Ferrari & Cigarini: a production process capable of creating modular sizes and submultiples

The continuous development of ceramic products, and particularly the exponential growth of large sizes like 45x90, 60x90, 90x90, 60x120 and 120x120 cm, has opened up new sales opportunities but at the same time increased the complexity of warehouse management and pushed up production costs.

To offer a technical solution to these problems, Ferrari & Cigarini has developed a production process capable of creating modular sizes and submultiples, and adding value by squaring and chamfering whole pieces.
This process is highly flexible and offers outstanding opportunities for production as it can be used to produce squared and chamfered pieces of any size, including strips, listels, panels, ceiling tiles and insets.

The system’s versatility derives from the fact that it is possible to perform two or more production processes like cutting, rectifying, squaring, chamfering, drying and automatic palletisation in a single fully-automated operation.

The first step in the process is performed by two models of cutting machine, the MTP 950 and the MTP 1300, which have useful widths of 95 mm and 130 mm respectively and can be used for the multiple cutting of large sizes in conditions of total stability and excellent precision thanks to F&C’s double hyperstatic support.

The second step is performed by the MCB family of squaring/rectifying machines consisting of 3, 5 or 7 groups of opposing motors, depending on the material to be removed and the required production capacity.
The third step is performed by the MCB chamfering module or by means of special MBR chamfering machines with one or more floating chamfering heads. The fourth step uses an ASCR water aspiration system or one of the powerful hot air recirculation driers in the ERC family.

The fifth and final step in the process can be performed in either of two different ways: by means of PAC007 multi-exit automatic palletisers or by means of a robotic palletisation island.