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OCTOBER 2015 •
PPB
• 97
Tom and Duane Dunsirn are the founding owners of Sunset Hill Stoneware.
BELOW
Fired and glazed mugs are moved into
a shipping area for packing.
LEFT
Products are
loaded into computer-controlled kilns with
built-in sensing and safety features, which are
controlled internally and via the internet.
ABOUT SUNSET HILL
STONEWARE
Founding date
1998
Principals
Father and son, Duane and Tom
Dunsirn
Size of production facility
15,500 square feet
Number of employees
40
Number of orders filled
per year
About 12,000 orders
Types of specialized equipment
proprietary equipment and
processes engineered and
constructed by Duane Dunsirn,
including custom-designed
pottery wheels, mobile damp
carts and traveling work
stations.
Notable accomplishments
The company was recognized
in 2013 by the tourism-focused
television show “Discover
Wisconsin” as a Master
Craftsman company.
Other unique company features
• The owners have conscien-
tiously elected to do things
the right way for the safety of
their employees and the pro-
tection of the environment.
They have made green prac-
tices an integral part of their
daily operations.
• A custom-engineered HVAC
system reclaims 100 percent
of the heat produced in the
facility, and it is redispersed to
dry greenware, heat water
and the facility. On-site moni-
toring done by an environ-
mental consulting firm this
year for particulates such as
respirable dust and crystaline
silica revealed levels of the
materials are 96 and 95 per-
cent lower, respectively, than
both current and proposed
OSHA standards.
Potters take lumps of clay and form them on a wheel into classic mugs and steins accord-
ing to customer orders.