SIC 3261 Vitreous China Plumbing Fixtures and China and Earthenware Fittings and Bathroom Accessories

SIC 3261

This industry classification consists of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing vitreous china plumbing fixtures and china and earthenware fittings and bathroom accessories. Items manufactured in this industry include flush tanks, lavatories, bidets, urinals, toilet fixtures, closet bowls, drinking fountains, and sinks. Other items include vitreous china and earthenware bolt caps, bathroom accessories, faucet handles, soap dishes, and towel bar holders.

NAICS CODE(S)

327111

Vitreous China Plumbing Fixture and China and Earthenware Fitting and Bathroom Accessories Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Manufacturers of vitreous china plumbing products function in the larger plumbing industry. The industry imposes strict standards that regulate everything from the width of pipe holes to the number of gallons used in each toilet flush. In 2004, U.S. shipment of vitreous china plumbing fixture and china and earthenware bathroom accessories totaled $966.7 million. Although figures had risen slowly but consistently in the late 1990s and early 2000s, from $1.10 billion in 1997 to $1.12 billion in 2001, they started to drop just slowly in 2003.A majority of the goods shipped were vitreous china lavatories.

Vitreous china is a ceramic product made primarily with specially treated clays and other chemicals including feldspar and silica, then glazed and fired at high temperatures in a kiln. The vitreous product lasts forever and does not absorb water or other materials; it has changed plumbing throughout the world.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The vitreous china plumbing industry is driven by trends in construction spending. Therefore, when the housing starts and remodeling trends plummeted in the 1980s, the industry suffered tremendously. Since vitreous china plumbing products are needed in residential and commercial settings, both construction industries affect the industry. Foreign-trade conditions also affect the manufacturers since imports still provide much of the plumbing ware in the United States.

Many manufacturers sell their wares only to distributors, who in turn sell the products to contractors and plumbers. Home centers, which have begun to change the way many Americans furnish or remodel their homes and businesses, have had an effect on the vitreous plumbing industry as well. For example, one large manufacturer, American Standard Inc., sells to independent wholesalers who sell to the trade. The company allows their wholesalers to sell American Standard products to home centers and other retailers. Their new line is actually being manufactured in Thailand to be sold in the United States.

Conversely, another major U.S. manufacturer, Kohler Company, still insists on selling its products only through distributors. Many manufacturers have begun to sell their wares directly to the home centers to prevent competitors from gaining too much market share.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

From the time civilization reached the point when populations were centralized, plumbing has been an important concern. Typhoid fever and dysentery spread during the Industrial Revolution when sewage systems were still combined with systems for drinking water. Once separate systems were designed, different plumbing fixtures were used to deliver drinking water and to remove waste materials from buildings.

Thomas Crapper invented the flush toilet, or water closet as it was known in England, in 1884. The mechanism he designed—with its float, valves, and arms that regulate the water in the flush tank—has remained virtually unchanged to the present. The early toilets as...

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