In focus: post-IPACK reflections
Image: IPACK-IMA
The dust has settled and IPACK-IMA has been wrapped up for another year. Connections have been made, business is being done. It’s time to reflect on one of the biggest European based processing and packaging events in the calendar.
Whilst sustainability in the packaging industry was far from being unexplored or novel at the last IPACK-IMA, there can be no doubt that it has leapt forwards in prevalence in the four (planned to be three) year gap since IPACK 2019.
Talks on bioplastics, creating a circular economy between design and recycling, and sustainability and innovation in the packaging centre, filled the timetable of events, however they were seemingly only available in Italian so I cannot comment on their content, but their overarching presence was an indicator of the prevailing theme of this year’s show, accompanied by the presence of Green Plast which was cohabiting the centre.
Identifying innovation
With IFE (which I thought huge) being the only other show I have been to so far, this was much larger, with six huge halls each divided in half to make individual (still very large) halls, each numbered and categorised for navigation to the appropriate sector.
The stands varied in size by company, not always correlating with the size of the company itself but rather with the investment and value they put in the exhibition. The largest stand by far, which they proudly confirmed themselves, was Fava, with part of its short-cut pasta line towering up to the roof of the hall (right). We were informed that the machine created pasta end to end, meaning it combined, cut and dried the pasta all using the same machine, which unfortunately we could not witness as the machine lay dormant, unlike many others at the show, presumably due to the logistical challenges from the scale of the thing.
A.I. and Industry 4.0 were the mantras of many exhibitors with robots featuring heavily on the stands. Gamma Pack drew attention with its new Cyborg Line of humanoid robots, one of which it had on display. We watched on as the robot shook hands and waved with an eerily digital smile, but that might be a projection as a consequence of one too many sci-fi films…
Cama group also displayed an impressive robotic machine but that wasn’t even the most impressive thing about it. The machine had the company’s Industry 4.0 augmented reality package installed, which through scanning the machine’s QR code, a tablet could display the status of the machine and any maintenance needs. Not only that but it would virtually demonstrate how to make the repair through the lens of the tablet camera held up to the machine. It acted as a virtual manual and alleviated the need for time consuming training. It also has the capacity to simulate a real production cycle with its digital twin, to virtually test a product on the machine without the transportation or running costs of actually testing it. As Paola Fraschini, marketing manager for Cama, explained to me, they were developing this technology pre-Covid, and when the pandemic hit, the technology unintentionally came into its own when companies couldn’t travel to test their products, Cama could virtually do it for them.
Testing out products for customers was also something ACMA was developing with its Sustainability Lab and Material Gate. It is supporting companies making the transition to sustainable packaging, by innovating ways to make old and existing machines work with new, more sustainable materials, as adapting current machines is far more sustainable and economical than replacing a company’s entire fleet. The Sustainability Lab is also sustainable in itself, Roberto Lattarulo, marketing manager of ACMA revealed, as need only test a small amount of material in their lab rather than wasting thousands of meters of material, time and money testing it on a machine.
Fabbri was exhibiting its strides in sustainable packaging at IPACK too, with its biobased films. It has already launched its compostable stretch films and is working towards a compostable barrier film. So not only is it biobased, the film is commercially and home compostable with added breathability benefits that ensure a longer shelf life of the product. Whilst I was informed that the biobased films had the same functionality, if not even better than, its regular PET films, the company is not yet looking to replace all its films with its more sustainable version.
Appetite to connect?
The feedback from the exhibitors in terms of visitor turnout was surprisingly mixed. Companies such as Cama had been very pleased with the show and had been busily fielding visitors across all four days, however others, such as ACMA, said they had a been underwhelmed. This may be down to their locations at the show perhaps more than anything in particular as it seemed generally bustling as I wandered around, but reportedly not up to pre-Covid numbers, which must be expected. On the whole the vibe was positive and there was definitely an eagerness from the exhibitors and visitors alike to get stuck back in after such a long sabbatical.
