SACMI Continua+ 2120. ‘Small’ and fast for the most popular sizes on the market

SACMI Continua+ 2120. ‘Small’ and fast for the most popular sizes on the market

The most compact and versatile machine in its category, the Continua+ 2120 completes SACMI’s family of continuous pressing solutions. Pederzini (SACMI): “With this machine, SACMI breaks down the last barrier separating slabs and standard sizes”

The 60x60 cm size is currently the world’s most popular ceramic tile. It’s a big tile, yet not quite a slab as that name is, by convention, reserved for products measuring 120x120 cm or more. And it’s here, in this ‘middle ground’ - above all on this key 60x60 format and its matching sizes - that the world’s ceramic forming technology providers face some of their greatest challenges.

Hence the launch of the PCR 2120, the latest addition to the SACMI Continua+ family; this solution, in fact, comes just a few months after the introduction of the PCR 2180 which, with an output rate of over 21,000 m2 meters of slabs and sub-sizes per day, is the most productive machine on the market. This newcomer now extends SACMI’s world-leading Continua+ slab and tile manufacturing range even further (more than 100 solutions have been sold on five continents since this technology was first introduced).

So what are the advantages? The smallest and most versatile machine in its category, the PCR 2120 can produce fired slabs up to 20 mm thick and 120 cm wide - the equivalent of two 60x60 cm cavities - of potentially infinite length. For example, with 1 cm thick 60x60 and 120x120 formats and their matching sizes, PCR 2120 productivity stands at 16,000 m2 per day: once again, in this category that’s the highest performance on the market.

The PCR 2120 also offers outstanding compactness and lower OpEx. Moreover, depending on the product to be made, it can incorporate from 1 to 5 powder feeders. Downstream from the compactor, each version features a TPV cutting machine that lets manufacturers create all the required sub-sizes in a coordinated, automated manner.

“In addition to merging all the characteristics of the other machines in the Continua+ family - flexible size changeovers, low scrap levels and the lowest consumption on the market - the new PCR 2120 responds to the manufacturer’s need to keep productivity high even when dealing with smaller average batch sizes, frequent size changeovers and the need to develop products with greater added value, such as dry decoration”, observes Alberto Tassoni, SACMI’s Forming Product Manager (Tiles Business Unit).

“The PCR 2120 meets all these requirements”, points out Gianluca Pederzini, Manager of the Forming PU, “as it combines all the productivity, cost containment and floor space advantages of a traditional pressing solution with Continua+ versatility on the size changeover control front”.

As things stand, there are four key characteristics, all unrivalled by alternative solutions: excellent performance with ‘different’ sizes (80x80 and 90x90 cm, with output rates of between 10,600 and 12,000 m2), a potentially infinite slab length, fast changeovers (always less than 30 minutes) and, lastly, outstanding quality (without any drop in productivity and especially with decorated products on account of a continuous process that allows controlled de-airing).

From a sustainability perspective, the benefits are twofold. Continua+ 2120 keeps production scrap levels below 3% at all times. Moreover, this waste is fully recyclable, regardless of the size, and therefore much lower than that seen on alternative solutions. Note also that, out of this percentage, about 2% is accounted for by powders that can be fed directly into the production cycle, without any reprocessing costs. The remainder can be sent back to the mills, ensuring zero waste along the entire production line.

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