The aim of this thesis is to create a business plan for an existing company Design Bath, which operates as a wholesale and exclusive distributor of company PORCELANOSA Grupo on the Czech market of ceramic tiles. The plan is focused on building and extending current distribution network of PORCELANOSA Grupo products and should serve as a background for future decision making process and development of long-term strategy of company Design Bath. On the basis of this business plan we should be able to evaluate its feasibility. The theoretical part of this thesis contains basic introduction into business plans from theoretical point of view and market research methodology. The practical part includes the description of international and Czech market of ceramic tiles in order to understand the business opportunity. Description of competition, market research, proposal of suitable forms of distribution and financial plan are all included in the practical part in the way that the chapters logically follow each other. Financial plan revealed that the business plan is viable. Potential risks and conditions of successful realization complete the last part of the thesis.

De son apparition dans les cours raffinées du lointain Orient islamisé à son exploitation industrielle en Occident, les procédés d’élaboration et les usages de la faïence ont évolué. En France, en l’état actuel des connaissances, l’introduction de cette technique remonte à l’époque gothique. Elle se manifeste alors de manière simultanée, dans des zones géographiques spécifiques, ponctuellement utilisée dans la composition de quelques luxueux pavements, où elle coexiste fréquemment avec des carreaux de terre cuite à glaçure transparente de tradition indigène. De tels pavements, parce qu’ils témoignent de la rencontre entre deux traditions techniques et culturelles, apparaissent comme des objets d’étude privilégiés pour appréhender conjointement les questions relatives à l’origine, la production et la consommation que pose la « faïence » à ses débuts en France. À partir de l’approche globale du cas de Suscinio, choisi en raison de son exemplarité, les chemins que cette technique exogène a empruntés et les raisons de son utilisation ont pu être précisés. Les données techniques, iconographiques et analytiques collectées grâce à la démarche méthodologique proposée apportent de nouveaux éléments de réponse. Ainsi, l’importation de produits finis et l’expérimentation locale ont pu être exclues au profit de l’importation de savoirs techniques ou du transfert de connaissances. Le répertoire iconographique et le style de tradition gothique ont montré qu’il y avait eu adaptation de la technique à un nouveau milieu socio-culturel. Son utilisation dans des lieux de l’édifice particuliers et particulièrement importants ne servait pas seulement une démonstration de pouvoir mais lui conférait également le statut de marqueur spatial, hiérarchique et social. / Tin-glazed earthenware manufacturing and use changed from its beginnings in the refined courts of the Islamic Far East up to its manufacturing in the West. In France, the technique was introduced during the Gothic period. It appears simultaneously, in specific geographical areas, at times used in the composition of luxurious floor-tiles where it often coexists with indigenous transparent high-lead glazed tiles. Such floor-tiles bear witness to the meeting between two technical and cultural traditions. That is the reason why they are particularly appropriate when studying together issues relating to the geographical origin, production and consumption of tin-glazed earthenware technique at its beginnings in France. The ways followed by this exogenous technique and the reasons for its use were clarified through the overall approach of the exemplary case of Suscinio. Technical, iconographical and analytical data collected by using a multidisciplinary methodology have provided some answers. Imported products and local experimentation can be excluded in favor of imported skills or transfer of knowledge. The Gothic tradition of the iconography and the style showed that the technique was adapted to a new socio-cultural context. Its use in particular and particularly important places was not only reserved to a manifestation of power but also worked as spatial, hierarchical and social markers.

O presente trabalho visa a desenvolver um modelo de referência específico para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos e de tecnologias de produção para o setor da produção industrial brasileira de cerâmica para revestimento. É baseado no uso das metodologias de Desenvolvimento de Produtos, Análise e Gerenciamento do Ciclo de Vida Total e de Desenvolvimento de Produtos Sustentáveis, integrando os aspectos industriais com a redução do impacto ambiental e a sustentabilidade de processos e produtos. O setor de produção de cerâmica não foi ainda abordado amplamente, em termos de pesquisa acadêmica, naquilo que concerne à metodologia de projeto de produto e do processo de fabricação. O presente trabalho pode colaborar para o preenchimento desta lacuna e trazer uma contribuição útil a um setor estratégico nacional, já que atualmente o Brasil é o segundo produtor e o segundo consumidor mundial. Do ponto de vista energético, a produção de pisos e azulejos cerâmicos é intensiva e a redução eficiente do impacto ambiental deve ter foco prioritário no próprio processo produtivo. A análise do setor tem revelado fragilidades estruturais, que devem ser corrigidas para alcançar um nível de competitividade internacional. O desenvolvimento da presente pesquisa fornece, como resultados principais, a geração de um modelo de referência para o projeto e desenvolvimento de novos produtos cerâmicos e tecnologia de produção, a partir da análise da prática atual de desenvolvimento, da teoria de processo de desenvolvimento de produto e da análise comparativa do estado da arte no Brasil e na Itália. O modelo proposto é validado com pesquisa de campo realizada em empresas do setor cerâmico no Brasil e na Itália e com análise crítica sobre o cálculo de análise do ciclo de vida. Como resultado secundário, são apresentadas diretrizes para aplicação da metodologia na produção nacional, visando a orientar uma reestruturação estratégica do setor. / The present work intends to develop a specific reference model for new products and production technologies development in the Brazilian ceramic tiles industrial sector. It is based on Product Development, Total Life cycle Analysis and Management and Sustainable Products Development methodologies, integrating the industrial aspects with the environmental impact reduction and the sustainability of processes and products. The ceramic tile production sector has not yet been widely approached, as academic research, about the product and production project methodology. This work can cooperate to fulfill this gap and perform a useful contribution to a national strategic sector, for being, nowadays, Brazil the second producer and the second consumer into the world market. Form the energy point of view, the ceramic tile production is intensive and an efficient environmental impact reduction must have the main focus in the production process. The sector analysis revealed structural fragilities that must be revised to achieve an international competition level. The present research development engender, as main result, the creation of a reference model for new ceramic product and production technology project and development, based on the analysis of the current practice for product development, on the product development process theory and on its application by a comparative analysis of the state of the art in Brazil and Italy. The proposed model is validated by field research in Brazilian and Italian ceramic industries, as well as critical analysis about Life Cycle Analysis calculation. As secondary result, guidelines are presented, to apply this methodology into the national production, aiming to orient a strategic sector restructuration.

O presente trabalho visa a desenvolver um modelo de referência específico para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos e de tecnologias de produção para o setor da produção industrial brasileira de cerâmica para revestimento. É baseado no uso das metodologias de Desenvolvimento de Produtos, Análise e Gerenciamento do Ciclo de Vida Total e de Desenvolvimento de Produtos Sustentáveis, integrando os aspectos industriais com a redução do impacto ambiental e a sustentabilidade de processos e produtos. O setor de produção de cerâmica não foi ainda abordado amplamente, em termos de pesquisa acadêmica, naquilo que concerne à metodologia de projeto de produto e do processo de fabricação. O presente trabalho pode colaborar para o preenchimento desta lacuna e trazer uma contribuição útil a um setor estratégico nacional, já que atualmente o Brasil é o segundo produtor e o segundo consumidor mundial. Do ponto de vista energético, a produção de pisos e azulejos cerâmicos é intensiva e a redução eficiente do impacto ambiental deve ter foco prioritário no próprio processo produtivo. A análise do setor tem revelado fragilidades estruturais, que devem ser corrigidas para alcançar um nível de competitividade internacional. O desenvolvimento da presente pesquisa fornece, como resultados principais, a geração de um modelo de referência para o projeto e desenvolvimento de novos produtos cerâmicos e tecnologia de produção, a partir da análise da prática atual de desenvolvimento, da teoria de processo de desenvolvimento de produto e da análise comparativa do estado da arte no Brasil e na Itália. O modelo proposto é validado com pesquisa de campo realizada em empresas do setor cerâmico no Brasil e na Itália e com análise crítica sobre o cálculo de análise do ciclo de vida. Como resultado secundário, são apresentadas diretrizes para aplicação da metodologia na produção nacional, visando a orientar uma reestruturação estratégica do setor. / The present work intends to develop a specific reference model for new products and production technologies development in the Brazilian ceramic tiles industrial sector. It is based on Product Development, Total Life cycle Analysis and Management and Sustainable Products Development methodologies, integrating the industrial aspects with the environmental impact reduction and the sustainability of processes and products. The ceramic tile production sector has not yet been widely approached, as academic research, about the product and production project methodology. This work can cooperate to fulfill this gap and perform a useful contribution to a national strategic sector, for being, nowadays, Brazil the second producer and the second consumer into the world market. Form the energy point of view, the ceramic tile production is intensive and an efficient environmental impact reduction must have the main focus in the production process. The sector analysis revealed structural fragilities that must be revised to achieve an international competition level. The present research development engender, as main result, the creation of a reference model for new ceramic product and production technology project and development, based on the analysis of the current practice for product development, on the product development process theory and on its application by a comparative analysis of the state of the art in Brazil and Italy. The proposed model is validated by field research in Brazilian and Italian ceramic industries, as well as critical analysis about Life Cycle Analysis calculation. As secondary result, guidelines are presented, to apply this methodology into the national production, aiming to orient a strategic sector restructuration.

The presented work contains several chapters in the field of Romanesque tile studies. After a clear summary of the current understanding of the development of floor treatment in our area from the early to the high Middle Ages, there follows an analysis of the extensive finds of the Ostrov monastery from recent research that took place at the site. In particular, features that are characteristic and clearly unique for Ostrov tiles are addressed. These are mainly evidence of an innovative approach to tile production. In order to be able to discuss such issues at all, the tiles first had to be processed into the form of a catalog, which is included in this thesis. We consider a clear arrangement of the findings as a necessary condition for further discussion on the chronology and significance of the presumed Ostrov production center. The next chapter is devoted to new findings about the oldest relief floor tiles in the Czech Republic, which are the tiles of the Vyšehrad type. Although there has not been a major shift in the scope of the source base recently, some assumptions can still be reformulated. Briefly, these include abandoning the idea of the Vyšehrad type tiles as a homogeneous group defined by a combination of four motifs, as well as an outline of the possibility of its chronological...