The reconversion of CIN's liquid paints factory in Maia will allow an annual production of up to 8M litres from October. The improvements benefit CIN's Protective Coatings and Industrial segment, with expression in Europe, Africa and South America.
CIN, Portuguese company and Iberian leader in the coatings market, invested €7M in reconverting its Maia factory, with a view to introducing an internationally innovative concept in the sector. It uses methods and technologies which are connected and controlled in a network, providing high levels of automation, efficiency, precision and reliability. This translates as increased productivity and decreased lead times. The factory's installed capacity becomes 4M litres/year in operation of just one shift, and it is possible to duplicate this with the introduction of a second shift.
The changes will benefit CIN's Protective Coatings and Industrial Bussiness units, which represent 48% of the total sales volume, with expression mainly in international markets such as Spain, Romania, Turkey, Mexico and South Africa. The implementation of this new concept of "smart factory" implied the acquisition of state-of-the-art productive technologies which, apart from a high precision and reliability, are equipped with data processing and communication modules that will enable the implementation of networked decision and control methods. Also changed was the layout of the central factory building and the extension of the unit with an extra 1023m2 of closed storage area and 662m2 of open area, now functioning with 3 piers, a drive-in and a logistical train.
"The need to keep up with the technological evolution led CIN to renovate and technically update equipment, systems and processes, in line with the current and future production needs. We made the Maia unit more competitive by applying the Industry 4.0 principles, seeking to improve performance through optimising the quality of the process, the resources and the level of service" explains Pedro Cruz, Manager of Industrial Projects and Production Information Systems. "CIN intends to make this a pilot-case, from which there will be a rollout to other industrial units in Spain and France. Our R&D skills are reinforced with this innovative factory model, and we are certain that pioneering in this sector will bring us unquestionable competitive advantages," concludes the manager.
This innovative and structuring change will affect the product transformation process, from the raw material arriving at the warehouse to the moment in which the finished product is packed for expedition. Considering the degree of innovation associated with the new productive process, CIN prepared an employee programme which will provide the employees with the core skills needed to operate the new equipment and systems, and to follow the new production philosophy.