Sacmi supplies Industry 4.0 handling and glazing equipment to Ceramica Flaminia

A major player in the Civita Castellana ceramic cluster in the province of Viterbo and a symbol of high-quality Italian sanitaryware, Ceramica Flaminia has commissioned Sacmi to fully automate its plant from the dryer through to the kiln in accordance with Industry 4.0 principles and just-in-time manufacturing criteria.

The plant became operational in June and consists of 7 Gaiotto robots which perform all the handling, glazing and control operations. If the operator observes any non-conformities or inspection is required, a dedicated dynamic buffer temporarily removes the piece from the line and subsequently reinserts it without stopping or slowing down production. The robots operating in the glazing cells are equipped with the Sacmi GDA 80 needleless glazing gun which reduces glaze consumption and maintenance requirements while improving quality.

Ceramica Flaminia’s investment has resulted in a fully automated production line from the dryer through to kiln loading. This means that the operator no longer has to perform manual tasks and can monitor all operations via a dedicated interface.

As well as optimising production factors, the new system also allows for total product traceability as the robots are interconnected with the factory supervisor, which in turn interfaces with the customer’s ERP.

This latest equipment joins the Sacmi machinery already installed at Ceramica Flaminia, consisting of three robots, a shuttle kiln, a tunnel kiln and two ALS casting cells.