The Italian network that looks to the world

If it is true that there is strength in numbers, what is often almost impossible for a single company may not be so if you are a “group” ... This is the meaning of the network contract, which opens the way “to a virtual company with variable geometry” able to better respond to the global market, sharing knowledge, technology and services. And the fact that it can work is demonstrated by the Packpact business network, as the new president Annalisa Bellante explains. Luciana Guidotti

Fallen in the Net ... by choice, we wrote in 2013, when the Business Network then called “Processing & Packaging:The High-Tech Italian Way” took its first steps.
Today that entrepreneurial model proposed by a group of Italian packaging machinery and system manufacturers, united by a common culture (both ethical and industrial), has in time consolidated itself and gone on to achieve numerous successes.

Enriched by new values and new skills, it now also has a new name, which sums up its aims: “Packpact - Your partner in advanced processing & packaging”.
Supported by Armando Honegger (CEO of the company Honegger, which has been Packpact project manager since 2018) , the Network president, Annalisa Bellante (CEO of Cama Group) speaks with conviction on the evolution of this sector project, which seems to have succeeded in overcoming the most ingrained traits of Italian SMEs, by their very nature little inclined to sharing.

Independent within the network
Bellante immediately goes straight to the heart of the matter, pointing out the essential characteristics of the team, formed solely by Italian companies and who are not in competition with each other, which have however recognized the potential of innovatively “acting as a system”:

«Born on the initiative of Gianmario Ronchi (co-owner of Ronchi Mario) on the basis of a voluntary aggregation of companies, in recent years the Network has achieved the commercial and marketing objectives shared by the founding nucleus. First of all, the exploration of little-known markets, perhaps also too complex to allow an  individual  company to approach them, through the collective presence at the principal trade fairs in given geographical areas of common interest.

Hence, a combined stand, a coordinated image but dedicated and personalized spaces for each individual concern, that maintains its own identity notwithstanding the offer of integrated technological solutions aimed at supplying complete lines... In practice, in addition to some undeniable economic benefits for all of us, the network also presents an added value for international buyers looking for packaging systems»

Changing perspective to act as a system 
Today, we said, the Packpact Business Network has though evolved, having expanded its range of “inter company” collaborations.
«By promoting a positive exchange on commercial strategies and management methods, but also among our corporate departments, in particular R&D, we have successfully completed some great projects: following a logic of co-responsibility in the supply of  plants and systems, we have in fact developed and sold complete packaging lines in various countries, exploiting the specific skills expressed by each of the companies in the network. This has allowed us to not only offer a personalized and state-of-the-art product, but it has earned us the appreciation of our end customers, aware of having been able to interact with closely aligned companies with which it was easier to dialogue: this too a considerable advantage».

Synergies that give good results, therefore, that arise from the desire to share knowledge and competitive advantages «also accepting that - underlines Bellante - the organisation that supplies the main part of the contract, as well as the skills and expertise to best manage the customer as a global project manager, takes on the role of senior assistant. This also means, when it comes down to it, safeguarding the autonomy of the individual companies of the Network in their choice of partners (possibly also foreign ones), to be involved as the case has it, based on the requests of the individual customer.

From the beginning, the Network has therefore effectively taken numerous steps forward: from the “simple” sharing of the trade fair experience we have moved on to developing high-level supply offers on various markets, we have put together training projects for the respective commercial networks about the real potential of the network, while having the vision of also being able to create a global technical assistance service».

Know the market... and oneselves
The entry of the company Honegger, as curator of the Network - the President would like to point out - has given a further and decisive boost to activities, opening the doors to very well organized and well structured initiatives, with a view to greater internationalization compared to the past. The support for the project to expand the number of network members  is fundamental thanks to a mapping of the sector.

«A long and complex yet stimulating undertaking» Armando Honegger tells us, underlining how the determination and intuition of members in wishing to propose a different model of industrial aggregation spurred him on towards taking on the role of project leader for the Network. The mapping of the sector was the fundamental step for setting in motion the mechanisms capable of making the technological offer of the Network evermore complete». 

Looking beyond
The analysis, which only examined Italian medium private companies, investigated the respective types of production and their principal markets, first of all making clear the elements necessary for a potential aggregation, which are those that have always distinguished this team: strong propensity to export, constant investments in R&D while proposing the market innovative and competitive products, financial solidity, sharing of a corporate ethics based on values of social and environmental sustainability, but aboveall an aptitude for collaboration and peaceful coexistence. This is because, only in this way, can a fruitful exchange of knowledge which leads to a mutual enrichment of technological knowhow and entrepreneurial approach be achieved.

«After this analysis, and the obvious comparison with the four “historic ”  companies of the Network, namely Ronchi Mario, MakroLabelling, Cama, Clevertech, the group consolidated with the entry of Universal Pack, Ilpra and Tosa.
Our commitment - explains Honegger - coincides with the development of an all-encompassing, across-the-board marketing and communication plan, as well as the organization of matchmaking events at specialized processing and packaging fairs, at which the Network, with all its companies, plans to participate throughout the world».

Results and objectives that are born «First and foremost out of mutual knowledge and trust» says Bellante «assumptions on which we have built the commitment to invest in the Network, both in economic terms and in terms of human resources. On the other hand, I think I can say that no group of companies has ever shown the ability to come together as we did, placing concrete projects on the table and growing organically. This in my opinion is the true victory of our Network».

BUILDERS IN (THE FRONT) LINE Currently the PackPact business network comprises seven manufacturers, focused on the production of packaging systems that differ in terms of product type and main markets. The original core formed by Ronchi Mario SpA(machines for packaging liquid chemical, cosmetic and food products), Makro Labelling Srl (labeling machines), Cama Group (secondary packaging systems and high-tech robotics) and Clevertech SpA (palletizers), has recently been joined by Universal Pack Srl (automatic bagging machines), Ilpra SpA (fillers, heat sealers, thermoforming machines) andTosa SpA (end of line specialist with wrapping machines, bundling and strapping machines). *** The Packpact Network project manager is Honegger, a network that has been on the market since 1970 with interdependent skills and services, communication and marketing. Operating internationally, it implements trade  fair marketing projects to increase business, addressing over 5,000 customers (companies, associations and institutions) in various sectors: from mechanics to medicine, from food to fashion and leisure.