The Model Master
Marco Armenio transforms an Idea into a product
Marco Armenio gave the Geberit ONE washbasin its shape. Or to be more precise, he transformed the designers’ idea into a model and a mother mould to produce floating ONE washbasins in Geberit's ceramics plant in Gaeta (IT).
“Since being at school and subsequently completing my apprenticeship in the field of technical development and design, I have spent the last two decades adding to my knowledge of the profession. The fascinating thing about ceramics is that you're always learning something new about it. Since I started here in Gaeta as a CAD designer in 2000 and became Head of Technical Product Development (TPD) in 2016, I have effectively come to know ceramic production from a 360° perspective. I accompany every product we make here in Gaeta from the first prototypes and the development process of the production equipment right through to series production.
The special thing about my job is that every day I have to deal with new challenges and find solutions. It's a wonderful task that keeps my team and myself motivated and spurs us on to new achievements. And that is why Geberit is the ideal company for me. Thanks to our international orientation and our shared values, we can exchange information with colleagues at other production sites in a targeted manner. We develop ideas together or hone our manufacturing processes.
One of the products to come out of the international collaboration is one of our more recent ones, the “floating” Geberit ONE washbasin. The large and very thin washbasin surface of up to 120 cm in width is a challenge. The ceramic sanitary appliance is highly susceptible to deformations in the production process and particularly during his “travel” in the tunnel kiln at 1200°Celsius. We had to find a way of producing it in an industrial style. And we succeeded in doing so, not least thanks to the exchange with product developers at the headquarters in Jona (CH) and ceramic experts at other Geberit locations in Europe.
This washbasin as well as the numerous other products my team and I accompanied right through to the production stage make me proud of my work. In this way, I can make an effective contribution to ensuring that our company meets the taste of our customers with fantastic products. And we have given every single product exactly the right model to produce the moulds out of it.”