SITI B&T Group: the first SUPERA® in Brazil will be operating soon
The Formigine group’s leading technology for the production of slabs
on a belt will make its début in the South American market with the Fragnani group
Formigine, 31 March 2022 – SITI-B&T Group, a manufacturer of complete systems serving the world’s ceramic industry, has announced two major projects with the Fragnani Group, where it will install the first SUPERA® line in Brazil, one of the most important ceramic markets in the world. Two of the Brazilian Group’s plants are involved: Tecnogres and Incenor in Bahia.
SUPERA® is the exclusive pressing technology on a belt and without any mould, created to guarantee maximum flexibility and versatility in terms of product size and thickness, totally eliminating the dependence on moulds and having as its main objective the elimination of green waste. A massive technological renewal has been launched within the Tecnogres plant, which includes the installation of a SUPERA® line capable of processing slabs up to 1600x3200mm and green cut sub-sizes, with thicknesses from 6 to 20mm.
One of the main features of this 30 thousand tons press is its production capacity, capable of reaching 500 thousand square metres/month. This peculiarity allows, in addition to a great economic advantage determined by the increase in productivity, obtaining a significant reduction in energy consumption during the working process, thanks also to the patented Start&Stop system which allows energy consumption to be reduced by 30%.
An important advantage of SUPERA® is the pressing system using a high hardness and durability resin pad, which allows the creation of structured products and surface reliefs with high definition and depth.
This system also ensures, in addition to the evident qualitative results, a reduction in production costs, not having to purchase belts which due to their nature are prone to wear.
The patented SUPERA® mouldless pressing system is characterized by an extraordinary tolerance to different types of mixes and requires local raw materials not necessarily with high plasticity or humidity, also available at KM 0, resulting in some of the lowest operating costs on the market.
SUPERA® is also a modular system, which does not require special transport. For this reason, in order to facilitate on-site logistics and facilitate installation at the customer’s plant scheduled for early August, the press will be loaded and shipped disassembled from the logistics hub of the Formigine giant.
Another important project in Brazil is, as already mentioned, the complete plant already being assembled at Incenor, this too a Fragnani Group company based in Bahia. The single-firing line purchased by the Brazilian customer features in fact the highest productivity in the world, with 44 thousand square metres/day and green tiles of 68x68cm, which will then be processed to obtain the final 63x63cm size. Innova completes this line, the full digital line by Projecta, a SITI B&T Group company specialising in digital decoration.
With its 60 linear metres per minute, a print front up to 1330 mm and the possibility of using 8 (6 + 2) different inks, the line printer installed at Incenor allows the opening of new graphic frontiers in digital printing for any size. The hardware implementations introduced with this technology allow the achievement of an extremely precise machine alignment. To complete it all, advanced colour management, essential to fully dominate the production process, and the latest generation system (SMART DROP) that allows perfect dot distribution, automating the registration of printing steps.
On the other hand, Incenor opted for the Smart Line solution from SITI B&T Group as regards sorting and palletizing systems; a 100% automatic technology that does not require the presence of an operator, extremely flexible and “hybrid”, thanks to the possibility of alternating box “wrap” and “cover”. It is fitted with the TILE VISION system, which allows any defects relating to flatness and product size to be identified 24/7, and with independent stackers that can be easily disassembled without interrupting production. Smart Line is the flagship of SITI palletizing technologies, now also available for large sizes up to 1200 x 1200 mm.
“For our Group – says Fabio Tarozzi, CEO of SITI B&T Group – 2022 will be a year of great satisfaction in Brazil. The project to increase and consolidate our presence in this market started last year with the opening of a second branch in Santa Gertrudes, an event that strengthened the activity of the historic production site in Mogi Guaçu. We are now reaping the benefits of this investment by actively collaborating with leading names in the Brazilian ceramic industry, ensuring a complete technological offer and a dynamic and efficient service “.
In recent months, SITI B&T Group has therefore collaborated with Ceramica Almeida for the doubling of the complete system, with 20,000 m2/day of lapped porcelain tiles up to 120x120mm and is installing a complete line for Incenor for the production of 44,000 m2/day of single fired, making it the most productive plant ever built. Incepa, a ceramic company in the Lamosa Group, has chosen SITI B&T Group for a complete line for small sizes, while Incefra, part of the Fragnani Group, has purchased a grinding and sorting line.
All these lines were completed with Projecta digital decoration machines, SITI B&T Smart Line sorting lines and Ancora grinding or lapping machines, a leading company in the Group in offering end-of-line technologies.
The branches have played a fundamental role in the growth process of SITI B&T Group in Brazil: thanks to new and important investments they have supported Brazilian customers with an on-time and flexible customer service, based on timely technical assistance and on premium supply of spare parts and tools for grinding and lapping, as well as on the local production of kilns and dryers.
SITI BT Group
SITI-B&T Group is a manufacturer of complete plants for the world ceramic industry with a strong presence in all global markets. It delivers outstanding technological solutions and innovative services with a special focus on energy efficiency and respect to the environment. The Group boasts 23 companies, 17 of which are branches abroad in 12 different countries and on 4 continents, each year it invests 4% of its turnover in Research and Development, most of which is carried out in the modern bt-LAB in Formigine, main location of scientific laboratories and the four pilot lines of the different technologies.
It offers customers a complete personalised service including technical assistance with installation, maintenance and modernisation of production lines.
SITI-B&T Group operates through the following business units: Tile (complete plants for tile production), Projecta Engineering and Digital Design (digital decorating machines and digital graphic design projects), Ancora (surface finishing systems for ceramic products), Diatex (cutting and grinding tools), B&T White (complete plants for sanitaryware) and B&T Quartz” (complete lines for agglomerated quartz).
