A new complete supply for the plant in Santa Luzia. The line is designed to meet the very high production output (2000 pieces/day) whilst maintaining top quality of the glazed piece, thanks to the latest automation systems and process controls. The result is maximum repeatability under all production conditions.
The Roca Group continues to invest in SACMI RobotGlaze technology. The most recent supply to Roca Sanitarios Brasil is a complete line for robotized glazing of sanitaryware to be started up at the Santa Luzia factory (in the state of Minas Gerais), one of the Roca Group’s five production plants in Brazil.
In terms of set-up and features, the line supplied is a duplicate of the same project developed by Roca Brasil and SACMI in 2012. For example, as before, this new line is provided with an overhead conveyor system whereby the pieces are moved along by overhead carriers and taken to the various inspection/glazing stations.
After loading (carried out by a pneumatic handling device) and the initial inspection, the piece is transferred to the first cell equipped with a GA2000 robot for glazing inside the WC bowl and under the rim. The pieces are then moved on to the next two stations, provided with robots for external finishing. The entire carousel is made up of 41 positions, corresponding to the same number of different pieces which can be glazed on this line.
Mainly dedicated to the glazing of WC bowls – but also suitable to handle any piece, shape and size – the new line is designed to reach very high levels of production output, potentially equal to more than 2000 pieces per day produced in three workshifts (for each glazed piece not more than 35-40 seconds are required).
All the glaze spraying equipment is supplied by SACMI. Both the GA2000 and the additional robots are, in fact, equipped with the SACMI mass control system for controlling the quantity of glaze applied. Furthermore, the supply also included 5 GDA80 spray-guns, the SACMI zero maintenance solution which is ideal for the high production output required.
Control in real time of the density, flow-rate and temperature of the glaze guarantees maximum repeatability of the process ensuring it is not affected by environmental factors and/or operator error. This is achieved thanks to more efficient handling of any alarm signals (in fact it is the spraying system which picks up in advance any deviations from the pre-set parameters) identifying, for example, insufficient glaze flow or variations in the glaze characteristics, thus simplifying the control process for the operators.
Among the additional equipment supplied by SACMI is the coding bench where each piece is entered with a unique code allowing the robot to recognize it and call up the specific glazing program.
This supply is the latest of tens of other SACMI RobotGlaze solutions installed around the world at the various production plants of the Roca Group, from South America to Europe and Russia. Of particular importance for the Brazilian factory at Santa Luzia – where SACMI, in addition to supplying the first complete line, also carried out revamping of the two existing lines in 2016 – is the ability to develop the production process with personalized solutions specially designed to meet the high production requirements whilst maintaining the quality and repeatability of the sanitaryware glazing process.