Wednesday, May 16, was a day to remember for RG Commercial. In fact, a team of employees, led by owner Giorgio Negri, was invited to visit the headquarters of one of the most important British manufacturers and distributors of porcelain and vitrified ceramics: Churchill China.
After a reception, both logistically and in terms of hospitality, that was simply perfect, our tour started from the showroom, which was impressive and full of new products, from cutlery to the buffet line, passing through the colorful and trendy Stonecast line.
THE PRODUCTION PROCESS (1)
The second stop, the one concerning the production process, was certainly the most impressive.
A company employee-with the invaluable support of one of Churchill's two Italian Business Development Managers, Giuseppe Piraino, our point of reference for the whole day-guided us to discover the 'secrets' of the birth of the products, starting from the first stage, that is, the arrival of the raw material, from which the water is subtracted to start being processed. Huge 'sausages' are thus formed, which by special (and very expensive) machines are cut and pressed onto a series of carefully and preliminarily selected molds; the waste material is constantly set aside to be reused.
The plates are then baked in an oven for about twenty minutes and cleaned through some sort of sandpaper; they then pass through a machine capable of producing four different references from the same line. Once a special trolley of 'cookies' is totally filled, they are sent for thirty hours in the oven at a temperature of up to 1100°C. The robots are used only for certain shapes and are - among other things - responsible for placing the Churchill seal of approval on the back of the plate.
THE PRODUCTION PROCESS (2)
The alternative-for products such as teapots, sauce boats, and cups-is manual pouring; depending on their size, these are filled and placed in the oven. There are workers who finish and clean them, others who do quality control, and on and on it goes. What impressed us most is how everyone makes themselves useful in a specific task, from laborers to actual artists, such as those who affix paint and decals before the product is put back into the oven for about an hour and a half.
Still a separate discussion deserves the handles, which require simpler processing and by casting. For a true 'factory within a factory,' the cups are instead fired only once, for about six hours. Particularly impressive to us were the quality control steps-the workers are in fact able to detect any imperfections simply by a discordant sound from the usual-and the painstaking making sure that the ready-to-pack products are absolutely intact.
TRADITION AND INNOVATION
Having concluded the visit to the production side, it was the turn of the 'social' side, starting with YouTube clips from the company's official channel about new trends in matching products with food and the environments in which they are placed.
Indeed, the Stoke-on-Trent 'factory' is constantly trying to transfer the most current trends into its creations; those of the immediate future are considered to be related to natural colors, vintage and industrial styles, all within the digital age. To address the world's leading culinary schools, Churchill also takes cues from the world of clothing. After thinking about and making the product, there are of course those who see it as vessel and container; hence Obsession, a competition of skill among chefs tagged and sponsored by Churchill herself. Not only Instagram, now the social media of choice for chefs: the British company does not renege on tradition, also entrusting its communication to a six-monthly magazine.
THE BUFFET LINE
One of the trendiest lines is definitely the Buffet. David 'Dave' Hubszer, the product development manager (or perhaps it would be better to say magician:-)), thus explained to us all the possible combinations of a series of products; a colleague, on the other hand, showed us the most interesting novelties, always under the banner of Stonecast. From the colorful and attractive showroom to the creative and fascinating marketing department; here we were asked to view and evaluate new lines and trends, both in colors and possible new decors.
WAREHOUSES AND BRITISH PRIDE
The final part of our visit took place inside the two warehouses, through the
dozens of aisles, the thousands of pallets and the millions of pieces ready to be sorted around the world; under the banner of a system that minimizes both the time to find products and the risk of the wrong ones being distributed, but above all, of security at the highest level. As at the highest level is also the specialization and professionalism in this area, with some note of color given the magical period for the United Kingdom, between the birth of the 'little prince,' the Royal Wedding and the World Cup, to which the English national team presents itself (as always...) with very high expectations.
For an enjoyable day, to say the least, in the name of hospitality and competence; after all, it can't be a coincidence that the history of Churchill China began in 1795 and has continued, and continues to this day, through a series of successes and innovations, always keeping up with the times.
Photo credit: Nicola Negri.