Much is created and nothing destroyed…

May Lavoisier forgive us for interpreting this aphorism in our own way in order to present the activity of Cama and its new “Non Food” division, called on to take advantage of the concern’s valuable experience in secondary packaging and robotics for the food industry.

Like all Cama proposals, that of a new division targeting the non food market also has “two feet firmly on the ground” (for the Lombard concern, “non food” today means in particular personal care & housecare, with some incursions into the para-pharmaceutical sector, Ed).
Annalisa Bellante described the new division’s purpose and developments at Ipack-Ima, starting from a fundamental premise: sharing the technological and market knowledge developed during these years of constant growth.
«To direct the new division, we called on a man of experience, Giuseppe Giallombardo - the manager explained - who will be tasked with managing all new projects; and he will be able to rely on a business structure consolidated across fields, that is to say falling back on the competencies acquired, primarily in the food sector, by the two existing divisions, packaging machinery and robotics».

«The machines already developed by Cama - Giallombardo adds - are engineered in such a way as to respond immediately to the demands of the personal & house care sectors: today Cama is able to offer more compact and competitive carton packaging machines for personal care (shampoo, deodorants, tampons, tissues…), as well as home cleaning products (detergents, deodorizers, disinfectants…)».
Thus, counting on its experience in the food sector, in which its installations are characterized by high levels of efficiency and safety, and the products to be packaged have complex shapes and are often fragile and difficult to handle, according to the manager, «the road lying before Cama is almost entirely downhill».

From food to well-being. In fact, the new division was founded on a decision to systematize an activity already on-going, albeit sporadically, in order to further diversify the concern’s portfolio and target markets. Indeed, over time Cama has been called on to supply mechanical or robotized solutions for the most disparate sectors «requested by those who desired highly technologically advanced and reliable lines, borrowed from those already adopted for food».

And while the efficiency of the installations is itself a bonus that can be resold in every sector, «the type of product handling, very fragile, which Cama has developed fulfilling important commissions in the food sector, has served as a foundation on which to deal with personal care manufacturers: indeed, care in handling is also fundamental for them, in order to preserve and bestow to the end user an impeccable image of the products themselves».
With an air of pride, Giallombardo refers to already having acquired important commissions from a large French group, even to the disadvantage of factory builders from across the Alps. What gave Cama the edge over its competitors, in this case, was its capacity for combining packaging machinery and robots in a very limited space, thus optimizing not only space but also costs.

Short-term developments. Personal care is a constantly evolving sector - especially in certain parts of the world… India, Brazil, South Africa especially - with double-digit growth rates. Therefore, circumscribing the commercial objectives of the new Non Food division to this sector, «enormous by itself», will first of all enable not wasting energy. Bellante continues «Giallombardo’s role, at this juncture, is extremely important, because he needs to coordinate actions at a global level. In fact, the Non Food division requires specific marketing strategies, organized by product type, and the identification of the most important players in personal care in the various countries; wherever our branches have reached a good level of knowledge and independence, they will be able to proceed autonomously and manage their own projects. In other cases, the manager acts first, assessing both customer and project; after meeting with our project engineers, he will then be in a position to suggest the most appropriate technological solutions».
And what are the objectives? «Thus far, non food represents approximately 15% of Cama’s turnover, but our objective is to bring that up to 40%: this goal is ambitious, but achievable, thanks first of all to an active collaboration with all the branches».