Learning and development process for Tile Manufacturers: teaching kilns, glaze and shade grading on the floor
A tile plant's quality sits in a few heads: the kiln lead who reads the firing, the glaze operator and the sorter who judges shade. Learning here means passing that on deliberately.
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Share your requirementsWhy learning and development process matters in tile manufacturers
In many plants, kiln and glaze skills are learned by standing next to someone. The best sorter judges shade by eye and cannot say how. The kiln lead adjusts to the weather and keeps it in his head. When one of them is absent or leaves, a lot with mixed shades or a firing fault goes through, and the complaint arrives from a builder who has laid a floor. The cost shows later, far from where the learning gap began.
A good learning process lists each skill on the line, who holds it and who is learning it. Sorters train together on a shade board with marked samples. Glaze and kiln staff write down their adjustments in a notebook the next lead can read. Training is short, repeated and done on the shift, and it ends with a check that someone can do the task alone.
How to set it up
1. Build a skill list for the line
List each post from body preparation to dispatch and the skills in each. Mark who is trained, who is learning and who is not yet started.
2. Make a shade board
Pick marked samples that show the accepted range for each shade. Sorters check their eye against it at the start of each shift. See learning and development.
3. Capture kiln and glaze adjustments
Ask the lead to keep a short log of what was changed and why. Review it monthly with a second person so the knowledge spreads.
4. Pair the learner with the expert
Set two or three shifts a week for a learner to work beside the specialist. Give the specialist time, and recognise it in the appraisal.
5. Test and sign off
When a learner can do the task alone, a lead watches and signs it off. Update the skill list and pick the next learner.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask your best sorter how they judge shade and who is learning it.
- Count how many people on each shift can run the kiln or glaze line alone.
- Read the kiln log for last week and see if a new lead could use it.
- List the training sessions held in the last quarter and who attended.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach learning and development process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Use a shade board with marked samples, a short check at the start of each shift and a sorter pair for new hands. Consistency comes from a shared reference and not from one person's eye.
The kiln lead, with a second experienced person to check what is taught. Give the lead time and recognition for teaching, as extra work with no reward is soon dropped.
It depends on your line and the person. Instead of a fixed number, set a list of tasks they must do alone and sign them off one by one. That is more honest than guessing a period.