| Monthly Tech-Tip | Feb 14-15, 2026 - Major Server Upgrade Done | No tracking! No ads! |
It is time to start managing quality control of the clay bodies you manufacture for customers. A good program ensures that your technicians are keenly aware of the variability of material supplies (both in physical properties and simple availability). But your customers are blissfully unaware, all they will see are consistent products because of the compensatory measures you take! These measures are enabled by visibility into clay body properties that only data can give. Structured procedures, a robust code-numbering system and our onboarding help can empower your staff to get started now on accumulating a history of testing data. We are practical. The supplies and equipment you need are within the each reach of any company or even individual. This is not boring lab work, our approach makes it exciting! Your group will be able to track a pipeline with hundreds of specimens going in and analyze a river of measurement data coming out.

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This page is dedicated to the skill and intuition of the Plant Technicians who kept the ceramic industry in North America thriving before the 1980s. Before we started clicking buttons to outsource things. They weren’t “role fillers” supplied by HR, they were “believers”. They understood everything in the plant; the equipment, processes, procedures, materials, recipes, kilns and firing. Managers set the pace, but the technicians made the pace possible. It was a time of local knowledge and company loyalty. They weren't temporary consultants or voices on a helpline; they owned and solved the problems. They were also mentors who passed their knowledge down.
These binders hold 40 years of recipes and techniques, kept by Albert E. Holthaus at Modern Art Products and Tierra Royal Potteries. Men like him were a legacy; they were the true "operating system" of a golden age of independence. They ensured the wheels kept turning, the fires kept burning and the quality kept enduring.
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Setting up a Clay Testing Program in Your Company or Studio
Set up a routine testing pipeline and start generating historical data that will enable your staff to understand your source materials and maintain, adjust and troubleshoot your clay body recipes. |
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