A successful logistics hub, with a high strategic value, which has brought BMR to Tennessee, in the heart of the made in the USA ceramic valley. The US headquarters of the Scandiano (Reggio Emilia) company, leader in the design and construction of machinery and technologies dedicated to the ceramic end of line, is currently managed by Antonio Carletti, who is responsible for consolidating BMR’s position on the US market, thanks to the Crossville – Tennessee branch, inaugurated in 2017. Not just a wide range of spare parts that allows supplies and demand for technical assistance to be managed quickly on site, but also a workshop for regenerating squaring and lapping spindles, which enhances the offer of services for companies in the district, many of which are Italian, which until now had been made prohibitive by the cost of transport to and from Italy.
Question: Carletti, three years after establishing BMR in the States, what is your appraisal?
Antonio Carletti: After the first inauguration of 2016 in Dickson-Tennessee, BMR has expanded and moved its American headquarters to Crossville, also in Tennessee. Here a structure dedicated to the regeneration of the various polishing and squaring components has been set up, and there is a team of people specialized in the maintenance of BMR technologies. It is therefore an important service, structured in just 3 years of business but which already guarantees the management of customer needs with targeted and timely advice. The balance of this three-year period arises from the appreciation by the main ceramic companies active in the area, which have recognized in BMR USA an added value given by BMR to the quality of end-of-line processes, further consolidating the partnership between companies and owners.
Question: Which new services has BMR recently brought or will bring to ceramic valley USA?
A.C.: We have implemented our offer, by locally regenerating the machines’ various components. A service that allows service times to be speeded up and significantly reduce costs, obviously due to transport. We have also increased the space for the storage of spare parts, and we have increased the customer care service, to be really as efficient as possible.
Question: What are the features that differentiate the US market?
A.C.: If the US economy continues to show an excellent state of health, the US ceramic market is struggling to keep up the pace. Based on data from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and TCNA, tile consumption in the United States fell to 273.2 million sq. m in 2019, losing 5.4% over 2018.
The average selling price of the domestic product rose from $ 16.43 / m2 in 2018 to $ 16.63 / m2 in 2019.
The slowdown in the real estate sector and building renovation activities weighed heavily; moreover, the advance of vinyl materials threatens the tile market share: already at the end of 2017, in fact, ceramic was worth 14.3% of the value of the US flooring market, against 9.3% of LVT which, however, are gaining about one and a half percentage points a year. At the end of 2019 LVT and ceramic had the same market share.
However, due to the demand for tiles, the US tile market remains one of the most attractive. 72% of the demand is covered by imports and 28% by 8 local companies with 11 active plants. And even if the local industry uses 100% of its production capacity, it will only cover 37% of the demand.
From these data, the potential of this domestic market for our company and for the USA branch is very clear. In addition, with the new duties against Chinese imports, the race to conquer a slice of the approximately 64.3 million square meters generally imported from China opens.
Question: What are the new trends related to the ceramic sector in the United States?
A.C.: The most common sizes such as 30×30, 30×60, 15×30 cm, with traditional thicknesses, are those most in demand, but the share of solutions for the outdoors in raised thicknesses of 20 mm is also growing.
Question: And which technologies, among those dedicated to ceramic finishing, are most widely accepted in the USA?
A.C.: If we assess the installations made to date, surely the most contemporary technology is that of cutting and squaring, with an important number of start-ups between the end of 2019 and the first months of 2020. One example is Del Conca USA which, in the process of evolution towards the Smart Factory also at its headquarters in Loudon in Tennessee, has found an innovative partner in BMR, which has been able to respond to different demands with a completely DRY, fully digitized and automated squaring line.
Question: How do you think the ceramic sector will develop in the near future?
A.C.: I think I can say with a good safety margin that we will increasingly move from the traditional concept of tile to the more complex surface one, with a close connection with the “green” concept. In the green and circular economy, recycling is a key parameter for reducing environmental impacts. Through the significant reuse of materials, it is possible to obtain ceramic tiles and slabs that meet the best eco-sustainable standards.
BMR has been pursuing this “green oriented” direction for some time: thanks in fact to the DRY technology which avoids the use of water – considerably simplifying the systems, guaranteeing longer life for spare parts, overhauling the work environment and, of course, respecting the environment -, it is possible to recover large quantities of dry grinding residues and recycle them as raw material in the mix formulation.
Depending on the minimum and maximum values of the machine’s various operating variables, as well as the thicknesses and removable quantities for each side, a recovery has been highlighted that can vary between 200 and 400 kg / h of dry powder, which is equivalent to the availability of a new recyclable raw material in production. This allows all the problems of environmental impact and the costs for the disposal of the sludge from grinding to be eliminated, maintaining the high quality of the resulting tile.
Question: So, what are the added values that local companies recognize in BMR being in the USA?
A.C.: Being able to work “local to local” in logistics and customer service management is certainly an important advantage, which is demonstrated by the rapid intervention times and BMR’s know-how of over 20 years on the squaring and lapping process. This creates a collaboration with customers based on trust and reliability, as well as on the recognized leadership of Made in Italy technologies, conveyed – thanks to the USA headquarters – with optimized costs and times and, at the same time, with advantages in terms of punctuality, speed and efficiency.
Question: Which are your main references in the USA?
A.C.: We collaborate with many important American ceramic companies, first and foremost Crossville Tile, StonePeak Ceramics, Dal-Tile Group, Florim USA, Rainbow Inc., Marazzi Tile, Florida Tile, Atlas USA, Ironrock, Del Conca USA.
