State of the Art Machinery Comes to British Ceramic Tile

As part of its ongoing multi-million pound factory expansion, tile manufacturer British Ceramic Tile has invested in a state of the art piece of machinery – a Continuous Ball Mill.  The Mill is expected to produce 30 tonnes of liquid slip an hour and will increase on-site production, tripling capacity.

Ceramic raw materials are fed into the milling system and reduced in size by grinding to produce a liquid slip.  This is then pumped to a spray dryer to form a granulate (fine powder). The granulate is then pressed to form the tile for firing.  The 70 tonne barrel for the machine required a 500 tonne crane to lift it into place at BCT’s Heathfield site and was delivered from Italy on a specialised lorry. It will be commissioned in August this year.

The arrival of this state of the art technology signifies the continuing growth and success of British Ceramic Tile which is currently undergoing an extensive recruitment campaign to help meet demand. British Ceramic Tile is expecting to recruit over 60 new employees by autumn 2008. As a successful UK manufacturer British Ceramic Tile is a growing local success story and last year won several significant contracts, including becoming the biggest wall tile supplier to Homebase.

British Ceramic Tile designs and produces a wide range of ceramic wall and floor tiles including the Candy Tile range and ranges for Laura Ashley and WET by the Hemingways.

Web: http://www.britishceramictile.com