The Ctap is the leading technological center for the stone sector in Spain. It was created in 2002 to improve competitiveness in the stone industry through knowledge generation and transfer. Ctap focuses its work in 3 key areas: R&D, eco-sustainability, and supporting business competitiveness. Some of Ctap's notable projects include developing artificial intelligence technologies for stone classification, new efficiency tracking systems, and adding value to stone industry byproducts. Ctap also operates an industrial experimental plant to test new stone processing techniques and train industry professionals.

2. 1
Introduction

3. 01
Introduction
Ctap The Technological Centre for Stone
Ctap is the leading institution in technological
development and the implantation of R&D culture
in the stone sector and related industries. Our
mission is to improve the competitiveness of
businesses in the sector, through the generation and
transfer of knowledge and the implementation of
new business models.
ctap

4. 01
Introduction
The Technological centre for stone is a private foundation
created in 2002 with thanks to entrepreneurial drive and the
collaboration of The Economic, Innovation and Science
Council.
Occupying a position within the Andalusian system of
knowledge and as a National Technological Centre approved by
The Ministry of Science and Innovation, developing our
activities at a national and international level.
Attributes
WE LEAD R&D IN THE NATURAL STONE SECTOR
EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT
DEMONSTRATING CONFIDENCE IN BUSINESSES
ctap
EXPERTS IN STONE

5. 01
Introduction
Ctap commiting to…
…Open innovation and international cooperation. This is
defined as an open system, collaborating with its sector and
other industrial environments.
…The excellence in R&D, to lead the natural stone ,
converting the social strategy of businesses and anticipating
changes in the market.
…Its human resources team, committed to the sector carefully
specialised in stone knowledge.
… Sustainability. Strongly committing to the environment
and businesses.

6. 01
Introduction
Patrons
The Ctap foundation is supported by a patronage with 56
members, which functions as an independent body of
government and representation.
The large majority of the patrons are representatives of
businesses in the stone sector and other related industries.
A shared vision and a common strategy are the targets to
achieve and meet the challenges in the sector.
patronato

7. 01
Introduction
The Team
Ctap’s team of professionals are without doubt our best
attribute, 50 people working to improve the future of the
stone industry. The team at the Technology Centre work
on comprehensive projects organized into groups, with
multidisciplinary profiles and working with collaborators
outside the organisation.
Scope
Our activity is beyond national boundaries. We work with
a wide range of collaborators, national and international,
who favour the generation of solutions and the creation of
projects for stone in line with market trends (universities,
technology centers …) in USA, Brazil, France, Belgium
Russia, Italy, The United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
ctap

8. 01
Technological Centres, Institutes and Universities CTAP Introduction
TECHNOLOGICAL
CENTRES
Spanish TC
CTMNC, France
CTP, Belgium
ESBULCO, Bulgary
CETEMCO, Morocco
UNIVERSITIES:
CETEMAG, Brazil
School of Mechanical Ingenieers of Metz (France)
MQTC, Egypt University of Gante (The Netherlands)
CVALOR, Portugal Spanish and Andalucian Universities

9. 01
Enterprises CTAP Introduction

10. 01
Introduction
Ctap grows with the industry
650 Clients
104 private projects since 2007
26 internal R&D projects since 2007
€ 984,928,215 of investment in equipment and
technological infrastructure since 2002.
4 known patents
5 patents on course
Evolucion between Private Investment & Public Investment
ctap

11. 2
Areas of work

12. 02
Areas of work
The activity in Ctap is organised into three interrelated
working areas.
The working areas are composed of highly specialised
professionals in different disciplines, investigational
departments and strategy experts.
Each working area has its own differentiated lines of work
and in turn carries out successful projects, which are
transferred and implemented within businesses.
-The R&D Working Area
-Eco-sustainability
ctap
-Businesses and competitiveness

13. 02
R&D
The environment where R&D is converted into business
reality. Each line of work has its own multidisciplinary
team, where business vision and the market occupy an
equal position to science-technology.
1) The development of new technologies
2) The generation of new efficiency systems and industrial
organisation
3) The research and development of new materials
4) New product design which combines technology and crafts.
5) The formulation and generation of new products directed
towards the auxiliary stone sector.
ctap

14. 02
Eco-sustainability
The working area is strongly committed to the
environment. The mission is to generate productive
activity which demonstrates more respect for the
environment through good industrial practices.
The core business is the extractive and productive
efficiency and to stimulate the generation of high value
products from the sector residues.
1) Adding value to by-products from the sector.
2)Environmental innovation. Advanced
techniques of restoration and landscaping.
3) Efficiency systems

15. 02
Businesses and competitiveness
This working area is the most empathetic with
businesses. Its mission is to be a direct channel and a
companion on the journey to competitive
differentiation of the enterprises’ business.
1) Development of new business models
2) Strategic positioning in the market
ctap

16. 3
Lines of work and successful projects

17. R&D
NEW TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.
Lines of work and successful projects
03
More efficient, safer, quicker and the latest technology which improves
the elaboration and production process.
Striving for the transformation of the sector with thanks to the
implementation of advanced tools, based on automation and digital
processing techniques.
Artificial Identification Technology
The Artificial Identification technology allows the automatic
classification of stone, taking into account aesthetic qualities. The
project is based on the application of pioneering techniques of
artificial vision in the stone sector.
Artificial vision allows the classification of material as follows:-
Homogeneity of compositions carried out with pieces of natural
stone.
Alignment of pieces used in compositions of natural stone
Optimum cut- Avoiding the cutting of damaged or imperfect zones
in natural stone.

18. 03
New technologies in the stone industry Successful projects
New possibilities for stone classification and stone compositions
Computer Vision and dimensional control
Stone composition based on Computer Vision – every tile is worth it!

19. 03
New technologies in the stone industry Successful projects
A new concept for stone and arquitecture
Computer Vision and dimensional control

20. R&D
GENERATION OF NEW EFFICIENCY SYSTEMS
AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION
Lines of work and successful projects
03
Systems that provide useful and up to date information for
the organisation and facilitate effective decision making.
These tools promote a change in the productive model,
with thanks to the implementation of efficient organisation
systems and production management.
Idstone y Captura
Captura “Methods and Times” This new tool allows the measurement of efficient
productivity in each part of the production process. Providing up to date
information about production costs, helping to identify wasted productivity in an
objective way and knowing process times for machinery and crafting.
Idstone: The first traceable identification system which controls stock in the natural
stone industry. With a simple bar code scan, the system allows you to know the
source and/or the destination of the work material.

21. R&D
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INTO NEW
Lines of work and successful projects
03
MATERIALS
New material derived from the detailed study of natural
.
stone characteristics and their combination with other
products like polymers and resins. The resins are analysed
and characterised by Ctap’s laboratory in collaboration
with the University of Almeria. The central objective is to
generate more exclusive and sustainable materials with a
higher value in the market.
NEW PRODUCT DESIGN WHICH COMBINES
TECHNOLOGY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP
We support the design of new stone structures adapted for
contemporary living. The objective of this line of work is to create
advanced, attractive and useful stone products.

22. 03
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INTO NEW MATERIALS Successful projects
Gutiérrez Mena
• Different surface finishes to define
a family of products derived from a
single and exclusive material
• Surface process treatment
definition: types of abrasives,
sequences of abrasives and machine
parameters
• Process optimization to minimize
operating costs
• Brand definition and market
positioning

23. 03
W PRODUCT DESIGN WHICH COMBINES TECHNOLOGY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP
Successful projects
Idispaces
• R&D + Design applied for spa and
wellbeing equipments made of stone.
•Development of completely new
technologies for stone heating, water
flow system along stone components
and lighting stone components.
• Chemical protections for water and
oil environments.
• Industrial protection pending for
every product and two patents for the
general technology.

24. R&D
FORMULATION AND GENERATION OF NEW
PRODUCTS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE AUXILIARY
Lines of work and successful projects
03
In the continuous search to provide value SECTOR
STONE and solutions
for the stone sector, it has been a priority to generally
improve the value of the production and transformation
lines. For that reason this line of work has been of great
importance in Ctap’s work.
Resin formulation
Ctap is developing new resins and polymeric products for the surface
treatment of natural stone.
These new products encompass important improvements instead of
commercial resins currently being used; they have been designed
uniquely for the natural stone market.
Furthermore new adhesives are being developed which improve the
sticking qualities and the reinforcement of stone materials.

25. Eco-Sustainable environments
VALUATION OF BY-PRODUCTS FROM THE
Lines of work and successful projects
03
SECTOR
One of the targets of this line is to implant the possibility
of generating new applications derived from the reuse of
residues created by the sector. The residues which before
generated costs, in the future could be returned as profits,
furthermore favouring a more sustainable industrial
activity.
Valuation of by-products .from the sector
Ctap in collaboration with other technological centres and universities is developing
a novel method to provide added value to residues created through the elaboration
process of natural stone.
The ‘Reuse of sludge generated by the cutting of natural stone’
project has a target to study the possible diverse uses of sludge, for example the
purification of contaminated water with heavy metals. As well as the mixing of the
sludge with ceramic residues, to be used as mineral fillers in the plastics industry or
for the fabrication of cement.

26. Eco-Sustainable environments
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION.
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR RESTORATION
AND LANDSCAPING.
Lines of work and successful projects
03
We continue providing knowledge and the skills to carry
out sustainable development of mining resources through
the recovery of wasteland. Ctap has a highly qualified
human resource team to carry out restoration works, in
addition it has advanced infrastructure which supports new
R&D restoration and landscaping techniques.
Ecological restoration
The objective of this project is. the rehabilitation of wasteland. Favouring sustainable
and reasonable use of natural resources and demonstrating that the recovery of these
spaces is a source of social and cultural wealth. It is an innovative restoration system
based on 100% ecological recovery in addition using the most advanced technology
for the implantation of vegetation.
This innovative recovery technique originates from the study and collection of
indigenous seeds from the restoration zone, through the production of the plants in
Ctap’s greenhouse, up until the usage of new methods to improve the ground
conditions or erosion reduction will be in place.
.

27. Eco-Sustainable environments Lines of work and successful projects
EFFICIENCY SYSTEMS
The mission of these systems is to allow quick, easy and
03
profitable business resource planning, evaluating the
productivity of each step of the diverse transformation
processes in place within the business.
ERP- Factory
The system was created and developed for the specific needs which appear in the stone
sector. The objective is to accelerate the completion of tasks, improve the production
process and control costs. The ERP system allows us to know how to take advantage of
raw materials, moreover the profitability of each product and all in real time.
ERP- Quarries
The object of the project is the development of a comprehensive framework for the
management of operations associated with the extraction activities in the sector, thus
allowing decision making based on economical and objective criteria.

28. Competitiveness and business environment
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW BUSINESS MODELS
.
Lines of work and successful projects
03
Sometimes the development of stone businesses needs comprehensive rethinking
in the search to improve profitability. The Technological centre for stone makes
available to the sector, methods and specialised professionals in external
commerce, production trends, distribution, financing, marketing and
communication to achieve profitable business models for the future.
STRATEGIC POSITIONING IN THE MARKET
The target of this line of work consists in transforming the competitive
positioning of stone to obtain a product with a high value in the market.
The prediction of consumer trends and design, the generation of quality
brands and information about potential markets, guides businesses in their
reconversion.

29. 4
Highlight: Industrial Experimental Plant

30. 04
Highlight: Industrial Experimental Plant
A unique space for R&D in the stone sector.
It is the biggest test bed at a world level
Targets
To deeply develop knowledge of the stone transformation process.
To become a training centre of excellence for human resources in
the sector.
To create a common space where businesses have the possibility to
improve their productive processes and generate new uses.
To be the major shuttle of industrial development projects
To establish a culture of cooperation between public and private
agents and businesses.
THE FIGURES
Installed in 100% business environment …To increase the focus on differentiation of the sector of Andalusian
Accounting for 10,00m2 of buildings stone around the world
More than 22,896m2 of land
Investment of 7.5 million Euros in technology
Co-financed by FEDER funds, Ministry of Education and Science and
the Order of the Centers of Innovation, by the Regional Ministry of
Science and Business.

31. comunicados@ctap.es