On October 15, the 2021 Bologna, Italy Building Materials Exhibition Trend Viewing Meeting was grandly held at the Ceramic Theater of China Ceramics Headquarters. Five important guests, Yin Hong, Zhu Wei, Chen Gaozhao, Huang Yongcai, and Hanberto, together with more than 300 ceramic people on site, and about 100 colleagues in two sub-venues, Taoqu Live Room and China (Zibo) Ceramics Headquarters, discussed the latest industries in the industry. Gain insight into cutting-edge trends, and further understand the forward-looking layout and innovation of the building ceramics industry under the development trend of diversification, segmentation, and specialization.
The following is a record shared by Zhu Wei, Managing Director of Huayan Pinzhi
Before I start sharing, let me tell you a few things. Due to well-known reasons, we did not go to Bologna this year, but I had a lot of exchanges with friends who were present in person, which formed the main content of today’s sharing. At the same time, I also want to emphasize that we have a strong sense of national pride in the rise of manufacturing as a great power. We believe that China’s ceramic production and manufacturing are no less than Europe in many aspects, and have even surpassed Europe in some specific aspects. But accordingly, we In terms of certain products, we still need to learn from Europe. We must face up to this gap. Maybe we still lack some time accumulation.
The reason why I emphasize this point is that after this, we may mention many European or Italian products that are worthy of our reference and learning, so as to avoid the suspicion of worshiping foreign countries. At present, we are a brand focusing on rock slabs. The products we share today are mainly related to rock slabs.
One of the biggest regrets in Bologna this year is the temporary cancellation of the Rimini exhibition. The main exhibitors are upstream equipment companies and raw material companies. The temporary cancellation of this year’s exhibition makes it difficult for us to fully understand the production equipment. Upgrade and iteration, the upgrade of production equipment are often the driving force of products. In previous years, we went to exhibitions, went to Italy and spent more time going to Rimini exhibition, but the temporary cancellation this year is a big regret.
The second more important trend this year, the doctor also mentioned before, the digital glue, dry particles, precious metal ink, and textured surface technology that Upstream Color Glaze Company started to promote in the past two years are reflected in some brand products. This year's products pay more attention to the expression of surface texture and craftsmanship. The surface texture of the products is more realistic, the texture is more delicate, and the layering is stronger. Basically, these three points can be used to summarize the common features of this year's products that value surface decoration craftsmanship.
Many of this year's new products are only superficial decoration. We did not find any of the refreshing and revolutionary products launched in previous exhibitions at this year's exhibition.
If you need to use several keywords to summarizeIn summary, the overall trend of this year’s exhibition is these four keywords: big, bright, flowery, and texture.
#01
Large: The proportion of large-sized rock slabs has increased
Compared with 2019, most tile and ceramic brands this year have listed the research and development of large-sized slate as their focus, and promoted large-sized products as image products during the exhibition. Some brands and some groups even The company specifically set up a slate brand to operate slate products. Many large-sized slate slabs were promoted at the exhibition.
#02
Bright: The proportion of glossy products has increased
Stone slab, as early as 2004, System Group established the first slate slab production line in La Mina. After more than ten years of development and precipitation in Europe, the application scenarios and application channels have been very wide. In order to To meet the needs of more application scenarios, many brands have launched more glossy products this year, and the design materials of glossy products are more exaggerated stone patterns.
The product in the picture looks familiar to everyone. It was a material that was widely used in jade when making microcrystalline stones in China many years ago. Now it has returned to our field of vision in the form of rock slabs. From another aspect, it proves that we have actually surpassed Europe in the development of glossy products and the application of design.
Another point is that we believe that the anti-fouling performance of European products made in Italy and Spain is generally not comparable to domestic products. We have done a lot of tests before and brought back many samples of brand products from Italy and Spain. The products were subjected to anti-fouling comparison tests in the same environment. As a result, almost all European products were spared and failed to pass the domestic stringent anti-fouling performance test. This is especially obvious for glossy products.
#03
Flowers: The first level is that the design textures are richer and more jumping, and the colors are bolder and avant-garde. The second level is reflected in the increased proportion of flowers in this year’s exhibition
First of all, let’s look at the flowers at the texture level. They are different from the Italian products in our impression. The design materials are more exaggerated. A large number of agate and composite material types are widely used in designs, and they are given more exaggerated colors. We think these products It can catch people’s attention, but does it have the ability to invest heavily?The commercial value of production is yet to be discussed. We feel that some products may even be prepared temporarily just to rush to the exhibition.
This product is a composite representative of typical Italian design elements. It combines traditional cement materials with more modern color blocks and geometric patterns to give this product new vitality and bring some inspiration to our development.
The second level is flower slices. This year, Italian slate has seen a large area of twice-fired decorative flower slices. As a small-scale embellishment of the space, the flower slices can help the space to be the finishing touch. Today's design elements also continue the style of a few years ago. Basically, there is no change in the direction. Plants, green plants, and jungle elements are widely used. Others are mainly a combination of different geometric patterns, which are decorated on the surface. In terms of technology, this year a large number of precious metal ink inkjet decorations are used, combined with dry particle surface effects, to make the product more visually and tactilely expressive.
#04
Texture: The innovative upgrade of colored glazes and the superimposed application of technology make the product texture more delicate and textured, and the proportion of textured rock slabs has increased significantly
Textured slate is the trend this year. The proportion of exhibitions has increased significantly and the product texture has become thicker. This has also greatly improved the layering effect of the overall space use.
Texture has always been one of the better aspects of European ceramic products. When it comes to texture, it often means that the surface texture of the product is more delicate and the touch will be more natural and advanced.
This year, the application of a large number of textured digital materials has made the surface decoration effect of rock slabs richer. If the textured products in the picture are compared with ordinary products, the overall product will appear thicker and more profound. After being applied to a space, the sense of spatial hierarchy will be greatly improved.
We can see that the first product on the left uses digital glue combined with dry particles, and the second product uses fine carving ink. The deep ink allows for a beautiful combination of design texture and effect. The third brand shows its strength to professional audiences. This wood grain uses digital mold effects and technology. The fourth model with darker wood grain uses digital glue combined with dry particles, and uses different technological expressions on the surface of the same design texture to achieve a concave and a convex surface on the product surface.We believe that this is a product for brands or companies to show their R&D capabilities to professional audiences. The last wood grain uses digital glue combined with dry particles to create a mottled feeling inside the product. The texture of the effect net and the design have a relatively high degree of matching.
From a material perspective, today’s stone patterns occupy a major position. We think this has something to do with the increase in the proportion of glossy products this year. There are many more design styles that combine different elements. This is Italian design. Strengths. Terrazzo, wood grain, cement, metal, and fabric are still the main design directions for matte products.
The stone pattern on the left has also appeared in Dr. PPT before. This stone pattern uses ordinary stone patterns combined with jade design, which is more interesting. The one on the right is a combination of stone patterns and lines, and then uses our precious metal ink for secondary surface decoration. This product is very recognizable.
Terrazzo
This year, the proportion of terrazzo products during the exhibition has increased, and the styles have become more diversified. In the past, we thought that terrazzo refers more to a combination of cement and some dots or blocks. This year, terrazzo can be seen in different colors. The combination of different elements, we see terrazzo with marble texture, terrazzo with colored blocks... Terrazzo no longer just refers to a design type, but also refers to the summary of a design style.
Wood Grain
In terms of wood grain, this year there are only relatively minor innovations in display and paving combinations, or innovations in composite materials. However, we need to be careful when borrowing from these innovations, as they may not be suitable for us.
Cement
Since the design materials themselves are not very layered, most of the cements this year are basically combined with textured surface effects, making the products more layered. In addition to the traditional gray-toned cement, there are more cements this year. Warm tones of cement. The emergence of cement in different colors allows cement to be used more widely in spaces with different needs.
Metal
There is not much innovation this year, but metal products are one of the main products of modern style.It also occupies a place in the antique product system of various brands.
Fabric
The proportion of fabric products on display has increased this year. This may be due to the fact that people spend more time at home due to the epidemic, and fabrics can create a cozy or warm space. Fabric products appear more frequently at the exhibition this year. Due to the particularity of the material itself, all the fabrics displayed are combined with textured surfaces, and some also form some combinations with other elements. Thanks to the widespread application of upstream digital color glaze materials, this year's fabric products look more delicate and feel more realistic.
The above is a summary of our trends in exhibition products this year.
What problems are we facing?
Before answering this question, let’s first take a look at how everyone in each production area has been doing in recent years.
Let’s first take a look at several sets of international data. In 2020, Italy and Spain further expanded their leading positions in ceramic tile export shares, accounting for 86.5% and 92.4% of their output respectively. The export unit price of Italian ceramics is 13.9 euros/square meter, Spain should be about 7 euros/square meter, and China is only 5.7. I also received feedback from my exchanges with friends that Türkiye, as one of the world's major ceramic producers, has recently experienced a production capacity gap. In 2020, India's ceramic output increased from 1.266 billion square meters to 1.32 billion square meters, an increase of 4.3%.
When we turn our attention back to China, what challenges do we encounter?
First of all, when production capacity increases too fast, the "barrier lake effect" appears. This concept was also proposed by a doctor. I strongly agree with it and I will borrow it here. The speed of new products coming online is too fast, and the market cannot keep up with the speed of digestion, which has led to the recent "kiln shutdown wave" of slate slabs. Of course, this is only a short-term problem. We believe that with the diligence of the Chinese people and everyone working together, the short-term indigestion problem can be solved soon. The main reason is that we have confidence in the product of slate. With China’s huge population base, Coupled with the strong advantages of rock slabs in terms of performance and decorative effect, I believe that the market size is very huge.
Furthermore, China's ceramic tile exports have dropped by 25.7% in the past five years. Most of the ceramic products made in China are in a state of low profit before the world. Once trade friction occurs, the competitiveness of our products will be very poor, and our ability to resist risks will be very poor. Very poor. So we need to think about why the same productionEquipment, the same production line, products produced by Italian equipment, products produced by Italian production lines can be so expensive, and our current raw materials and technology have basically achieved global synchronization. How can we keep up in this aspect? Italy, this is what we need to think about.
At the same time, the ceramic industry is also facing problems faced by all other industries: raw materials and energy continue to rise, and the demographic dividend is gradually disappearing. In the past, the domestic ceramic industry relied more on demographic dividend and lower production costs to compete in the international market, but now India is catching up.
Faced with these problems, under the new situation, all walks of life across the country are advocating transformation and upgrading. I think the ceramic industry must also keep up with the times, using the same production equipment, the same raw materials or the same technology to produce products with added value no less than those in Europe.
What should we learn from Italy?
My answer is: to learn from Italy's "fishing", we don't simply take his brand model back to our R&D center and work on it directly; we should master his R&D logic and rules.
#01
System
First of all, we believe that to form a complete product research and development system, this is what we must learn from Italy. At the beginning of our product planning, we involve the sales team and conduct sufficient market research, and then based on different market demand and different application scenarios to plan our products. Because of different application scenarios, there are some specific and differentiated requirements for the performance of the product itself.
Secondly, after we complete product planning, we need to carry out production line planning to ensure that our production line must be able to achieve the effects and performance of the products we planned. During the process of R&D and implementation, we must not compromise on product effectiveness! However, the reality is that when many domestic brands encounter difficulties, they often choose to give in and accept product effects, making the final product results unsatisfactory.
Finally, we need our marketing system to output at the same frequency, and accurately convey our product planning and original product intentions to the market. This product research and development system may seem relatively simple and logical, as if we are all doing this. Some even have richer systems, with each step divided into more details, and more departments may be introduced. But we must think, have we really implemented every step?
#02
Selection of materials
We have studied a large number of successful product series of Italian high-end brands. Their products are often not flash in the pan or short-term sensationalism, but have strong vitality. Therefore, we should learn from their selection criteria, but this aspect is relatively broad, and everyone understands it differently.
#03
Space display
After developing good products, we believe that what we need to learn from Italy or Europe is spatial display.
In the past ten years, every time we go to Italy or Spain, we will find that when they display their products in space, they may be two extremes compared to our previous domestic traditional ceramic companies. They basically do not make the best use of everything, adhering to the principle that less is more. They almost always use a few products to create a comfortable, memorable, and nostalgic space, rather than using limited space. All the products are crammed into the space, giving it the feel of a wholesale supermarket. But in recent years, we have made great improvements in this area in China.
#04
Implementation delivery system
The product of rock slabs has experienced more than ten years of development and precipitation in Europe. The system of space application, including the construction process and the understanding of rock slabs in the entire design, is very worthy of our reference and learning.
