Morbi factories add new designs all year round, not in a single annual collection. Digital inkjet printing makes a new design cheap to launch, so catalogues change continually, with larger launches timed around trade fairs.
There is no reliable count of new designs per factory per year, and any figure you are given is a sales claim. What matters to you is how the cycle works and what it means for reordering.
Why designs change so fast
Before digital printing, a new tile design needed new screens or rollers for each colour. Changing design was slow and expensive, so factories ran the same designs for years.
An inkjet line prints from a file. A new design needs the artwork, a few test firings to match colour, and a design code. The press, glaze line and kiln stay the same. That is why a Morbi factory can show you designs that did not exist a few months earlier.
The cluster also has design studios that sell artwork to many plants, as well as factories with their own in-house design teams. Popular looks spread across the cluster quickly. You can see near-identical marble designs from several factories under different names.
How the design cycle usually runs
- A design team or studio creates the artwork, often following trends seen at international fairs and in buyer requests.
- The factory runs test firings, matches colour and decides how many faces the design needs.
- The design gets a code, enters the catalogue and is shown to buyers as samples or at exhibitions.
- If orders come in, it stays in production; if not, it is dropped or kept only as made to order.
- A design that sells well is often reworked in new sizes or finishes, and is widely copied by other plants.
What this means when you reorder
Fast design turnover is good for choice and bad for continuity. A design you sold well last year may now be made only to order, or dropped. Ask the factory how long it plans to keep each of your designs in production, and get the answer in writing.
Even when a design is still running, a later batch can come out in a slightly different shade. Ink, raw materials and kiln conditions all drift. Keep a signed reference sample of every design you sell and ask for the reorder to be matched to it.
Keep your own record of the design code, size, finish and the batch you received. That lets you ask for exactly the same product, and spot a substitute. The same discipline protects you from the slow quality slide described in why quality drops after the first container.
If you need a design no one else sells, the route is a custom design with written exclusivity; see custom tile designs from Morbi.
Using the cycle to your advantage
New designs can give you something fresh in your market before competitors stock it. Ask factories for their latest additions in your sizes, not their whole catalogue. Ask whether a new design has already been sold into your country.
Balance new lines with steady sellers. A range built only on the newest looks is hard to restock. A range built only on old looks is easy to undercut.
How we help
We track which designs a plant is launching, dropping or keeping on order, keep reference samples for your range and check reorders against them. To review your range against what Morbi is making now, book a free sourcing review.