Compounding ceramic success SITI B&T Group

compounDing cEramic succEss

For over 50 years the SITI B&T Group of Italy has been strengthening its position in the international ceramics marketplace. Philip Yorke reports on the company’s ambitious expansion plans, its complete turnkey plant solutions and latest innovative products.

The SITI B&T Group is listed on the Italian stock market, and is a global manufacturer of state-of-the-art production plants for the ceramic tile and sanitary ware industries. Recently the group enhanced its leading position as a major world player following the award of a number of new, high-profile contracts.

Today more than 85 per cent of the company’s turnover is generated from export sales, with its global network of service companies making it the company of choice for many of the world’s top ceramic tile and sanitary ware manufacturers.

Now SITI B&T’s advanced technologies are able to offer ceramics manufacturers a unique opportunity to improve the quality of their finished products by producing modern tiles that offer greater market appeal than ever before. Added to this, the company’s range of ‘Green’ technologies has defined new industry standards in terms of performance, reliability and productivity. These benefits have been achieved through a significant reduction in energy consumption and other relevant cost savings throughout the entire service life of a plant.

With more than 2500 customers worldwide and a growing global network of technical support agencies, SITI B&T is able to offer an unrivalled after-sales service backed up by the most qualified technical specialists in the world. Today the group has more than 100 active patents and offers an innovative range of the most energy-efficient production plants. Its kilns, dryers and spray-dryers optimise its latest cutting-edge high-tech applications, which are able to reduce energy consumption by as much as 30 per cent.

Strengthening presence

During the last ten years the SITI B&T Group has installed and serviced dozens of unique, turnkey manufacturing systems in Russia. These have been specifically designed and installed for the country’s leading tile and sanitary ware manufacturers. Russia is one of the world’s foremost producers of ceramic products and one that continues to see strong and consistent growth.

This market is therefore of particular interest to the group and one that it plans to follow closely. In addition to its central Moscow office, the company has decided to strengthen its presence in the country in order to better serve its growing Russian customer base.

“This is another important step to implement our international network that fully fits our strategy based on our investments in research and development and to have a direct presence in all major ceramic markets worldwide. By supporting our customers in dealing with their everyday problems, we intend to offer qualified assistance throughout the entire life-cycle of a plant – thereby ensuring its proper operation and creating a real competitive advantage for the users of our advanced technologies,” said Fabio Tarozzi, chairman and CEO of the SITI B&T Group.

Today the group has dozens of completed plants operating in Russia. These have been installed throughout the last ten years for leading Russian ceramic manufacturers, for the production of tiles as well as for sanitary ware products. These individual plants cover the group’s entire technological range that not only involve the parent company, SITI B&T, but also its wholly owned subsidiaries including Projecta Engineering, Digital Design, Ancora and B&T White.

Increasing return on investment

In February 2015, SITI B&T made the strategic decision to acquire Ancora SpA, a Sassuolo-based Italian company that specialises in the provision of top-class technological solutions and advanced ceramic finishing processes. This move has paid big dividends for the group, for in addition to complementing its unrivalled portfolio of products and processes, Ancora has also achieved an increase in annual sales over its last fiscal year of more than 45 per cent.

Ancora’s unique technical solutions have been installed in many of the largest ceramic tile manufacturing companies in the region and include the supply and installation of complete finishing lines. The provision of fully automated machines that are compliant with the latest 4.0 Industry requirements complete the high-tech package.

Tarozzi commented, “When we acquired Ancora in February 2015, the company was not performing well, however the turnaround has been rapid thanks to the work of a young and motivated management team that we had the confidence to invest in from the very beginning.

“In addition to Ancora’s unique finishing technologies, Italian businesses, which produce the highest quality and most aesthetically beautiful ceramic tiles in the world, have also appreciated the comprehensive offer of our group companies, the aim of which is to highlight the ‘beauty in ceramics’.

“Our company’s Projecta Engineering with its very special EvoDryFix is the first digital printer to combine inkjet drop on demand and dry grits technologies. In addition, we have Digital Design, a sector leader in the design and realisation of digital graphics for design surfaces. These are just two examples of our unique group offering,” added Tarozzi.

A first for Brazil

The group’s South American focus is based in Brazil, where it operates under its subsidiary, ‘B&T do Brazil’. This company has recently achieved an all-important goal with the launch of its first kiln for a leading national ceramics group with exclusive government accreditation. As a result, Brazil has now become a new SITI B&T international production centre.

This latest development in the dynamic Brazilian market, which represents more than 10 per cent of the group’s sales, is further endorsed by the numerous orders placed for the sale of its latest, energy saving, eco-compatible and highly-productive lines to leading sector players, such as the group’s long-standing customers Ceramica Almeida and the global sanitary ware giant, Kohler. n