Shelf after shelf of carefully stacked crockery lines the walls. Plates, mugs, cups, glasses, ashtrays and ?tidies? decorated with intricate and colourful designs are arranged in neat rows. A big orange and green plate with its matching teacup stands out from the others. The design is a stunningly detailed iris superimposed on a deep orange ribbon and testifies to the high quality of the products.

We are in the factory showroom of O.I Décal Limited, hidden away in the little village of Saint François in the north. With the specific French expertise brought by the directors, Alain and Gisèle Dhenin, the seven skilled workers decorate porcelain, ceramics and glass. From straightforward logos to more complicated and personalised designs, they deal with everything.

?We import the white porcelain from Girard, a partner firm based in France,? explains the director, adding that O.I Décal Ltd also offers plain white porcelain. At the back of the showroom, a set of closed doors safely keeps the production techniques secret. The only explanation comes from the graphic designer, Jean-Gael, who suddenly emerges from behind one of the doors. ?I either create the design according to the customers? requirements or rework the existing logo on my computer.? Once it is perfect, the design goes through a whole lot of complicated processes before being printed in series on sheets of paper.

Poonam and Reena then fix on the designs. On the table in front of them, there are shallow containers in which the sheets of printed designs are floating. Poonam delicately picks up the design, which slithers off the paper very easily, and carefully places it onto a little glass. She pats it dry and makes sure that it is properly centred. Each item needs to be absolutely identical to all the others. Around the outline of the drawing, there is a wide band of varnish that, according to the director, disappears during the firing.

Two little ovens wait in the far right of the room. Their half open doors let us glimpse walls that are coated with a thick layer of fluffy-looking insulation. These machines can produce up to 1,000 cups a day and heat up to 900 degrees for each firing! The advantage with small ovens is that the company can produce anything from small orders such as 50 items to bigger ones between 2,000 and 5,000.

Audrey, who has come from France, is in charge of the ovens. Dressed in a protective white apron, she loads them with trays full of items ready to be fired. By the end of the firing, the colours will have affixed themselves to the glass. The finished objects will then all be packed and delivered.

O.I Décal Ltd has already started exporting to countries such as the Seychelles and Reunion Island. Their clients are mainly hotels, restaurants or any organisation wanting to adopt the marketing technique: ?pub par l?objet?. A good example of a successful small-scale industry?