Part of the Board of Governors of Confindustria Ceramica and active promoter of the “Ceramics of Italy” brand, Ceramiche Piemme is one of the leading expressions of Made in Italy design and quality, boasting a plant that every year produces over 7.5 million mq. of porcelain stoneware. The choice of turning to the professionalism and innovation of System Ceramics, the Coesia Group company, to renew its plants, consolidating a longstanding partnership, underlines the ceramic company’s intention to exploit and invest in the positive trend in 2021, with numbers that confirm a solid growth despite the pandemic and the raw materials crisis, possible thanks to a significant export volume to countries such as France, United States and Germany.
Hypermate powered by Prime was the top-level technology from which Piemme started to give new input to its factory. Hypermate is the proprietary software services platform developed to make it possible to organise the information flows of entire factories in a highly integrated and connected way, generating, at the same time, considerable advantages in terms of reduction of energy and raw material waste. Conceived thanks to the expertise of System Ceramics Research&Development department, this software is able to guarantee numerous benefits for enterprises: among these, a standardised management of data to simplify the ceramic production process, the aggregated collection of information to guide decisions, the improvement of communication between company and machine supplier, the reduction of product change times and the optimal management of production costs. On these bases, Qualitron, the vision machine for detecting the tone of ceramic surfaces has been installed. Sophisticated and renewed lighting devices enable it to capture the image with a latest-generation network of precise video-cameras, identifying any surface, graphics or shade defects. Multigecko, the tile-sorting set-up allows for product and format change without stopping the machine, thanks to a dedicated software, and then there’s also Multiflex, the customized and just-in-time packaging line which is able to produce up to 9 packages a minute with maximum flexibility thanks to the use of a unique corrugated neutral cardboard which can be used in the natural form or customized with the printing process. And finally, Griffon, the automatic palletizer designed for medium and large formats up to 250 kg, equipped with a motorized grip which guarantees maximum stability for the package and a correct matching between the pallet barcode and the associated packages, allowing for an optimal flow to the warehouse.
System Ceramics’ sorting lines, therefore, facilitate Ceramiche Piemme’s production, enabling the company to have a more in-depth management of its plant and an even more effective sorting of products; all this has been achieved following technology principles in line with the industry 4.0 revolution, allowing the company to differentiate itself in major international markets with respect to quality and competitiveness.