In keeping with its vision of innovation as the main driver of sustainability, the R&D department of Scandiano-based company BMR works tirelessly to develop solutions that offer significant technological and environmental benefits. A prime example of this approach is the recovery of process waste from the drying, decorating, firing and grinding phases and its reuse for body preparation, a process that BMR has adopted following experimentation conducted in collaboration with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
All the latest versions of BMR’s machines are designed to reduce energy and raw material consumption, thereby ensuring the utmost respect for the environment and human beings. Digitalisation and integration with new intelligent systems play a crucial role in this process.
Energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and supply chain development are just a few of the innovative aspects of BMR’s latest offerings, which result in an increasingly objective and sustainable process that uses digital cameras to monitor operation and thereby conserve energy resources and cut costs.
The most recent new technology to be introduced to the squaring line is Squadra Vision. The latest iteration of BMR’s classic squaring machine featuring the use of video cameras, Squadra Vision is an advanced, completely automatic and highly engineered system. Following continuous technology upgrades, it embraces the concepts of the Smart Factory and Industry 5.0, bringing numerous advantages in terms of energy savings, eco-sustainability and reduced production costs. Tests conducted at customers’ sites have shown that for the same material, removal rate and speed, this camera-based technology achieves 40% lower grinding wheel consumption than laser-based or similar technologies.
BMR’s patented camera-based system is the only solution of its kind that has been applied to a squaring machine and has now undergone further improvement. Equipped with a laser system at the line infeed and outfeed, the machine automatically controls numerous functions and parameters, ensuring a higher percentage of first choice products and consequently a reduction in labour and process costs, while at the same time respecting the environment and meeting sustainability standards.
Squadra Vision is a dry squaring machine with 9 or 12 calibrating units per side, ideal for all types of materials and sizes up to 1800×3600 mm or larger. The new machine is extremely reliable due to its construction characteristics and control system, which collects the data required for predictive maintenance. This greatly reduces the risk of breakages and other issues.
One of BMR’s most popular technologies for polishing lines is Leviga, the latest version of which is LeviCompact, BMR’s exclusive technology for lapping, satin finishing and polishing large slabs with widths of 1200 mm, 1600 mm and 1800 mm. LeviCompact has smaller overall dimensions while delivering higher productivity than previous versions of Leviga and other machines of the same class. It was the first solution in the world to feature two parallel oscillating bridges with 10 heads each, allowing for higher speeds and greater uniformity than conventional solutions. These characteristics increase productivity while minimising the risk of aesthetic defects on finished products. This solution introduces a new graphic interface for easier viewing and greater control. The use of dedicated proportional valves allows the pressure to be controlled digitally and replaces the need for manual adjustments.
For the treatment stage, BMR is introducing Supershine Plus, the latest version of its best-selling machine Supershine with a choice of 12, 16 or 20 heads. The new version is capable of handling one or more products separately thanks to the peristaltic pumps for product dosing, which are equipped with two feed channels. The pumping system with ModBus communication has been replaced by a more powerful system equipped with an EtherCat communication channel, which guarantees more rapid and precise batching and consequently reduced material losses. Thanks to temperature control, it increases processing uniformity and avoids problems caused by temperature fluctuations.
Installed downstream of Supershine, ShineVision uses electronic equipment and a visual inspection system to check the results of the surface machining process and perform quality control on the finished tile. The machine can consist of a Gloss module (Gloss mapping) and/or a Scratch module which detects aesthetic defects and imperfections, thereby increasing the percentage of first choice products and reducing costs.
The latest BMR solutions offer real operational advantages, including:
- Higher productivity and consequently competitiveness;
- Reduced costs due to lower energy consumption, less downtime and less waste;
- Greater safety as the machine vision solutions help create a positive and safe working environment;
- Automatic detection and correction of production issues on the line by means of machine vision integrated with the factory supervision network;
- Improvement in sustainable working practices thanks to greater energy and resource efficiency and reduced defects and waste;
- Greater innovation, as freeing personnel from repetitive, manual tasks allows them to devote more attention to the details of the process, thereby facilitating problem solving.
BMR’s digital and industrial vision systems are capable of processing large quantities of information in a fraction of a second, thereby generating positive knock-on effects for the entire production process. The rapid processing capacity of BMR vision systems results in increasingly optimised processes with lower environmental impact and allows for the production of tiles and slabs with negligible defects.