The Secret Life of the Sunset Hill Stoneware Production Facility

The Sunset Hill Stoneware pottery facility has a life all its own. Housing dozens of potters, handlers and other important members of our production team, she sleeps only a few hours each night while our crew is away. This is enough for the modest little building—it gives her just enough time to get squeaky clean before the next day begins.

She keeps our potters healthy.

Like a mother defending her young, Sunset Hill Stoneware’s production plant protects us from the dangers considered part of the job at many potteries. How does the building do it though?

The answer is what we call the BAS. A custom-designed HVAC system, the BAS (Building Automation System) is our building’s way of protecting us from the dust that naturally occurs when we’re making your unique coffee mugs and beer steins. With it, the building traps dust before anyone in our shop can breathe it in. The building knows it’s keeping our potters from getting sick later on with illnesses like lung cancer or silicosis.

By extension, the building is protecting our guests as well. Any time we have a customer, a client or even one of our local Girl Scout troops come through to visit us, we know their lungs and bodies are safe and that they’ll be able to breathe just as easily after their tour as they did before they came in.

It helps the building keep her insides clean, too. Because there is so little silica dust floating around, we don’t have any dusty surfaces in our shop, even on the floor. Everyone in our shop works hard to make sure their station is clean before the end of the day to help her out, but she’s able to do a lot of the work for us. One of our co-owners, Duane, has even offered to eat off the floor in the past to prove just how clean it is!

Nobody in our shop, whether they’re a potter or a visitor, has to wear a dust mask. They’re free to run and exercise and have fun after they say goodbye to the building each evening.

And, because of that, the building is happy.

She keeps us warm and dry.

Weather patterns in Wisconsin only exist in extremes. Through hot and sticky summers and bone-chilling winters and more than a few blizzards and torrential rainstorms, our pottery facility shields us from the elements no matter what time of year it is. This would be a huge problem for any other pottery, since their buildings can’t protect them from the humid air outside if it’s suddenly foggy or a heat wave rolls in.

However, our building is different. She has a few tricks up her metal sleeves.

No matter what the weather is like outside, our building’s BAS keeps the temperature and humidity the same at all times, every day throughout the year. The only place where she heats things up is in the kiln room, where it helps for things to be just a little warmer.

Nobody on our team has to bundle up or bring in portable fans for themselves, and we don’t have to use personal heaters even during the coldest months of the year.

And, because of that, the building is happy.

She makes our mugs even better.

Having too much moisture in our unique coffee mugs when they’re fired in the kiln can cause them to shatter and break. That’s why we always let our mugs air dry before we fire them, to reduce any risks and make sure we send you as many as you ordered.

Thanks to our building and her BAS, we don’t need fans or special heating units to make sure our mugs dry correctly. We know they’ll dry at the same rate every time we make them. Other pottery companies have to use rotating fans to dry their mugs in their dusty facilities. That practice makes production take even longer and doesn’t do much to protect the mugs from breaking, especially on days where the weather outside is frightful.

We wouldn’t be the fastest potters in our industry if it weren’t for the Sunset Hill Stoneware pottery facility and her BAS system. Thanks to her, we’re able to deliver mugs to the world in about 4-6 weeks on average, and it helps our mugs come out with the same high quality you’d expect of us every time.

The Sunset Hill Stoneware production facility is always teeming with life and activity. We’re always thankful for everything she gives to us and will always do our best to take care of her and the environment she calls home in return.

And, because of that, the building is happy.