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A near textbook case of engineering ingenuity and
collaborative expertise led to the creation of the Whiteware Research
Center. In late November 1993 Buffalo China, Inc., a western New York dinnerware
manufacturer, suddenly was hit with catastrophic loss rates in its cup
production line. Handled-hollowware fabricated in Mexico and shipped to Buffalo
for decoration was cracking at a tremendous rate following glazing. Literally
overnight, typical loss rates of 10% to 12% climbed rapidly to almost 75%.
"Our losses were staggering," explained Buffalo China process engineer
Nik Ninos. "We had to solve the problem – and quickly. You can imagine
how difficult it is to sell plates without cups."
Buffalo China first sought assistance from the British
Ceramic Research Association, with whom they'd interacted before, but was told
that the problem would have to wait until after the coming holidays. So Ninos
suggested looking closer to home, proposing the New York College of Ceramics
(NYSCC) at Alfred University as a potential resource. An Alfred alumnus, Ninos
was familiar with the fundamental and applied research services offered through
the CACT and with the NYSCC faculty who answered the call for help.
In the truly collaborative spirit of the best
industry-university research efforts, nine faculty met mid-December with Buffalo
engineers to study the cracking problem and propose a series of causes and
solutions. "It was a classic case of static fatigue behavior," says
Dr. William M. Carty, one of those faculty who is now director of the WRC.
"A perfect problem, really, that was challenging but rewarding to solve –
even if it was a few days before the Christmas break."
A solution to the Buffalo China problem was reached in
good time, thanks in part to the right people in the right place at the right
time. "Faculty interest was high during those discussions," Carty
recalls, "and we certainly had a highly motivated, well qualified pool of
researchers available to analyze the problem and provide rapid results." It
became apparent that there existed a proven need for an easily accessed,
domestic analytical center for traditional ceramics. And the world-renowned
concentration of ceramic engineering, glass science, and materials science
expertise at the NYSCC, coupled with the exhilarating success of the Buffalo
China solution, pointed to Alfred as the ideal place for that center to happen.
So a few months later, after a series of exploratory meetings to determine
interest and establish protocols, the Whiteware Research Center was born.
"All of us in the whiteware industry face the same
basic production problems in every plant," Ninos explains, "but we
don't always have the equipment resources and technical expertise necessary to
study and remedy them. The Whiteware Research Center allows us to pool our
resources to conduct in-depth research on specific, common problems. The key is
identifying how that research addresses issues of specific concern within each
plant and then transferring that technology. Using discretionary funds to fine
tune project results to our specific needs, Buffalo China has implemented
hundreds of small changes as a result of work conducted through the WRC. While
the exact value of these changes is difficult to ascertain, a recent WRC project
fine tuned by Buffalo China has resulted in over $200,000 worth of capital
improvements with less than a two-year payback."
From Ceramic Industry article April 1999.
By: Sylvia F. Bryant, Ph.D.
New York State Center for Advanced Ceramic
Technology
New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred
University
2 Pine Street
Alfred, NY 14802
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