Fifteen years in a single trade: forming, glazing and firing garden ceramics for buyers in more than 35 countries. This page describes what the production floor actually does, how long each stage takes, and what can be changed on a custom order.
The forming method is chosen by shape and volume, not by preference. It decides the tooling cost, the achievable tolerance and the minimum order quantity, so it is usually the first thing to settle in a quotation.
Liquid clay poured into plaster moulds. The route for relief patterns, tapered profiles, handles and anything with an undercut. Tooling is comparatively cheap, which makes it the usual choice between 500 and 3,000 pcs.
Clay powder compacted in a steel die under high pressure. Fast, dimensionally consistent and the cheapest per unit at volume. Shapes are limited to what can be ejected from a two-part die, so no undercuts and no hollow handles.
A clay ball is pressed over a rotating profile by a template. Produces cylindrical and bowl forms with very even wall thickness, which matters for large planters where an uneven wall cracks in the kiln.
Individual pieces thrown on a wheel. Reserved for the Tokoname-style and one-off ranges where slight variation is the selling point rather than a defect. Output is measured in dozens per day, not thousands.
Two pots from the same mould can behave completely differently outdoors depending on body and firing temperature. This is the part of the specification buyers most often leave blank, and the part that generates the most after-sales problems.
| Body | Firing range | Water absorption | Outdoor use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stoneware | 1200–1280 °C | Below 1% | Yes — frost resistant when unglazed at the foot |
| Earthenware | 1000–1120 °C | 5–12% | Only with a fully covering glaze |
| Terracotta | 980–1080 °C | 8–15% | Yes, but porous and heavy |
| Porcelain | 1280–1400 °C | Below 0.5% | Yes — densest body, highest cost |
A kiln load is fired on a curve, not a single temperature. Large planters need a slow rise and a long cooling stage or the base cracks; glazed pieces need a controlled cool through the 573 °C quartz inversion or the glaze crazes. Once a curve is proven for a shape, it is recorded and reused on every reorder.
The workshop keeps a working library of matte, satin, gloss, reactive and stone-effect glazes. A new colour is developed from a Pantone reference or a physical sample, and takes two to three rounds of test tiles before it is released to production.
Self-watering, sensor and app-controlled planters combine a ceramic or concrete shell with a pump, a PCB and a reservoir. That is a different quality model from fired clay, so it sits on its own line with its own tests.
Quoted lead times are production times measured from deposit and artwork approval. Freight sits on top. The table below is what the workshop plans against, not a best case.
| Stage | Typical duration | What can delay it |
|---|---|---|
| Sample from existing mould | 7–10 days | Glaze development if the colour is new |
| Sample with new mould | 18–25 days | Mould correction after the first shot |
| Production, stock glaze | 15–25 days | Kiln queue during peak season |
| Production, custom glaze | 25–35 days | Test tiles and colour approval rounds |
| Consolidation and packing | 3–5 days | Late arrival of packaging from a third party |
| Sea freight Shanghai to Rotterdam | 30–35 days | Port congestion, carrier rollovers |
| Sea freight Shanghai to Los Angeles | 18–24 days | Peak season capacity |
Between 500 and 1,000 pieces depending on the forming method and how much tooling the shape needs. Simple cylindrical forms with a new die start at 500; heavily sculpted pieces that need a multi-part mould usually start at 1,000. Tooling is quoted separately and can be amortised across the first order.
Yes. Send a physical sample or a dimensioned drawing and the workshop will confirm whether the shape needs new tooling, then quote the tool cost and the unit price at your target volume. We do not reproduce a protected design, so tell us if the piece is registered.
The glaze recipe, the firing curve and a physical master chip are retained against your order reference. Each reorder is compared against that chip under daylight before packing. If a shift is unavoidable, it is flagged before shipment rather than discovered on arrival.
Yes. Lead and cadmium free glazes are available and can be tested to FDA 21 CFR or EU 84/500 depending on the market. Say at enquiry stage that the planter will hold herbs or vegetables, because the glaze selection changes.
Tell us the shape, the volume and the destination market. We will confirm the forming method, the tooling cost and a realistic lead time.