The benefits of automated raw materials storage

In September 2020, LB signed an agreement with the multinational company Anatolia for the supply of a complete raw materials storage plant at the Turkish production unit of Izmir.

The raw materials storage system commissioned last September from LB by Canadian multinational Anatolia for its porcelain slab production unit in Izmir, Turkey stands out for its high level of automation and the use of software solutions to control the processes, accesses, number, quantity and type of raw materials stored.

To date there are no other known cases in which a solution of this kind has been adopted by a ceramic tile manufacturer anywhere in the world, reflecting the scant attention that the industry has traditionally devoted to the raw materials storage department.

The choice made by Anatolia in fact reveals the significant improvements in terms of efficiency and consequently economic savings that can easily be made in this area of the plant and demonstrates that it merits major investment.

The Anatolia plant will come into operation in the summer of 2021 and will be fully compliant with smart industry criteria, resulting in:

• reduced plant layout
• lower management costs
• lower environmental impact
• possibility of total remote control.

LB is already well known for its ability to design and build technologies that guarantee traceability and precision throughout the production process. However, the Anatolia plant represents a further significant step forward. The supply of production plant access and discharge management system testifies to LB’s technological flexibility in promoting innovative integrated solutions with respect to traditional production technologies and confirms its role as a key player in the powder treatment sector.

With the start-up of the new raw materials storage plant, Anatolia is expecting to see a series of benefits relating to the traceability of the entire process, i.e. from the time the material enters the plant to the moment it is dosed and introduced into the press for production. This will create a kind of “black box”, a direct link with analysable data between the raw material and the finished product. The traceability deriving from automation will also reduce losses and waste of raw materials.

The storage plant designed by LB will be able to handle a sufficient quantity of materials for six months of production.