Big Graniti: monitoring machine efficiency

The context

For more than 30 years Big Graniti, based in Rivoli Veronese (Verona), has worked in the cutting and processing of granite, marble, quartzite and hybrid materials, with a complete production cycle from the rough block to the finished slab. Since 2006 the company has been on a path of digital transition, expanding production with more efficient machinery and technology.

After a series of investments geared towards 4.0, it needed the regulatory compliance that certifies conformity with specific sustainability standards. That meant demonstrating bidirectional data exchange with control and management systems, and having a reliable, complete overview of consumption across its production processes.

The project

Maxfone installed energy meter sensors and connected 8 machines, monitoring the energy consumption of each individual operation and the CO₂eq emitted per square metre of stone processed. Data collection and monitoring happen in real time in the IDA application, which analyses and compares production process data.

Big Graniti is also the first company in the marble sector for which Maxfone provides data on the sludge produced while materials are processed.

The results

Disposal costs are high and the quarries where waste material can be sent are increasingly scarce locally: measuring sludge makes it possible to calculate real consumption figures, keep costs under control and update production cycles on solid numbers. On the responsible-production side, IDA supports the real-consumption reporting required by sustainability certifications.

What comes next

Consumption monitoring strengthens the view of the company's production and financial side, and lets Big Graniti build more precise price lists for its end customers. The company aims to become more competitive on order delivery times too, extending monitoring to other elements of the production cycle such as compressed air and water, and adding CO₂eq accounting for its own transport operations.