Certech sees good prospects for 2024

The Certech Group is gearing up for Tecna 2024, buoyed by the positive results achieved in 2023 and early 2024.

Following steady growth over the two-year period 2021-2022, the Casalgrande-based Certech Group maintained its strong performance in 2023, further expanding its presence in international markets and increasing its market shares, especially in North and South America.

Despite the general slowdown in investment in the global ceramic industry, the group led by CEO Alberto Palladini maintains a moderately optimistic outlook for 2024.

“After a fairly timid start to the year, we are seeing a resurgence in demand for machinery and equipment, especially in Spain and Italy,” says sales director Ivan Bondani.

The group’s member companies Certech, Vibrotech, Novatech and Elema are offering a range of technological solutions tailored to market demands. For example, the group has successfully completed numerous projects in the field of raw material preparation (milling with modular mills, screening and deferrisation) aimed of achieving high-output and high-quality production of ceramic bodies for large size tiles and slabs.

The market has shown a similar interest in upgrading or revamping spray dryers to increase production by up to 50%.

Sales also received a significant boost from Ink Refill systems for the automatic feeding of digital printers, with new orders coming in from ceramic companies located in Europe, Turkey and South America.

“As production lines become increasingly automated, more and more ceramic companies are recognising the need to automate this phase of the process too,” says Bondani. “They are adopting solutions that provide clear benefits in terms of greater production efficiency and enhanced environmental and economic sustainability. Over time, this type of system is likely to become standard on digital decoration lines, so the prospects for further expansion of Ink Refill systems in international markets are excellent.”

The group will also be presenting a number of new products at Tecna in Rimini in September. These include the new series of centrifugal pumps for spray dryers that are designed to replace traditional piston pumps and offer a number of advantages, including less maintenance, energy savings and the ability to use a single machine to transport the slip to the spray dryer.

Alongside its inkjet printhead cleaning machine, Elema will also be exhibiting EASY TEST, a new solution for testing reconditioned printheads.

Certech Group’s R&D department is still conducting tests as part of its efforts to develop new rubber mill linings made of new and more wear-resistant compounds.

To strengthen Certech Group’s global presence, its sales staff have been busy at a number of international trade fairs this year, including Cevisama, Revestir, Coverings and Ceramics China. They are now gearing up for Tecna, the real highlight of 2024, to be followed by Ceramic Expo Bangladesh at the end of November.

“We have maintained a presence in Asia for years and are confident that the current slowdown in the ceramic sector will come to an end by the second half of 2024, paving the way for a significant recovery in 2025,” says Bondani. “Our development plans for Asia include opening a Certech Service Centre to provide customers with comprehensive support for all of the group’s operations.”