During Vitrum 2017, Italian glass processing companies Cugher Glass, Iocco, Mappi International and Triulzi Cesare Special Equipments Srl launched Project 4X4.0, a partnership between glass processing companies to help customers meet the demands of Industry 4.0.
The partnership provides the glass fabrication industry with a single entity that can guarantee delivery of a completely automatic smart glass processing line by integrating the various areas of competence and related production chains of the four partner companies.
The project meets goals set out by the Italian government in Piano Industria 4.0—a plan to upgrade Italian industry to Industry 4.0. Piano Industria 4.0 provides support and investment in innovative development that drives adoption of Industry 4.0. The four companies have combined their forces to launch a product in conformity with the technological production trend the industrial plan was intended to foster.
The driving force of the 4X4.0 project is the sharing of the fundamental driver strategies:
Smart innovation: the constant use of digitisable, reliable solutions in research and development.
Performance: the construction of plant and machinery that can assure the highest quality finished product while at the same time optimising the production cycle in terms of energy and time consumed.
Customer care: the consolidation of customer relationships, understanding of the specific needs of actual glass producers, and the ability to anticipate these needs.
“Companies that have achieved the best results in recent years are those who have quickly adopted and transposed the industry standard 4.0 by adapting production systems, applying new operating procedures, going on complex but vital routes for competitive ends. For this reason, the industrial policy efforts today are aimed at the spread and application of innovation,” says Alessandra Petrucci, CEO of Iocco.
“The 4x4.0 Project is born from the synthesis of a shared management vision, from the capabilities of a team that can interface their technology know-how, providing customers with outstanding results in the Smart Factory optics.”
The guiding strategy in developing synergy between the four partners is the Smart Factory, a key element of Industry 4.0. The four firms have always had in their DNA a driving interest in optimising their production processes together with an enhanced ability in digitising the same. They created the conditions where their technological paths were combined to produce a shared vision and project.
In Project 4X4.0, the specific technology of each partner firm is combined into a single integrated whole. The glass processing world can now have access to a complete line to temper, screen print and wash glass with performance that exceeds that of any combination of machines optimized for the various separate phases on a single line.
