We address this month, one of the primordial phases of our production, the modelling. To better present our work, nothing better than letting the section itself report what it feels.
Jorge Filipe Pereira Horta, is Partner, Director of production and responsible for development and modelling.
He has been in the company for 16 years.
He is happy working at PP&A, as he has the opportunity to do what he likes and what makes him happy. He also mentions that for a company with 70 workers, he feels that a good environment and proximity has been achieved. Over the years Jorge has seen great changes in the ceramics sector.
In the specific case of PP&A the changes have been slow, due to the type of crockery that we make, because it has a great manual aspect, large pieces and different shapes.
He felt the need to make investments with his own capital in terms of kilns, filling and development of rapid prototyping with 3D modelling.
About his function, he says, is to control production, manage the modelling section in the developments, moulds and production moulds.
In the next years, Jorge expects PP&A to continue to increase its production and its investments, to better prepare the company for the future, and to be more and more competitive and continuing in the vanguard of the best decorative ceramics companies.
When asked why he chose ceramics and modelling, Jorge stated that it was ceramics that chose him, as at school he showed great aptitude for manual work, especially working with clay.
His first job, at the age of 16, was in a ceramics factory and precisely in the area of modelling. The art of changing paper into shape has always aroused my interest and will to learn more, leading me to take several courses.
In this article we also put questions to two of our modelling collaborators
César, modeler for 30 years, has been at PP&A for the last decade, he feels happy doing his work, the environment is normal without pressure, which allows him to perform his work that involves a very technical and creative component.
He reveals that he has seen some changes in this sector, and that without a doubt the use of 3D printing has been one of them, as well as the working conditions with emphasis on the tools, such as the openness on the part of the management so that he can make suggestions that are considered positively, and that increases the motivation to carry out his work.
The function he performs is the realization of the models and the respective moulds through the customers’ drawings and/or idealized by our design team that cooperates in a very close way with the modelling sector.
César says that he starts preparing and visualizing the most correct way to produce the model and then moves on to the 1st mould, which is used to take samples, after this crucial phase the production process starts on a larger scale.
César’s expectations are to continue with the motivation, dignifying his work and with the sensibility to execute his work.
He states that he did not choose the area of ceramics but nowadays he recognises the advantages of working in this sector, even though he states that it is very demanding physically and mentally, but he feels very useful in his modelling work.
Sandra Marques, modeller, 19 years at PP&A.
She loves what she does, but she feels that a more calm and quiet environment would contribute in a positive way to her work.
She feels that the 3D printer and the change in categories were the most noticeable changes.
Sandra’s role is the realization of the product in its development, moving from the idea and a project to reality, ie, is the first contact with the object and its shape. She notes its importance in the production process when making the moulds for filling.
Sandra says that her expectations are no different to those she has in her daily life, but she reveals that she would like to have the opportunity to try out the decoration sector.
She states that the ceramics area was not a choice, it happened when she was looking for her first job.
Modelling resulted from the fact that she had a course in plastic arts, more precisely sculpture, where at the time it was proposed to her to try to perform this function, where she ended up acquiring knowledge through the exchange of experiences of colleagues who have passed through over the years and in this way she has evolved until today.