Sacmi supplies Continua line to Cooperativa Ceramica d'Imola

The installation and start-up of a new Sacmi production line at the Cooperativa Ceramica d’Imola Group’s Borgo Tossignano plant was completed in July this year. This innovative line is designed to expand the Group’s porcelain tile range without actually increasing the installed firing capacity.

As a result of successful cooperation between the Sacmi Research Centre and Cooperativa Ceramica’s Product Development department, it took just a few months to proceed from the design stage to actual production. Sacmi responded to the customer’s demand for finished product excellence by supplying the best available technologies. The line is based on Continua technology, with a PCR pre-compactor and TPV cutter unit, together with the largest press available for the ceramic industry, the PH10000, which is capable of pressing extremely large sizes such as 1200x1200 mm, 900x1800 mm and 1000x1500 mm. These may be the desired final tile sizes, otherwise they can be cut into the required submultiples prior to firing using the downstream TPD cutting machine.The line is completed by the Sacmi Forni ECP285 multi-layer horizontal dryer.

Continua technology achieves its full potential with dry digital decoration (DDD), the latest application developed by Sacmi for controlled deposition of layers of spray-dried powder (or flakes, granules, glazes, etc.) according to the parameters established by a graphics file. This revolution opens up new frontiers for decoration and integrates perfectly with the inherent flexibility of the Continua line in terms of sizes, thicknesses and multiple fillings, which can be performed at the same speed as a single layer. Six dry digital heads are installed and operating on the Cooperativa Ceramica line.