Fortaleza upgrades to robotic handling

At the Huachipa plant, in Perù, Marcheluzzo addresses a critical situation involving the fired material unloading zone at the kiln exit, installing modern robotic technology.

Grupo Cerámicos Fortaleza, a Peruvian brick manufacturer offering a wide range of different product sizes and formats, approached Marcheluzzo to address a critical situation involving the fired material unloading zone at the kiln exit. Marcheluzzo’s engineers visited the Huachipa facility and conducted an in-depth analysis of the production environment, examining process parameters and the type of materials involved.

In consultation with the customer, they concluded that the most effective solution would be to completely replace the packaging line, thereby eliminating much of the manual work and improving daily productivity. However, this was a big challenge as it involved integrating modern robotic technology into a setting dominated by manual product handling.

Advances in robotics

The proposed plant unloads the various types of materials from the kiln cars layer by layer, allowing a new transport pack to be formed while managing any waste generated during the pack forming phase. The grippers attached to the robots are specially designed to be able to compensate for incorrect positioning of materials on the kiln cars, a situation that may arise due to the continued use of manual handling in some operations.

The fired brick unsetting line uses two robots and two programming lines for subsequent pack formation on the existing packaging line. These Fanuc M410iB-700 kg type robots complete with grippers are capable of picking up two layers at a time and are designed to recompact the material accurately and securely.

The layer handling lines, consisting of PVC mats and chains, transport the material to the pack formation point prior to shipment.

This new investment will enable Ladrillera Fortaleza to fully utilise its kiln capacity of around 900 tonnes/day, resulting in greater efficiency.

A new lease of life for obsolete technology

As technology rapidly evolves, many companies find their production lines outdated, leading to inefficiencies, energy wastage and high operating costs.

Marcheluzzo is increasingly being asked to integrate modern technologies into these technologically obsolete and predominantly manual plants. These upgrades are complex, involving significant design challenges and difficulties in managing the machinery upgrade and programming stages.

In the case of Ladrillera Fortaleza, Marcheluzzo displayed exceptional flexibility and a deep understanding of the heavy clay industry and new digital technologies. The company’s highly skilled technical team was able to successfully commission the line entirely remotely.

This achievement further cements Marcheluzzo’s reputation as a go-to partner in South America, where it has been delivering plants to leading brick manufacturers for decades. Marcheluzzo’s offerings range from specific projects aimed at enhancing the performance of existing lines to the supply of complete turnkey solutions.