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Production Process

Raw Materials

Various raw materials are used in preparing ceramic bodies. The primary components of porcelain are clays, feldspar or flint, and silica, all characterised by small particle size. We like to use tiles that have a super white body, which can be produced only by using superior white clay.

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Clay

A universal component used in preparing ceramics, owing to its extraordinary ease of transformation through moulding and hardening processes. Although there are numerous classifications, the most common classification in the manufacture of ceramic coverings is based on the colour of the body. Red-body clays are characterised by their high iron contents, low melting temperature, and moderate plasticity, whereas white-body clays are more plastic and have no colouring oxides.

Kaolin

Very pure white clay used in preparing porcelain, as it keeps its colour during the firing process. It is more difficult to press and requires a higher firing temperature.

Milling

First, the raw material particles are reduced to the desired size, which involves using a variety of equipment during several crushing and grinding steps in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Milling takes place in ball mills into which solids, water and deflocculating additives that facilitate milling are introduced. The resulting product is known as a slurry. The slurries are subjected to spray drying in a flow of hot air that causes the water to evaporate and the particles to dry yielding particle agglomerate with a very low moisture content and suitable size for the forming stage.

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Forming

Is the process by which the raw materials selected for the porcelain tile manufacturing are moulded. It happens through dry pressing, which is a moulding used in making thin flat pieces with a regular geometry. During the pressing of tiles, several moulds can be used to provide the tile with a specific texture. Most of our manufacturers use the latest KEDA pressers, which gives the tiles a high level of hardness, which makes them more difficult to break.

Printing

Inkjet printing is a digital printing technique in which the glaze is sprayed on the body by means of injectors containing different inks. The design is transferred to the body without any contact and the technique allows unlimited configurations to be realised. Additional techniques can be added in this step to provide more texture in order to achieve superior and realistic results.

Our manufacturers including our own brand are using those techniques with the latest Chinese and Italian printers. We have a standard of 12 channels and can print from 400 DPI to 720 DPI, which is the highest industrial standard in the world.

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Firing

Firing is the most important manufacturing process stage, because, when the semi-hardened elements travel through the kiln, they undergo fundamental transformations in their physico-chemical properties. The processed pieces are subjected to a high-temperature thermal cycle up to 1300 C. The length of the kiln can be more than hundreds of meters. Our manufacturer uses natural gas, which not only is environmentally friendly but provides a very high stability in temperature, which makes tiles much more conform with eliminates bowing or other tile deformations.

Polishing

During this process, the surface of tiles is polished with special brushes to achieve one of several possible looks. Matt or honed tiles are also polished but to a lower level than polished tiles. Two layers of anti-dust nanolayers are added to avoid impurities in the glaze of the tile. Our manufacturers can polish up to 3000 mesh, which gives a reflection degree of up to 95%, the highest industrial standard.

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Rectifying

This edge treatment makes sure that all tiles are of the same size. Wet diamond cutting techniques provide extreme accuracy and therefore rectified tiles can be put with very small grout of 3mm or less. The very thin grout line makes for an almost seamless look. For larger tile sizes, this process is even more important as the imperfection will become more obvious. As our manufacturers produce very large sizes, excelling in control of the rectification process is of immense importance.

Quality Control

At the very last step of the manufacturing process, the highest standard of quality control is crucial. For our manufacturers, it is not only important to pass the international industry standards. Each of our factories has established our own standards that greatly exceed the industry ones. Approximately 95% of all tiles that are being manufactured get the First Grade (First Choice) label. Kaolin is only importing First Choice.

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Warehousing

Our own brand Guanxingwang has an Artificial Intelligence storage for up to 1 million sqm. That highest level of innovation allows superior accuracy, speed and efficiency during the logistic process. This also means that likewise for our other manufacturers, stock for most items is available when you need it, which decreases the lead time for our clients.