Sacmi supplies robotic casting technology to Kirovskaya Keramica

The top Russian sanitaryware producer has chosen Sacmi’s pressure casting technology for its characteristics of superior quality, efficiency and process repeatability

One of Russia’s oldest and most prestigious ceramic companies and a market leader in the sanitaryware industry, Kirovskaya Keramica has invested in Sacmi’s pressure casting technology, a system renowned worldwide for its high levels of efficiency, quality and process repeatability in the production of complex high-end sanitaryware.

Kirovskaya Keramica’s investment plan for its plant in Kirov (Kaluga region) is divided into two stages. The first will involve an AVB multi-mould module with three moulds for the production of three-part wall-hung WCs. The second stage will see the installation of an additional AVM module for the production of WCs with up to five parts using four moulds. Both machines are supplied by Sacmi in the XC (extra-short) configuration, a solution that allows for greater flexibility in handling different models while maintaining high line productivity.

The smaller number of moulds means that cycle times are up to 15% shorter than in a traditional set-up. A single robot governs the stages of demoulding, piece turnover and storage car loading and is capable of controlling the two machines simultaneously. This increases productivity and minimises line downtime as one of the two cells can continue to operate during mould changeovers.

With an output of 2.2 million pieces per year, Kirovskaya Keramica is the largest entirely Russian-owned ceramic sanitaryware manufacturer. Although the company’s high level of technology enables it to directly control its set of moulds, Kirovskaya has commissioned Sacmi to carry out complete modelling of a polyurethane prototype of a new rimless WC, which has undergone all the functionality tests required by the strict Russian standards.

The casting cell, which was recently started up with its first installed mould, is due to reach full-scale operation by the end of the autumn alongside the items of technology supplied by Sacmi for the Kirov site, from automated systems for body preparation to the Sacmi-Riedhammer tunnel kiln and complete lines for robotic glazing.