BMR’s DIGITAL LINE AND 4.0 LOGISTICS

The BMR digital line presents itself as a new way of understanding the ceramic end-of-line process.

Dynamic, digital, sustainable, efficient: these are the main features of a technology that, over the years, has established itself in the sector, becoming an integral part of the production plant.

The increase in requests for product customization, their increasing complexity, the reduction of their life cycle, as well as the demand for small batches and the uncertainty of an unstable economy, have dictated their development strategies to make the line as flexible as possible, ensuring – if not improving – production efficiency and quality.

The finishing, cutting and squaring processes have gone from being outsourced operations to being today inside the ceramics themselves, with process evolutions that, within a few years, have definitely changed the soul of the end-of-line.

This is the case of the transfer of some technologies – such as squaring and cutting – from wet to dry processing in just 4 years. A BMR exclusive that has radically changed the process, optimizing it in all its aspects: from plant engineering to production, to the work environment, from costs to the quality of the finished product.

And it’s the cutting and squaring that were subject to the upgrades dictated by the industrial 4.0 revolution. Digitization and automation are the keywords of the new Smart Factory and BMR has integrated cutting and squaring with a patented camera system. The operator interface allows access to all sensitive process information with just a few clicks.

This implementation produces numerous advantages:

– the system always allows all the tools to work in the best conditions, with a decisive saving of the grinding wheels;

– sizes are changed very quickly, as well as the identification and resolution of problems being instantaneous: this guarantees an increase in productivity;

– quality also increases: automation and control with the cameras bring about less chipping or breakage, less downtime, greater production continuity and less material “waste” during size changeover;

– the machine is managed remotely: thanks to network connectivity, all the operator’s interventions are performed outside the cabin (except for the grinding wheel change), including the creation and automatic loading of the removal cone (recipes);

– the camera system also allows constant monitoring of processing, with less intervention by the operator who can therefore focus more on solving problems;

– even all the information regarding consumption, duration and the efficiency of the grinding wheels are constantly recorded and saved, with a control over the production data which can also translate into customized reports.

The lapping and treatment stages have also undergone the 4.0 evolution with a systematic and industrial approach characterized by simplicity and sharing, to always guarantee efficiency and quality.

The automation applied to Leviga Plus – BMR’s flagship in terms of finishing for large slabs too – allows the grinding wheel grain size to be noted on the touch screen of each head and to save the data in customizable recipes: here the belt speed, the forward-backward oscillation and speed, the grain size of the wheels, the pressure of the heads and the height of the abrasive can be memorized.

The machine is loaded automatically: in fact, when the machine is started, the heads automatically go down when the first slab passes. Then when the head is turned on, it undergoes a reduced pressure for a predefined time to allow the new abrasive to be run-in after the tool change. Finally, greater flexibility is also brought about by the forward-backward oscillation, divided into 3 zones, each of which can be modulated in size, speed/acceleration and pressure.

Treatment concludes the lapping process, for which SuperShine is a technological reference. SuperShine is a true DRY polishing machine that uses natural silica and a thermo-mechanical process to increase the Gloss of the tile coming from the lapping process by 30 degrees or more.

With 10 satellite heads and six tools, SuperShine applies the product and then polishes with the first 7 heads, which also dose the product. Two free positions follow, allowing the product to penetrate the tile; the last 3 heads for washing complete the machine.

The end result is a product of great aesthetic appeal, which maintains the functional features of porcelain stoneware.

In this way the 4.0 BMR finishing line evolves, a complete automated process that enters into synergy with the entire plant and puts the various operational functions in synergy, digitalizing a manufacturing added value.