CAMMA Tehno Metal had bought 2 hydraulic presses from Ukraine with enormous pressing forces, thinking tonnage solved everything. With no recipe for the chemistry of semi-dry hyper-pressed concrete and no post-sale technical support, the presses stood functional yet produced no usable brick. The solution was a complete turnkey line, a moisture calculator for the raw material and the direct transfer of the recipe adapted to the clay from Buzău.
A real testimonial · video interview in Buzău
The tongue-and-groove profile of the hyper-pressed brick lets masonry be raised without mortar on the structural joints. The bricks are laid offset on alternate courses, similar to the pieces of a construction toy, and the mechanical interlock keeps the wall rigid while it goes up. Below is the simplified schematic of the joint.
Tongue-and-groove visible between the alternate courses. The masonry is raised dry, with no structural mortar on the joint, with a direct fair-faced finish.
The hyper-pressed modular brick has tongue-and-groove profiles that lock together mechanically, similar to the pieces of a construction toy. The masonry goes up without mortar on the horizontal and vertical joints, and on-site build speed rises significantly compared with traditional fired brick.
Semi-dry hyper-pressed brick consumes embodied energy of about 631 MJ/m³, compared with 2,356 MJ/m³ for kiln-fired brick, according to data published by international manufacturers in the segment. CO₂ emissions are below 60 kg/m³, versus over 230 kg/m³ for the fired option. For projects with ESG or sustainability requirements, the difference shows up directly on the building's environmental report.
The brick surface comes out of the press with a clean, geometric finish that can be left architecturally exposed with no plaster or additional cladding. For budget-controlled projects or a modern industrial aesthetic, that means less labour and fewer material layers on site.
The same production technology covers modular brick for masonry, paving-type slabs, foundation blocks and other pressed-vibrated elements. CAMMA produces several sizes on the same line, and the moulds are swapped in a few minutes to switch between products.
Terminology disclaimer. The term “LEGO” used colloquially in the modular-brick industry describes the groove-interlock system, similar to the pieces of a construction toy. There is no commercial or legal connection with LEGO Group A/S, and the term appears strictly as a technical metaphor.
Before Uzinex, CAMMA had bought 2 hydraulic presses from Ukraine with pressing forces significantly above the industry average. The sales logic was simple: more pressure means a denser brick, therefore a better one. In reality, the presses compacted un-optimized raw material and out came bricks that crumbled at the first handling.
The Ukrainian supplier did not know the production technology for modular brick. It did not deliver the recipe for the chemistry of semi-dry hyper-pressed concrete, did not deliver the complete technological flow, and post-sale technical support vanished. CAMMA was left with functional machines but no usable production.
The key to modular-brick production lies in the raw-material chemistry, not in the pressing force. The grain size after milling, the moisture calibration, the proportion of clay, sand and cement, the pressure calibrated to the die profile. All of this forms the recipe. Without a recipe, a press with double the force produces double the scrap, not double the good product.
Left: the Ukraine presses with raw pistons on raw material without a recipe, output ≈ 0. Right: the Uzinex line with pressure calibrated to a locally adapted recipe, output 20,000 pcs/day.
A semi-dry hyper-pressed modular-brick line works if four parameters are aligned at the same time: the grain size after milling, the pressing moisture, the clay-sand-cement proportion and the pressure applied to the die. Changing any one of them directly affects the strength and final appearance of the brick.
Fine grain size is the responsibility of the mill and the sieve. The dry clay enters the hammer mill that breaks it into fine powder, then the sieve retains the large lumps that escape the mill. Without a sieve in the flow, the brick comes out with surface defects and uneven strength.
Calibrated moisture is the responsibility of the mixer and the dedicated calculator. Quarry clay has natural moisture that varies with the season, the geological layer and the weather. The moisture calculator measures the current raw material and automatically re-computes the proportions for each batch, keeping quality constant with no adjustments made by an operator's eye. See the schematic on the right.
Pressure calibrated to the die is the responsibility of the hydraulic press configured for the local recipe. Pressing force is not a raw value chased to the maximum; it is a value calibrated to the die geometry and to the consistency of the semi-dry mix. On the line delivered at Buzău, the pressure was calibrated directly on the real material, not on theoretical values.
For manufacturers who have run into the same pressing-force paradox, our recommendation is consistent: you buy a complete line with the recipe included and local calibration, or you don't buy. Tonnage alone doesn't produce — it only consumes power and material.
Three bars oscillate the live-recalculated proportions for clay, sand and cement. A sensor in the mixer reads the current moisture and adjusts the blend batch by batch.
After the Ukrainian presses failed to produce, CAMMA actively searched Google for complete solutions for the modular-brick factory. They found Uzinex and opened the conversation technically, with no commercial filters, under the pressure of stalled machinery burning capital without producing.
Versus the previous supplier, we came with two structural advantages. A physical presence and technical support in Romania, with engineers they could call directly. Plus the recipe transfer for the chemistry of semi-dry hyper-pressed concrete, adapted on-site to the clay from Buzău — not a sheet of paper with theoretical values.
We delivered the entire flow, from the hammer mill to the evacuation belt, plus the moisture calculator plus an adapted recipe. CAMMA no longer had to integrate machines bought from different suppliers, with interfaces that don't match; they received a factory ready-calibrated to their own raw-material profile.
The manufacturers of the major machines are industrial makers from Asia, integrated and calibrated by the Uzinex team in the turnkey project. Contractual liability for operation rested entirely with Uzinex, not with the upstream manufacturer.
Five stations connected by conveyors, fully automated except for manual palletizing. Two operators per shift.
A sensor in the mixer measures the current moisture and the controller automatically re-computes the proportions of sand, cement and water for every batch. For factories with natural raw material, this sub-system makes the difference between consistency and systematic scrap.
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Before the Uzinex line came online, CAMMA managed to produce under 200 bricks a day, with heavy losses on every batch. After implementation and the know-how transfer, operational capacity reached 20,000 bricks a day, and losses dropped to a minimum.
Public revenue followed: 900K lei in 2023, 1.5M lei in 2024. The theoretical capacity of the line is 800,000 m³ of brick per year, and adding the 2 Ukrainian presses reused with the correct recipe, CAMMA exceeds 1,000,000 m³ per year at factory level.
200 → 20,000 bricks/day shown at real scale on a linear axis. The orange curve marks the pre vs. post-Uzinex transition. Side panel: public revenue.
CAMMA Tehno Metal had previously bought 2 hydraulic presses from Ukraine with enormous pressing forces, thinking tonnage was the deciding factor. But the Ukrainian supplier did not know the production technology for modular brick, did not deliver the raw-material recipe, and post-sale technical support vanished. The 2 presses stood functional yet produced no usable brick. The CAMMA team researched solutions on Google and reached Uzinex.
We technically sized what they were missing: not just a better press, but a complete flow. A hammer mill to break the clay into fine powder, a sieve to remove the large lumps left by the mill, a mixer for the calibrated blend of the raw material, an optimized hydraulic press, conveyors that tie the flow together, plus a moisture calculator that re-computes the proportions for every batch. Plus the recipe transfer for the chemistry of semi-dry hyper-pressed concrete.
The line supplier ran the initial tests on the raw material from their own area. In Buzău, the clay profile was different: different grain size, different natural moisture, different mineral content. We had to adapt both the blend recipe and the line calibration on-site to the local profile. This was the critical moment of the project, and the know-how transfer was the part that saved it.
The entire project took about 3 months from first contact to the moment the line was producing steadily at the design parameters. Two Uzinex people were directly involved: Sorin Baciu on logistics and production-recipe transfer, and Cosmin Florea on the technical side — mechatronics engineering, automation and PLCs. Operator training was done alongside commissioning.
Before us, CAMMA managed to produce under 200 bricks a day, with heavy losses on every batch. After commissioning and the recipe transfer, operational capacity jumped to about 20,000 bricks a day with minimal losses. Moreover, once we transferred the know-how for the correct blending of the raw material, CAMMA also managed to make the 2 previously bought Ukrainian presses productive, exceeding 1,000,000 m³ of brick per year in total.
A transparent note. The capacity, revenue and operational-leap figures are public or confirmed by CAMMA's founder. Additional financial details, the value of the Uzinex contract and the ROI calculated by the client are not included on this page.
After commissioning and the complete know-how transfer, the CAMMA team took over running the line entirely in-house. No call for a technical fault reported post-commissioning, planned maintenance done locally, and the equipment runs continuously at the design parameters.
Details on service included at delivery→“The equipment itself is decent, if not very good. The fundamental problem was the technical support. For a manufacturer, assistance is very, very important.”
“With Uzinex, I felt very well protected by the assistance they provided. When you have a whole shift stalled and you need someone to answer quickly, it matters enormously.”
“We're among the top producers in Romania for this product. I wouldn't have imagined that when I started, but things fell into place.”
Quotes edited for clarity, preserving the exact meaning of the statements. The full video interview is available in the hero section of the page.
Three observations that changed the way we propose complete lines for clients with variable natural raw material.
CAMMA had bought 2 presses with enormous forces from a supplier who did not understand the production technology. The money invested in raw tonnage produced not a single usable brick. The lesson we applied: for complete production lines, you sell the recipe and the flow together with the machinery, or you do not sell at all. Today, any Uzinex turnkey line includes documented know-how transfer and assistance during the first production campaign.
The clay from Buzău does not behave identically to the clay the line supplier ran the initial tests on. Different grain size, different natural moisture, different mineralogy. Without an on-site recipe adaptation, the line would have run at half capacity. Since then, on any project with variable raw material we propose an explicit local-calibration stage, with a sample taken before ordering and a recipe adjustment in the first batches.
Quarry clay has different moisture in summer versus winter, after rain versus a dry day, and from one geological layer to another. The moisture calculator delivered as part of the line re-computed the additive proportions for every batch, keeping quality constant with no manual intervention. For any factory with natural raw material, this sub-system makes the difference between consistency and scrap.
Because pressing force is not the limiting factor in the production of semi-dry hyper-pressed modular brick. The key lies in the raw-material chemistry: the correct proportion of clay, sand, cement and water, the grain size after milling, the pressing moisture. The Ukrainian supplier sold tonnage without delivering the recipe or the complete technological flow. The presses compacted un-optimized raw material and out came bricks that crumbled. With no recipe and no flow, a press with double the force produces double the scrap, not double the good product.
It is a brick produced by high-pressure compaction of a semi-dry mix of clay, sand, cement and water in calibrated proportions. Unlike traditional kiln-fired brick, it does not go through a thermal process; it cures at ambient temperature over a few weeks. The interlocking-groove profile allows masonry to be raised without mortar on the structural joints, and the surface comes out with a clean finish that needs no plaster.
No. "LEGO" is used colloquially in the modular-brick industry to describe the groove-interlock shape and the mortarless laying system, similar to the pieces of a construction toy. There is no commercial, legal or licensing connection with LEGO Group A/S of Denmark, and the term is used strictly as a technical metaphor. The official name of the CAMMA product is hyper-pressed modular brick.
Through a combination of written documentation, on-site calibration on the real materials and direct assistance during the first production batches. The Uzinex team delivered the base recipe adapted to the clay profile from Buzău, the moisture calculator that automatically re-computed the proportions, plus a physical presence on site at commissioning. Adapting the recipe to the local raw material was the most delicate part of the project, and without the direct engineer-to-engineer transfer on site it would not have worked.
For standard-gauge masonry, hyper-pressed modular brick allows faster execution than fired brick plus mortar, because it eliminates most of the mortar preparation and joint-application operations. Estimates published by international manufacturers in the segment show a significant reduction in time and auxiliary material consumption. The exact figures depend on the project, the qualification of the masonry crew and the scale of the construction.
Quarry clay does not have constant moisture. It varies with the season, the geological layer, the weather conditions between extraction and processing. For a semi-dry hyper-pressed brick, the final moisture of the mix determines compaction quality: too dry means brittle brick, too wet means deformation during curing. The calculator measures the current moisture of the raw material and re-computes the amounts of sand, cement and water for every batch, eliminating the need for manual adjustment done by an operator's eye.
The Uzinex line has a theoretical capacity of about 800,000 m³ of brick per year. Adding the 2 Ukrainian presses bought earlier, which became productive after the know-how transfer received with the new line, CAMMA Tehno Metal exceeds 1,000,000 m³ of brick per year at factory level, becoming the largest producer of modular brick in Romania.
Move the sliders for a wall you want to build. The calculator shows how many modular bricks you need and how much you would save versus the same area built with traditional fired brick, based on data published by international manufacturers in the segment.
Indicative estimate based on data published by international manufacturers of hyper-pressed modular brick: 631 vs 2,356 MJ/m³ embodied energy, 56.79 vs 230.06 kg/m³ CO₂. Build time assumes skilled masons. For the exact figures of a specific project, contact us.
For factories with variable natural raw material, we deliver complete lines with the chemical recipe included, a moisture calculator and on-site calibration to your local profile. Contractual liability for the line's operation rests entirely with Uzinex, not with the upstream manufacturer.
For projects with commercial-confidentiality requirements, we sign an NDA before discussing any technical details of the factory.
