Ceramic Technology Academy, new opportunities for training abroad

SBS’s new English-language training platform is aimed at ceramic companies based outside Italy. One of its main advantages is its ability to organise courses tailored to specific production needs, led by expert tutors with extensive experience in sector-specific training.

CTA, the first sector-specific International Academy, was founded in 2020 by SBS (Acimac School of Management Training) with the aim of providing specialist training in ceramic technology to the global market. The courses focus on the unique technical, aesthetic and commercial aspects of ceramic products. Thanks to remote accessibility, strategically timed sessions to accommodate different time zones and the use of English as the teaching language, these courses are accessible to a global audience and foster networking between participants in various countries (for example in South Africa and Poland).

The course tutors are leading experts in the ceramic industry with extensive, in-depth knowledge of companies’ production processes and the issues they face, as well as considerable experience in training activities.

CTA provides a personalised service including off-the-shelf training modules and the possibility of in-depth online consultations regarding specific production issues facing companies.

The following training courses are currently available: (inserire link sui vari titoli)

Design area

• CreativiTiles: Customer experience in the ceramic sector
• CreativiTiles: How to apply the design process to the ceramic sector
• Photoshop for ceramic tiles

Technical area

• The plant as a whole – Digital solutions
• Drying and firing of ceramic tiles
• Pressing of Ceramic Tiles
• Milling & Spraydrying
• Digital decoration
• Tile manufacturing defects: Diagnosis and Therapy
• How to manage dispute
• How to become a successful Product Manager in the ceramic tile industry

Enrolment can be completed directly on the website www.ceramictechnologyacademy.com

Becoming a creative with Lab.Brain design methodology

How to apply the design process to the ceramic sector is one of the most popular courses on CTA’s CreativiTiles platform. The purpose of the module is to provide tools and methods capable of nurturing creative skill within the company and transforming it into design projects. The training course, scheduled to take place between December 2024 and January 2025, will be led by Valentina Downey, a product and strategic designer who coordinates and organises design innovation workshops for Italian and multinational companies.

Downey comments: “Creativity is not just an innate talent, but a skill that can be developed through learning and practice in a stimulating environment and with the aid of suitable tools.”

To become a key to success and innovation, design must be managed proactively within the company. To improve competitiveness, it is essential to understand how to make best use of processing techniques, colours, textures, thicknesses, sizes and coatings, while adapting products to evolving market demands. The Lab.Brain design methodology used in the course incorporates the principles of Design Thinking, blending them with the extensive expertise Valentina Downey has acquired over her long career as a design consultant, alongside her deep knowledge of product development. The training includes workshop sessions tailored to the company’s needs, taking account of the number of employees and their level of skill. One key element of the course is Design Research, an activity that enables designers to identify trends that are suitable for that company at that specific time

Course outputs

• Experimenting with different methods and tools to enable the company to decide which ones to use at the end of the course.
• Tools to improve design research and make it a structured part of the design process
• Customer mapping and touchpoint identification
• Improving design skills