Leadership in Materials

The profound knowledge of materials allows SACMI to offer the customer the best state of the art of technologies in every business, putting in first place the quality and optimization of consumption of raw materials and energy.

The SACMI Research Centre

Since 1989, it has been a point of reference within the Group for all R&D activities. It hosts a team of almost 300 highly specialised technicians and researchers to support the customer at every stage of product development.

Founded in 1989, the Research Centre is the beating heart of SACMI's innovation which, in addition to the use of the latest generation materials and technical solutions, combines the ability to assist customers at every stage of product development, from pre-industrialisation to prototyping and after-sales service.

The R&D Centre – registered in the National Register of Research Laboratories, established by the Ministry of Universities and Scientific Research – collaborates with the technological laboratories and research and development units of the single companies of the Group, as well as with university centres around the world.

The added value of these structures is the possibility of carrying out, together with the customer, all the tests necessary to obtain products of superior quality, always in line with the standards required by the market, in order to always obtain the maximum from the investment in SACMI technology.

New materials, the challenge of sustainability

The SACMI Group's commitment to implementing eco-compatible solutions on its entire range of machines is strategic, in particular with a view to reducing the environmental costs of the process and the product. The continuous research for lighter and more performing solutions in the packaging field (weight reduction and new materials), the optimization of the different phases in the ceramic process (such as the design of furnaces and dryers equipped with advanced heat recovery systems) are just some examples of the development guidelines that move the daily activities of the Research Centre and single Laboratories.

Tiles, from mix formulation to training and testing activities

In the Ceramics industry sector, SACMI offers its tile-producing clients a complete range of technological services, such as raw material analysis, mix formulation, testing and sampling on a pilot scale even of large formats, aesthetic development of the finished product, technical validation of products according to international standards, training and assistance in the testing and start-up phases at the production site.

Sanitaryware production, complete prototyping and 4.0 modelling

Similarly, in the field of sanitary ceramics production, SACMI offers its customers complete prototypes, including the development of individual product lines. The deep knowledge of the materials that make up the finished product - inorganic minerals in continuous chemical-physical transformation throughout the production flow - characterizes the SACMI Sanitaryware technological laboratory.

SACMI is a recognised world leader in the production of moulds made of porous resin, an organic material based on polyurethane, the result of a constant and daily study on the chemical and structural characteristics of this material. The pilot plant, where all the tests and trials on the moulds are carried out, is equipped to carry out hydraulic performance tests. In this sector, SACMI is also at the forefront, using the latest hw/sw solutions for reverse engineering (FEM analysis) for the modelling of resin moulds, using techniques for the production of moulds that reduce time and costs, increasing the repeatability of the process.

Caps production for the beverages sector, complete tests on cap-bottle systems and Lab certified by the world's leading brand owners

In the closures-beverage sector, SACMI's decades of experience and know-how in the processing of raw materials allow customers to carry out complete tests on cap-bottle systems to guarantee perfect product conformity in all conditions of use. In addition, the SACMI structures are certified by the main international players in the sector and allow the customer to be supported from the pre-industrialisation phase. The guarantee of quality and reliability of SACMI's solutions is thus accompanied by the possibility for the customer to rely on a single partner for the integrated development of the plant, from the production of the capsule and the preform to the blowing, filling and labelling systems, through an efficient and integrated management of the production line.

Production of plastic containers, tests on new materials to meet the new challenges of the circular economy

At the forefront in this field is the research activity developed in the Imola Laboratory, where researchers from the CIRI MAM (Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research) of the University of Bologna work. In particular, research focused on the testing and development of new materials derived from natural resources (non-fossil) and compostable in parallel with the further development of the possibilities offered by compression technology. Among the research activities that could generate enormous repercussions from the point of view of sustainability, the development of machines capable of producing single-portion capsules (coffee, tea, etc.) "multilayer" with extraordinary properties of resistance and barrier to gases, achievable with both standard fossil materials, but also with materials from renewable and compostable sources.

These analyses are carried out thanks to the advanced equipment of the laboratory (capillary rheometer, spectroscopic analysis with RAMAN and IR microscope, oxygen barrier measurement system MOCON, instrument for the analysis of visible spectrophotometry, surface tension measurement with KRUSS, gas chromatograph mass). The result is not only the development of increasingly “clean” and sustainable materials and packaging, but also the increase in product quality, in the direction of an even better protection of the content in terms of organoleptic quality and healthiness.

Comprehensive product design services

More and more relevant, in every area of SACMI's activity, is the design consultancy on product design, a skill that SACMI has developed thanks to a deep knowledge of the markets and sectors in which it operates. For this reason, in addition to the guarantee of reliability and total quality, SACMI can propose itself to the customer as a 360° partner for the development of new commercial proposals, reducing the time-to-market and thus offering its customers the opportunity to intercept and anticipate the evolution of the market and consumption.

Powder Metal (PM) processing, SACMI in the EPMA board council

SACMI is at the forefront, at international level, in training and research applied to its business activities. For example, in the powder metal field, SACMI was reconfirmed in March 2019 as a member of the Council of the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA), the Brussels-based association that brings together European players in the sintering field. This membership is functional to the development of further training and research projects, in collaboration with leading institutes and universities on the continent.

Chocolate and confectionery production, the enhancement of the product in first place alongside the customer-partner

The ability to offer tailor-made solutions for plants with a high production capacity, but also for quality industrial laboratories, characterises the evolution of SACMI's proposal on technologies for the processing, packaging and wrapping of chocolate and other food products. A far-sighted vision that has its roots in the heritage of Carle&Montanari, which already in 1947 conceived and launched on the market CAVEMIIL, synonymous throughout the world (in the modern range NEXT CAVEMIL) of modelling for reliability, design, modularity, versatility.

The expansion of SACMI's proposal in recent years with the acquisition of the OPM and FIMA brands, with the consequent expansion of the offer in the packaging field and a great attention to the confectionery world, has not affected the basic philosophy of a company capable of distinguishing itself from its competitors for continuous innovation, ability to produce and promote reliable and competitive technologies, attention to product quality, in line with the best tradition of the Italian confectionery industry. A business card that has allowed tradition to live and renew itself over time, projecting itself into the future with solutions of excellence from the point of view of process engineering and packaging, in line with the vision and courage of the first developers.

Chocolate and confectionery production, the enhancement of the product in first place alongside the customer-partner

Advanced materials production, the new frontier

The sector of the development of advanced materials is becoming increasingly important in SACMI's activities. A first area, Carbon, concerns the development of innovative components for the aluminium and steel industry. The SACMI Group, mainly through its prestigious subsidiaries RIEDHAMMER and SAMA, offers complete equipment for the production and firing of carbon anodes and cathodes for the primary aluminium industry and electrodes for the steel industry (used to facilitate the process of melting recycled metals).

SACMI's offer in other areas with high development potential is also promising and diversified. SACMI-RIEDHAMMER supplies machinery and equipment for the production of lithium batteries, gravel and foamglass, pyrolysis of different materials, waste treatment, material recycling. This is a very wide field, whose developments could help to design new opportunities and market scenarios for the SACMI product.