System Ceramics’ solutions for Smart Factory
“With the rise of Industry 4.0, the Smart Factory concept has emerged as a transformative force across multiple sectors, including ceramics. Its core objective is to digitize and interconnect production processes by integrating advanced technologies such as sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence, and sophisticated control systems throughout the entire production chain.” These were the words of Alberto Badami, Software Engineer at System Ceramics, when asked about the concept of Industry 4.0.
His words demonstrate how System Ceramics deserves its reputation as an international leader in the development of process systems for the ceramics industry. In fact, System Ceramics started working on different solutions for digital factory right away, when the need had just arisen in the market. As a result, in 2020, Genya project was launched.
Discover Genya: enter the Smart Factory era
“Genya is a software and hardware system for tracking pieces and synchronizing applications along the glazing line” highlights our team. Its creation was the answer to the need for centralized and intelligent management of operations in the glazing department, an area of ceramic production that is constantly evolving and whose production lines have expanded significantly in recent years, consequently requiring new tools to coordinate all the technologies involved.
Genya was designed precisely for this purpose: simplify, coordinate, and optimize. The system, in fact, allows centralized control of all System Ceramics machines in the glazing area through a single, intuitive interface with a simplified user experience. This leads to an increase in efficiency and quality of production, a reduction of waste and energy consumption, ensured traceability and production flexibility.
Genya at work: efficiency, flexibility, full traceability
Within the glazing line, Genya connects and synchronizes all System Ceramics machines, allowing the company to optimize efficiency and flexibility: by coordinating maintenance, testing and production activities across the entire line, Genya minimizes downtime and is largely adaptable, even when production layouts change. Speaking about this, Genya was designed to accommodate large-format products; however, as highlighted by our R&D team, “its modular architecture also makes it suitable for more dynamic productions, including smaller formats”.
Full traceability is another feature that makes Genya a real game changer: with the introduction of QR code tracking, each tile is marked with a unique code that is read at the entrance of the machine. “In the previous system, an operator was required to monitor the testing and picking phases of individual pieces. With Genya, this process is automatic: a product can be taken from the line, tested, and reinserted without causing any misalignment in the production queue.”, they state.
The direct consequence? A drastically reduced risk of error and even more increase in flexibility. In addition to this, the QR code system allows Genya to know exactly what process to apply even when you print different faces of the same graphic: each single face is traced for each single piece on the line.
Not just a control system: a complete optimization tool
Our Engineering Department tells us about another great advantage offered by this innovative technology too: “Genya is not just a control system, it’s also an optimization tool. Specifically, Genya can synchronize the cleaning activities of the printheads across all the machines it controls. This means there won’t be short and repeated machine stoppages, but rather a single coordinated stop that allows for the cleaning of all glazing machines connected to the system.” This may seem like just a small upgrade, but it helps avoid time waste and further optimizes the production process.
Evolution never stops
Genya already includes a system capable of reporting the printing conditions hours later, such as ink or glaze temperature: it enables the detection of any irregularities that may have affected the ceramic surfaces. This makes it possible to trace back the causes of any production defects even retrospectively; but further evolutions of the system are possible: ongoing software developments will enhance Genya’s data collection, analytics, and scheduling capabilities. A team of professionals is always working to improve and optimize machines and their performances, and in this case, future versions of the system may be able to offer full process traceability and detailed parameter tracking, enabling manufacturers to identify defect causes even long after production.
Line control in Smart Factory
To sum up, Genya offers centralized machine control, unique traceability for error reduction, operational flexibility and overall optimization. As our team says: “Genya is a system designed to bring the glazing department into the Smart Factory era, with a practical, evolutionary approach, focused on product quality and process efficiency”. Smart Factory is more than a simple way of speaking: it is a mission that talks about future, technology and evolution. And System Ceramics is ready to take charge of all this, to continue to innovate the ceramic sector. Find out more about it on our website or contact our team of experts.