Brizo Jackson Plant Tour – #Blogger19 Reunion – Recap Day 2

Entry #2720, August 6, 2013

If you missed Day One – St.Jude/Brizo #Blogger19 Recap – please visit it here.

I think it says a lot about a brand when they show you were the “magic happens”. Meaning, in every industry there are men and women who are seeing your fixtures, home decor items, textiles, and more from the very beginning of just being raw materials. This to me is the most fascinating part of any company. I find that many readers always ask me “What do you do behind the scenes?” .. isn’t that what we all want to know? What’s behind the magic curtain that makes every Brizo faucet come out looking so gorgeous as it graces our bathrooms and kitchens?

Day 2 – Jackson Plant Tour of Delta Faucet

On Day 2 the Blogger 19 crew loaded up in the tour bus to Jackson, Tennessee – approximately an hour and half drive from Memphis. We went to visit the Delta Faucet Company plant – Brizo is the luxury line for Delta Faucets.

The Memphis facility is the largest manufacturing facility with nearly 800 employees and more than 600,000 total square feet. They also have a dedicated finishing facility in Greensburg, Ind., and an injection-molding facility in Morgantown, Ky., where specialty components like their DIAMOND™ Valve are produced.

So how does Brizo produce such beautiful faucets that look gorgeous, but even more so – are quality made with precision, quality-assured and produced by employees that take dedication into every piece? Take a look at our tour that was amazing to witness.

The Blogger 19 group witnessed how Brizo creates their gorgeous faucets

The Plant Tour

It was interesting to see how the faucets components start off. From the brass valves to the sustainability efforts that Delta takes pride in recycling their materials was good to see from such a large manufacturing facility.

Starting off with brass

They machine solid brass rods to create brass valve bodies and various components for their faucets using some of the best technology available.

Delta Faucet is going green

Only 15-20% of the brass stock they use actually goes into their faucets. The remaining 80-85% is turned into chips that are sent back to the mill where they’re melted into brass stock and reused. We also recycle or reprocess water, cardboard, plastic and oil.

Pride from the employees – quality in every step

Brizo® products are assembled by hand to ensure the highest quality standards are met. They have numerous quality and performance checkpoints built into the assembly process, including two final inspections. All faucets with the DIAMOND™ Valve undergo a highly sensitive testing process using air pressure to ensure an airtight waterway.

Brizo – Innovation in quality faucets

Last year I was fortunate to receive one of Brizo’s Smart Touch kitchen faucets that I love! In the plant we got to see the employees building the technology behind the faucets, testing them and packaging them. Awesome to see each one being assembled by hand.

All Brizo® SmartTouch® products undergo continuity tests to ensure the entire faucet is touch capable. We also test 100% of the solenoids used in SmartTouch products to check both mechanical and electrical functionality. SmartTouchPlus™ products, such as the Odin™ electronic lavatory faucet, undergo tests to ensure the encoder valve and TempIQ™ Temperature Control Technology are working as designed.

In Jackson, teams of operators work together as a mini-company, with their own goals for safety, quality, delivery and cost. They meet daily to discuss their performance and drive continuous improvements.

In their buffing/hand texturing area, they have highly skilled operators texturing products by hand. Using various techniques, they can add texture for specialty finishes. Brizo also operate robots that buff heavier items, such as Roman tub spouts.

Giving the Brizo faucets their gorgeous finishes

Products with their patented Brilliance® finishes go through yet another process—physical vapor deposition or PVD, adding color and more abrasion resistance. At the center of the PVD chamber is a coil with a zirconium rod—one of the world’s most corrosion-resistant materials. The entire chamber is electrified and vaporized particles are fused onto the parts. Brilliance molecules embed deep within the faucet’s surface, creating a bond that’s virtually indestructible

Inspected and delivered around the world

Brizo products are carefully packaged using recyclable and some recycled materials.

From the 250,000 square-foot central distribution center, Brizo® products are shipped around the world.

From the plant to your home…

What an experience to walk the entire plant and see each step of Brizo’s process. We were able to talk with many of the employees who all take such pride in their part of the process. It was just like a peek behind the curtain!

Thanks Brizo for having us!

Next week – I’ll round up my Brizo – Blogger19 Reunion Recap with – Partying with Brizo, some new products that Brizo has for your and how I finally got to meet such wonderful bloggers in this industry.

If you missed Day One – St.Jude/Brizo #Blogger19 Recap – please visit it here.