With over 50 years’ experience in the industry, Celima-Trebol is, today, a pivotal Latin American manufacturer of ceramic tiles, porcelain sanitaryware, adhesives for ceramic and accessories. A producer of high-quality items for the home, this Peruvian company has chosen Sacmi solutions to raise output and boost quality at its plant in San Martin De Porres, near the capital Lima.
A company with an output capacity of 3.5 million pieces per year – a figure that places it at the peak of domestic manufacturing in this area - Celima-Trebol has commissioned Sacmi to supply two twin automatic glazing lines with Gaiotto GA/OL robots. This order - different from the one delivered in 2014, which featured GA 2000 robots - makes full use of all of the production efficiency and final product quality provided by Gaiotto’s new 7WD offline programming software.
Advantages include the ability to process all glazing programs off-line, thus eliminating the downtimes associated with production testing and increasing the number of actual manufacturing hours. Then, there is heightened quality: this is the result of precise control of the amount and thickness of the delivered glaze, which in turn minimises overspray on the workpiece and/or the need for multiple passes over already-sprayed areas.
Also deserving of mention, in addition to the technology incorporated in the robots, is the layout of the two glazing cells. These have been designed by Sacmi together with Celima-Trebol’s technical staff to optimise in-factory production flow as per new lean manufacturing standards. More specifically, in this respect the lines have been positioned close to the kiln car loading track, using bar conveyors parallel to the direction of travel of the cars to improve ergonomics for the workers. Each individual glazing line, then, consists of a belt conveyor for manual or servo-assisted loading of already-inspected pieces and an angular transfer unit that loads the pieces on the carousel; the pieces are then handled by a 9-axis robot.
Completing the order is the automatic foot cleaning system, mounted directly on the belt conveyor; the latter, in turn, feeds the bar conveyor immediately prior to car loading in the kiln. In keeping with Sacmi’s policies concerning all ceramic and sanitaryware solutions, these innovative integrated glazing stations feature software that allows the robot to interface with the Ethernet and, therefore, make use of advanced Sacmi-Gaiotto tele-assistance services.