Soft mud brick production: Easymud® by Capaccioli is the solution

The new fully-automated line for forming soft mud bricks, pavers, roof tiles, strips and special pieces is designed to save energy and raw materials, minimise changeover times and achieve high production standards in accordance with lean manufacturing principles.

Easymud® is a unique production line that was first developed back in the 1990s but has been extensively redesigned in the last two years by the R&D team at Tuscany-based company Capaccioli, a leading supplier of complete plants for the heavy clay industry.

The new fully-automated line for forming soft mud bricks, pavers, roof tiles, strips and special pieces is designed to save energy and raw materials, minimise changeover times and achieve high production standards in accordance with lean manufacturing principles.

The introduction of robotic technologies into the system has brought revolutionary results. The machine is now capable of forming strips and other small decorative items with a similar degree of roughness to that of bricks. This kind of strip is currently in great demand on the market and is normally produced by cutting the two outer faces of the fired bricks and discarding the central portion, resulting in significant wastage of raw materials and consequent production inefficiencies. Producing strips with Easymud® technology solves these issues and at the same time brings significant energy savings.

Easymud® also guarantees a precise surface finish on the face where the installation mortar or adhesive will be applied, allowing for tolerances in the region of tenths of a mm.

The other important characteristic of this technology is its ability to form corner pieces. These special pieces are designed for use on the corners of walls and are traditionally produced by cutting whole bricks after firing, again unfortunately with very high waste percentages. Thanks to the robotic levelling process, Easymud® guarantees an extremely precise surface finish with minimal trim, which is then fed back into the production cycle for a zero-waste process.

The high level of automation has also led to significant progress in terms of lean manufacturing. The use of moving parts and special machines has been reduced to a minimum, bringing major benefits in terms of reliability, production time management and maintenance.

The latest changes have also further reduced size changeover times by integrating all aspects of this function, including mould set management, into the machine design. As a result, Easymud® simplifies and reduces maintenance requirements, drastically cuts production costs and lowers raw material and energy consumption compared to the soft mud brick production technologies currently on the market.

Ever since Capaccioli was founded back in 1950, its plant engineering solutions have stood out for their high level of customisation coupled with a strong focus on innovation. Among its strategic and business priorities, the company is committed to building a sustainable future through the development of green technologies.