The panel debate seeks to analyse the case of new industrial groups owned by (industrial or financial) investment funds.

Do they have greater resources for growth, innovation, …? Are they more professionalised and more formalised organisations? Can their presence in other industrial sectors benefit the ceramic sector? What other benefits do they contribute to the social fabric of the areas where they establish themselves?

The advantages and disadvantages in regard to agility in strategic decision-making and in customer and supplier relationship management will also be addressed, drawing upon the wide-ranging experience of panel members in businesses with different types of ownership.

The following panel members have confirmed their participation:

The opening panel debate, the Globalization of the Ceramic Tile Industry, has been held at Qualicer since 2014. International leaders of the ceramic tile manufacturing industry debate strategic issues to be faced by the sector in the near future. They’ll also discuss about commercial and industrial policies that make industrial investment feasible in different geographical areas. The panel will analyse the main technological and business innovations in the ceramic tile sector from the perspective of making investment decisions

The following panel members have confirmed their participation:

Fully electrifying the ceramic tile and slab manufacturing process, accompanied by process redesign to improve energy efficiency and reduce total energy consumption, can be key to completely suppressing the use of natural gas and meeting European decarbonisation targets. It is a tremendously ambitious proposal that will moreover reduce the risks and volatility in supply costs owing to current tensions in international energy markets.

Maintaining the sector’s competitiveness requires innovative companies and technologies not just for ceramic production, but also for generating and supplying energy. Renewable electricity generation has already far exceeded the necessary level of efficiency, and it is possible right now to transform that intermittent capability into Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with steady supplies that are able to meet 24/7 ceramic production demands. The Valencia Region currently has 7000 MW renewable energy generation pending licensing and a significant part thereof could be installed within a few months. The session will set out the current state of this technological proposal and will analyse the need for infrastructures and market instruments to ensure stable supplies of renewable electric power.

Current gas price peaks have made even more urgent the need to find renewable energy sources for the ceramic production process. It is not just a question of decarbonization but also of short-term economic viability and of ensurance of stable energy supplies in Europe.  This will be beneficial in the medium and long term for the entire international industry regardless of the more or less restrictive environmental regulations that apply to them. It will be a quality issue.

In this scenario leading firms and entrepeneurs are necessary to open a path for the industry in its constant process of innovation and quality improvement.  This is undoubtedly the case of the Iris Ceramica Group, that in the 1980s was key for the natural gas network to develop in the Italian ceramic district located between Modena and Reggio Emilia. The Iris Ceramica Group has already announced the construction of the world’s first ceramic factory with green hydrogen and its start-up is scheduled for the current year 2022. In this session, Mrs. Federica Minozzi, Iris Ceramica Group CEO, will illustrate the status of the project and its future prospects.

Digital printing on flat ceramics is a relatively rare technique in the art market for digital prints that, for example, Artsy.net defines as artistic prints created with a computer on paper, canvas, or vinyl, or in which Saatchiart.com only considers fine art paper, photo paper, and canvas as substrates. But the development of digital printing on ceramics has added a new substrate of great quality and, for example, in 2019, Ceramic Place, a work by Damià Díaz, was exhibited at the National Museum of the Ajuda Palace in Lisbon in the Mostra Espanha biennial show. This session will present the artist’s experience in ideating, producing, and exhibiting Ceramic Place and will explore the potential of this technique and of other innovations of the ceramic industry in the art market. The opportunities for collaboration between artists and the different industry stakeholders and public institutions responsible for artistic and historic heritage and public and private exhibition spaces, for creating and exhibiting works with this technique will be also analysed.

The European decarbonisation targets for 2030 and 2050 pose a challenge for the ceramic tile sector which, for example, in Spain annually consumes 14TWh gas compared to 1.4TWh electricity. Iberdrola is participating in different initiatives that pursue this target. In this presentation, Millán García-Tola, Global H2 Director, Iberdrola, reviews several such initiatives, which in our sector include the agreement reached with Porcelanosa in April 2021 to pursue decarbonisation solutions. In addition, their possible development by adapting to the European framework, whose legislation and funding policies condition the design and speed of these changes, and putting their situation into perspective with the global hydrogen initiatives being undertaken by Iberdrola, which is currently working in 60 countries worldwide on projects involving hydrogen obtained with renewable energies.

As for the the ceramic tile producers and industry equipments manufacturers initiatives, the main decarbonization options seem to be either electrification or green H2.  In this session these initiatives will be addressed in perspective by André Faaij, energy expert not linked to ceramics, and an overview of the main challenges for the European energy intensive industry to meet the requirements of the decarbonization considering the energy system, the international interconnection of new and retrofitted industrial processes and the wider changes required in the energy infrastructures and other technological options.

This slip resistance masterclass is for executives who want to fulfil consumer expectations of sustainable slip resistance and enduring aesthetics with simple maintenance. Regulators require safe pedestrian surfaces and can’t rely on potentially misleading representations. Do you know your tiles slip resistance life cycle performance? Open your eyes with some live scientific demonstrations. Learn how to gain a responsible competitive advantage based on EN 16165.