CASE HISTORY FLAMINIA

Plasticity and color, unique ‘Made in Italy’ design

Ceramica Flaminia, a producer of high-quality designer sanitaryware, based in the heart of the Civita Castellana district, offers a unique blend of manufacturing tradition and technological innovation. Flaminia’s all-Italian story began in 1955 when it was founded by 23 young workers looking to build a brighter future. Today, its ultra-modern factory is ready to meet the challenges of sustainability as it continues to deliver a steady flow of great-looking products.

The casting revolution

When Flaminia was just getting started in the 1950s, sanitaryware-making was an artisanal process. Products were created by ceramists using clay slabs modeled around special supports. The entire process was performed manually.
Over the years, things changed profoundly: the arrival of color (still a trait of the Flaminia brand), the expansion of the production plant and, above all, a penchant for innovation, would lead the company to install the best quality- and efficiency-enhancing solutions on the market, and embrace the opportunities that come from developing highly distinctive products.
Success stemmed from two key factors: teamwork with renowned designers and the ‘casting revolution’ that followed a decision, in the early 2000s, to start using SACMI pressure casting technology. First came the AVM and ALS cells, followed by a SACMI Forni tunnel kiln in 2003 and a large shuttle kiln, which has been in operation since 2015. More recent investments include the purchase of 3 new AVB multi-mold cells equipped with robots.

Robotic glazing, smart handling

Automation of casting - from demolding to set-down in the pre-dryer and the on-car loading of finished products - was just one aspect of the ‘Flaminia revolution’ that has, over the last 15 years, spread to every branch of production. Robotic handling and glazing – with the installation of no less than nine SACMI-Gaiotto robots – have been crucial to achieving new goals. By raising the quality and efficiency of casting, handling glazing and firing, this revolution has led to further upgrades of the product range and better working conditions thanks to the elimination of tiring, repetitive manual tasks.
This is no longer the Flaminia of 1955. Today’s cutting-edge approach to products and production processes aligns with the industry’s highest standards. By making extensive use of robotics, the company has forged an impressive reputation for innovation. More efficient control of production and logistics flows has freed up resources to develop new technical-aesthetic solutions on an increasingly competitive global market. Yet the manufacturing and creative core of the company remains firmly rooted in Italy.

Building a circular economy

In recent years Flaminia has - alongside its partner, SACMI - also faced the challenge of making sanitaryware production processes not just more efficient but also more sustainable. In 2020 a new dryer was added to the plant. This newly-designed machine boosted energy performance, ensuring a specific consumption of less than 1,150 kcal per kg of evaporated water.
From a sustainability perspective, water is often referred to as ‘blue gold’. In 2023 Flaminia took steps to safeguard this indispensable resource by investing in SACMI’s pioneering wastewater ultra-filtration system. As a result, over 90% of the 5,000 cubic meters of water treated are now recycled back into a variety of industrial processes, reducing groundwater use by up to two thirds. Even the solid precipitate - retrieved using an innovative SACMI-developed cross-flow filtration method that requires no chemical additives - has become a valuable resource to be fed back into the production process, thus protecting the environment and reducing disposal costs.

Deep Digital: digital decoration of sanitaryware

Chromatism and color are long-standing Flaminia hallmarks. So it’s no coincidence that this Civita Castellana-based company is the world’s first sanitaryware manufacturer to have seized a further opportunity, that of digitally decorating sanitaryware with SACMI's DHD (Digital Humid Decoration) technology. Widely used in the Tiles sector, where SACMI has extensive experience, the solution has now been adapted to sanitaryware (no small technological feat, given the challenges posed by greater product height, gradients and curved surfaces).
Stunning aesthetic effects can be obtained by depositing pigmented inks, glazes, glues and textured glazes on the article to create various 3D effects and micro-structures. What makes this solution special is, among other things, its suitability for use both on unfired glazed products and after firing (following the application of a ‘primer’ on which to fix subsequent decorations): in short, a ‘sanitaryware style revolution’ that Flaminia is already making the most of, as highlighted by the new collections that stunned the market in 2023.

INTERVIEW WITH AUGUSTO CIARROCCHI,
CEO CERAMICA FLAMINIA

What does being an innovative company mean to you?

“Being innovative means staying ahead of the market with solutions that deliver tangible advantages in terms of both products and process efficiency. Hence our adoption of some key innovations that have set the tone for the entire industry. For example, extensive use of robotics has helped boost product quality while improving conditions in the workplace. We’ve also focused on the environment by, for instance, cutting back on water use. While sanitaryware manufacturing is necessarily water-intensive, we’ve managed to reduce consumption by over 50% by installing SACMI’s new wastewater retrieval and treatment system.”

Technology and product aesthetics: what has the ‘digital decoration revolution’ brought about?

“The quest for color, for an aesthetically distinctive product, has been a defining trait of Flaminia for at least 60 years. Now, with the advent of new digital decoration solutions, we can think not just in two but three dimensions. The latest SACMI DHD machine allows us to create unprecedented texturing effects via the deposit of micro-structures, inks, grits and special effects.
We were excited about this project as we knew it would let us go beyond traditional glaze-focused finishes. We wanted to be the first to do this, and the market feedback from our presentations of the latest collections at recent trade fairs has been highly encouraging. And it's not just about the ‘look’: digital application also has the advantage of allowing fast, precise, repeatable eye-catching decoration on small batches: in short, an effective response to demand for just-in-time production processes.”