How Tiles are Made: Marazzi Factory Tour - Did You Know?

MARAZZI TILE WAS FOUNDED BY FILIPPO MARAZZI IN 1935 IN SASSUOLO, ITALY. AT 60 YEARS OF AGE, FILIPPO HAD ALREADY HAD A SUCCESSFUL CAREER AS A SOLDIER AND A DRUGSTORE OWNER, SO HIS ENTRANCE INTO THE CERAMIC BUSINESS WAS NOT ONLY UNEXPECTED, IT WAS ALSO LOOKED UPON UNFAVORABLY BY THE TOWNSPEOPLE.

THE ORIGINAL PLANT WAS FOUNDED ON GROUND THAT WAS OWNED BY THE MARAZZI FAMILY, AND CONSISTED OF A BAKING SHED THAT USED FOUR STRATEGICALLY PLACED POPLAR TREES FOR CORNER POSTS. THE LACK OF ANY FORMAL EDUCATION IN CERAMICS, COMBINED WITH A WAR-TIME FOOTING OF 1935 ITALY, FORCED FILIPPO TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOP NEWER AND MORE EFFICIENT MEANS TO PRODUCE CERAMIC TILE. PIETRO MARAZZI, FILIPPO’S SON, ACCELERATED THE TECHNOLOGICAL GROWTH OF THE MARAZZI PRODUCTION PROCESS. WITH THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE SILK SCREEN PROCESS IN MANUFACTURING CERAMIC TILE, MARAZZI WAS THE FIRST MANUFACTURER ABLE TO MASS PRODUCE MULTI-COLORED, PATTERNED TILES. FURTHER ADVANCEMENT CAME WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMAR PROCESS IN 1974. THIS PROCESS UTILIZED SINGLE FIRE (MONOCOTTURA) SINGLE LEVEL ROLLER KILNS TO PRODUCE THE TILE IN ONLY 20-PERCENT OF THE TIME NEEDED WITH THE OLDER TECHNOLOGY. THIS IS STILL THE STATE-OF-THE-ART PROCESS USED TODAY.

IN 1980, MARAZZI FOUNDED AMERICAN MARAZZI TILE IN SUNNYVALE, TEXAS. NOW UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF FILIPPO MARAZZI JR., THE GRANDSON OF THE ORIGINAL FOUNDER, MARAZZI RECOGNIZED THE GREAT POTENTIAL FOR AN AMERICAN BASED MANUFACTURING PLANT. THE SITE IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS WAS CHOSEN FOR BOTH ITS CENTRAL GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AND FOR THE ABUNDANCE OF HIGH QUALITY CLAY NEARBY.

AMERICAN MARAZZI BEGAN BUSINESS AS AN IMPORT COMPANY WHILE THE MANUFACTURING PLANT WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. IN 1982, MARAZZI FIRED UP ITS FIRST KILN AND BEGAN PRODUCING TILE IN AMERICA. OVER THE YEARS MARAZZI HAS EXPANDED AND UPGRADED THE FACILITY TO ITS CURRENT PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF MORE THAN 70-MILLION SQUARE FEET OF TILE PER YEAR.

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