CASE HISTORY GSI Ceramica

From the Italian Made to the future in sanitaryware 4.0 production

GSI Ceramica is one of the main leaders in the Italian and international ceramic industry. This is an innovative company and a benchmark for the bathroom furnishing industry. Its activity goes back to the origins of the manufacturing tradition of the Italian sanitaryware district. Over time, the Company has succeeded in meeting the challenges of the market: today’s ones are health, environment, automation.

PIONEERS

OF THE ITALIAN DISTRICT AND IN THE WORLD

As early as 2003, GSI installed the first SACMI solutions for robot pressure casting of WC bowls, a new-generation solution that allows the best casting quality and repeatability, zero rejects and manual handling, and the possibility of total part tracking, with the automation of downstream stages (finishing, glazing, firing).

"Earth and water are the elements that, dosed and mixed with expert skill, have always coexisted harmoniously in the form of manufactured goods. Ceramics have been produced here in our area for thousands of years: with earth and water, sealed by fire"

It is precisely on this tradition that the last 20 years of the company's history have been built, with investments made as early as the early 2000s gaining new momentum as of 2011, when the new-generation of AVM SACMI casting machine, the world benchmark for robot WC bowl casting, joined GSI.

AUTOMATION, ZERO WASTE, BETTER QUALITY

Sanitaryware production is a delicate process in terms of the quantity and type of steps the article must undergo in order to achieve the best quality, strength and aesthetics of the finished piece. For example, one of the SACMI innovations introduced at the same time as the first AVM is the integration of the casting cell with the pre-dryer. Reducing the residual moisture in the part quickly and uniformly - without risk and with considerable savings on storage costs in dedicated curing rooms - is one of the advantages of this system, chosen by GSI from the outset and now a reference in the most advanced parts of the world market.
There is an additional advance in casting automation - including storage on wagons - that is reducing the handling of the article to what is strictly necessary, avoiding tiring and repetitive operations to the operators, which are risky to their health and, not least, even more risky for raw articles for deformation and breakage.

ROBOTGLAZE, A FURTHER STEP TOWARDS SANITARYWARE 4.0

Glazing automation was the next step chosen by GSI to implement a true 4.0 revolution in the factory's approach to sanitaryware production.
Supplied by SACMI under the Gaiotto brand, a world reference in industrial automation, glazing robots also feature a dual advantage. Firstly, the possibility of optimising the amount of raw material used (the glaze) by fully recovering the overspray. Secondly, preventing the operator from getting in contact with the very health-threatening dust that is typically generated during glazing and finishing.
But that is not all: again, it is the entire handling of the part that is simplified thanks to the robot, greatly improving logistics

ROBOTCASTING, EXTENDED RANGE SOLUTIONS

From WC bowls to washbasins and consoles, over the years GSI has integrated automated solutions for the production of large washbasins and consoles, alongside the various ADMs already in operation for WC bowl casting. What makes the difference here, in line with a broad and well-established market trend, is the maximum versatility of use and in particular the possibility of rapid format change. Here again, the solution is characterised by zeroing of manual operations - from production to handling. At the end, an automatic finishing station for the cast part is provided before loading onto a wagon. So Gruppo Sanitari Italia is looking ahead to the 2020s with the purchase of further solutions, bringing to 12 the number of automated casting machines installed and supplied by its partner SACMI, including the aforementioned AVM, ADM, ADS and AVI, as well as the complete automation of the handling and glazing line.

Back to the future

A symbol of Italian creativity and quality, in recent months GSI has accelerated on all fronts, from robot glazing - as many as three glazing robots and four handling robots installed in early 2022 - to the decision to integrate all new solutions with the existing factory data management system.
This is the other side of automation, i.e. the possibility of obtaining a constant, real-time flow of data from the process, proactively and preventively implementing actions to improve it. A further revolution that also involved “services”, such as automated glaze tank refilling, with automatic control of all humidity and temperature parameters.

Also at the centre of 2022 investments will be the expansion of the shower tray line for the production of thicker items up to 3 cm, with robot-controlled picking, to safeguard quality as well as to avoid, again, tiring manual operations to operators. The last act in a story that is still largely to be written is the further expansion of the casting plant (two new AVMs installed) equipped with handling robots with green finishing tools for the piece and subsequent automatic loading onto wagons and unloading at the glazing lines. Among the results achieved is also the total tracking of production, from order management to the time-quantity of items passed through the various stages, to the automatic management of alarms.