Steuler invests in the large-format tile sector

A total of 10 Continua+ lines were installed by Sacmi worldwide in 2014, one of which was started up in March 2015 at the Nord Ceram plant in Bremerhaven, on Germany's North Sea coast.

With a major investment totalling 8.5 million euros, the company set up in 2002 by Norddeutsche Steingut, part of the Steuler group, became the first company in Germany to adopt the highly innovative continuous compaction technology for production and decoration of large-format porcelain tiles without size or thickness limitations.

"We decided to take this step because the continuous compaction process is exactly what we needed for the future development of our plant", Karl Heinz Fabel, technical director of Nord Ceram, told us. "The project, of which the Continua+ line is a part, focuses on additional new tile formats and thicknesses, a further improvement in product quality and greater plant efficiency. In other words we wanted to make the brand more competitive than ever".

The agreement with Sacmi was finalised last June, after which the plant was installed and tested rapidly. It began operation on 24 March.

Read online the full interview published on Ceramic World Review 111/2015 or download the pdf version.