Sacmi Optima+: digitalised quality control on unfired slabs

The new system eliminates manual spot checks, delivering accurate, precise and repeatable monitoring of the entire production flow.

As part of the transition towards the new Easy Factory concept, Sacmi is presenting Optima+, the new camera-based system for inspecting unfired slabs. The system performs automatic, accurate and consistent quality control of the entire production process, resulting in higher quality, zero waste, no unnecessary reworking and greater overall process efficiency.

Automated quality control

On traditional forming lines, unfired slab quality control is performed manually. This is done by means of spot checks and the process is inevitably subject to variability due to human error. This may result in non-compliant pieces being sent on to the subsequent decoration and firing stages, wasting time, energy and resources.

Installed downstream from the forming area (Continua+) or after the dryer, Optima+ fully automates quality control, inspecting 100% of production with maximum precision and repeatability while eliminating the variability associated with differences in skill and experience between individual operators.

Equipped with three motor-driven high-resolution cameras, the system performs a complete 3D scan of each slab to detect any surface or edge defects (such as small cracks or laminations) and detect geometric misalignments (lengths, widths, diagonals) with respect to the theoretical data.

An adaptive, flexible system

Optima+ immediately identifies non-compliant slabs before they are sent on for further processing. Precise and accurate, Optima+ adapts to any production configuration and its gantry framework facilitates installation on both new and existing lines.

Sophisticated recognition algorithms allow the system to automatically adapt to different body types, surface textures and substrate colours, sizes and thicknesses. This allows for uninterrupted control even during product changeovers, without the need for manual adjustments. Via the HMI, the operator can set thresholds and parameters and perform real-time monitoring of images (surface and edges), detected geometries and logged data. The line can also be set up to automatically reject non-compliant slabs.

From quality control to process control

In keeping with the latest generation of Sacmi vision systems for ceramic production lines, the Optima+ approach takes quality control to a whole new level by transitioning towards process control. Thanks to real-time monitoring and data logging, the system not only detects non-compliant slabs but also identifies even the slightest process deviations as they occur. This helps raise long-term quality levels, improves overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and avoids wasteful reworks.

Interconnection with supervisor, tracking and feedback

Optima+ is designed to be interconnected with HERE supervision software, which allows for data-driven control of the entire production process thanks to performance monitoring. Additional advanced functions such as tracking, feedback and predictive monitoring can be enabled on individual machines or the complete plant. As a result, Optima+ takes manufacturers a step closer to complete digitalisation of the ceramic line within the Sacmi Easy Factory framework, delivering total quality, zero waste and no unnecessary reworking.