SACMI’s pressure casting machines, highly productive and flexible, are the successful solution forming the basis of investment plans at Akij, market leader in Bangladesh oriented towards the export of high quality ceramic sanitaryware destined for the European and Middle Eastern markets.
To reach the new productivity and quality standards (the former set at approx. 1.2 million pieces per year), Akij has upscaled its investment plan in SACMI technology with the purchase of a first set of new machines for the casting department; two multi-mould BMP pressure casting machines.
Designed for pressure casting, the machines are equipped with a suitable slip feeding and heating tank (RBS) and resin moulds. From this point of view, the supply illustrates a decisive step forward for Akij towards the use of moulds made of resin for which SACMI is the leading world supplier. Resin moulds are much more efficient and long-lasting than the traditional plaster moulds and their use goes hand-in-hand with the improvement in quality of the finished product.
Included in the supply are also two modelling developments for water tanks, two for lids and two for pedestals. 13 double-cavity moulds are provided for the manufacture of pedestals along the first casting line which are added to the 14 moulds (two or three cavity) for the production of lids and water tanks on the second BMP line. The cycle time lasts approx. one hour with the reduction of manual operations, which are limited, with this set-up, to piece de-moulding.
Akij’s main objective is to increase production volumes and enhance the quality of the products destined for European and Asian markets and this is being achieved thanks to its strengthened partnership with SACMI for the supply of sanitaryware, tiles and tableware technologies. Following the installation and start-up of these first two lines there is a plan to integrate two further SACMI BMP solutions to reach the full quality and performance targets of the plant. For SACMI this is an important confirmation of the international trend in the sanitaryware market which, in different ways according to the various customers and markets, is moving in a constant and decisive way towards factory automation.