicles (EVs). In November 2020, the UK Government announced its plans to accelerate a greener transport future through a two-step phase-out of petrol and diesel cars to be enacted by 2035. Joe Biden’s presidency – still only a few months old – has also announced a range of green policies including the replacement of the 645K federal vehicle fleet with electric cars and an increased level of funding for green…
Tungsten Carbide: Metals and Ceramics, Working as One
Posted by Tom Evans on 31-03-2021
Strong and dense, you’d be forgiven for thinking that tungsten carbide is a metal. In reality, it’s a metal/ceramic hybrid, combining the properties of metals and ceramics into a material suitable for the toughest applications. Tungsten carbide is a chemical compound made by reacting tungsten metal with carbon. Pure tungsten metal has excellent heat and corrosion resistance but is soft enough to be cut with a hacksaw. By introducing carbon, you greatly increase the hardness until it’s almost as hard…