Plotting a course

Factual proof The market, the entrepreneurs, the general public needs certainties. Let’s hence take a look at the little big world of packaging that, astride February and March, will meet up at Ipack Ima, this also to find reasons for optimism. The conditions are there. Luciana Guidotti

The string of socio-political-financial events that have struck Italy in these last months has been so rapid and dramatic as to defy easy forecasting; all statistical repetitions have been overturned.

After a relatively quiet lull, it seems that Italian entrepreneurs are still forced to “fly by sight” while awaiting for clear signs from “the” market, that the financial world goes back to speaking the language of the real economy, that the fiscal pressure be distributed with greater equity, that even the minimum signs of recovery might counter the shadow of recession.

What with being faced with a national and international macro-economic picture that still needs to be explored and understood, let’s reduce our angle of vision and try and focus on some positive elements.
In this widespread welter of uncertainty, it is good and comforting to know that the Italian packaging machine segment has shown considerable growthrates, at least in the first nine months of 2011 (this is confirmed by the latest data made available by Ucima on the run and quality of business, where strong exports have driven the recovery showing a +19%).
The positive sentiment of the sector, already anticipated in June in the “Ipack-Ima Observatory”, was much reiterated  in the autumn edition of the survey: carried out at the behest of the show organizers and innovatively set out by Gianpaolo Vitali, it involved machine and technology producers as well  providers of materials and services for processing, packaging and industrial handling. The study goes on to classify performance and perceptions on the basis of “sectors of destination” of the products (among other things the study won the explicit appreciation of Vincenzo Cipolletta, who praised its completeness and novel elements, En.)
A few months on from the publication of the Observatory that "draws up  and identifies" the various Business Communities, soul and skeletal structure  of the coming Ipack-Ima, in Italy things have changed considerably. Thus, on the run-up to the 2012 edition, scheduled at the Rho trade fair complex from February 28th to March 3rd, we asked Guido Corbella (CEO of Ipack-Ima SpA) to help draw up a realistic picture of the industrial situation and the perception of the future, from his vantage point as organizer of one of the most appreciated technological shows at international level.

ITALIAIMBALLAGGIO To our mind this year Ipack-Ima is called upon to take on a great responsibility: it offers a chance to check on the stability of an entire industrial segment. It is obviously by no means an easy task: how have you prepared for this? What are your trump cards?

It is not the first time we have had to take on such an important role. Already in 2009 we had a responsibility of an Ipack-Ima that was held amidst the emergency, following the failure of Lehman Brothers: precisely that edition instead offered a first clear sign of faith in the recovery.
My hope is for a repeat of what happened in 2009. But we also know that hopes alone are not enough to achieve results, and that's why we have worked hard and systematically despite the contingent difficulties, and invested a lot and more to organize a great Ipack-Ima 2012. I underline that not only did we find ourselves working in times of a serious crisis but, after the closing down of ICE - the Italian Institute for foreign trade - we were also forced to launch the Buyers program on our own. However, in order not to betray the expectations of our exhibitors, along with ANIMA - Assofoodtec (promoters of the event) we decided to take it upon ourselves to directly invite a large group of foreign traders (more than 100 buyers selected from 20 countries, En), hosting them and providing them with various services, including   matching  between the buyers and exhibitors profile to help B2B encounters, free admission to the fair and an invitation to all side events, access to the exclusive Buyers Lounge, as well as the fair catalogue and  a free ticket on the public transport network.
We also revisited the concept of our trade fair, organizing it into 9 Business Communities, which allow sector operators to be part of an extensive network of contacts that are strictly "business": extensive work that has enabled us to verticalize the initiatives onto more specific targets. In other words we have created a new tool directly accessible from the Ipack-Ima 2012 website, whose value comes from the sum of three elements that centre on the business operator: identification of the specific segment (the Ipack-Ima Business Community), knowledge of the problem (the theme of processing, packaging and material handling) and the ability to find  the solution (the experience of the single operator). This new tool also helps Ipack-Ima in confirming its objective: to create development opportunities for company business.

ITALIAIMBALLAGGIO Any other undertakings from an organizational point of view?

To facilitate access to the event, for the first time we have introduced the use of electronic tickets. Exhibitors will no longer in fact receive paper tickets, but "invitation codes" to be transmitted to their customers, enabling them to pre-register online. The advantages of this mode? Accelerated procedures thanks to the direct and immediate check via PC of the registration, and no sending costs. It is to be regarded as encouraging that, in late November, figures indicated an increase of 14% on the 2009 edition.
And what is more, given the success achieved in other shows organized by us, we will repeat the "Innovation Corner": three "centers" set up inside the halls will host the companies that wish to tell their tales of excellence and innovation, hence expanding the boundaries of the stand via an interactive dimension. The opportunities for visibility for companies and update for the visitors are therefore multiple, and given the commitment shown by our exhibitors so far, despite the difficult times, we think Ipack-Ima will be a showcase of great interest in terms of technological innovations.

ITALIAIMBALLAGGIO A few weeks from the beginning of the show, how do you rate the market response?
The exhibitors have invested in their presence, confirming and maintaining the areas booked in the previous edition, or in some cases, even increasing their space. There are therefore no negative signs and the investments made by the exhibitors on the areas and stands suggest that the show will be a success.

ITALIAIMBALLAGGIO Ipack-Ima changed and innovated the approach to the fair event, when it hosted Jeremy Rifkin back in 2003. One of the most appreciated and often disputed “futurologists”, he made an analysis of the deviations in food habits caused by the “meat culture”, set against the alternative of cereal consumption. From then on, edition after edition, a lot of “food for thought” has been proposed, embracing universal topics that though are strictly related to the packaging item and its primary function of protection: particularly concerning the fight against food waste and the questions of food safety and wholesomeness. What are you offering on this count for 2012?

Because we are convinced that technology is a source of development and, as evidenced by the joint action with the United Nations, that it can also provide the way out to problems of global dimensions such as world hunger, we will continue along the road marked out before. Ipack-Ima is in fact a large container of side events, many of which are dedicated to issues related to the technology of preservation and food processing industry, particularly in the Grain Based Food area. The principal encounter, scheduled for March 1st, 2012, is the international conference "Enhancing Food Safety and Food Security in Africa, Processing and Packaging Technologies from  the Farm’s Gate to the Consumer's Table", produced with the involvement of experts from the agencies of the agrifood pole of the UN, UNIDO, WFP, FAO and IFAD, coordinated by professor Claudio Peri. Kandeh K. Yumkella, General Director of UNIDO, will hold the opening speech at the event where 50 of among the main operators and specialists from Africa are expected to attend. Among the topics covered: process and packaging innovations of grain based foods and fresh produce as well as financing systems. Here too, despite the lack of public support, we decided to go ahead with organizing the international conference, which aims at highlighting the importance of technology transfer in developing countries, paving the way for the next edition of IPACK IMA to be held alongside Expo 2015, the subject of which will be “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.  

ITALIAIMBALLAGGIO Business driver….Showcase for ideas, innovations and skills…. That is to say a landmark get-together for an entire industrial system, where process (in particular in grain based foods), packaging (food and other) and handling are all on an equal footing. This year the range of your offer is even more extensive, considering that it will also include print and converting operators. What is the reason behind this new inclusion.

The packaging managers are increasingly interested in converting technologies; hence our decision to maximize supply chain synergies, for the time extending the possibility to participate to printing and converting solution technology producers. On our part, we are committed to ensure  machine manufacturers maximum visibility, to encourage a direct dialogue with packaging users. And the undertaking has aroused the keen interest of the companies in the sector, indeed Acimga and its associates will be attending in force

ITALIAIMBALLAGGIO A market oriented event cannot certainly overlook the demand for sustainability expressed on several levels, both from companies and from society has a whole. In this context, packaging can and must claim a propositive and proactive role: what tools are you fielding for revitalising and consolidating the image of packaging, this also in the eyes of the consumers?

We have reiterated Ipack-Ima’s attachment to the issues of sustainability on a number of occasions; this for example spurred the agreement with Conai (The Italian National Packaging Consortium) for the conference "How to pave the way for sustainable packaging", which was held last November 30th in Milan but that will continue ideally at the fair. One of the speakers, Antonio Tencati (Professor of Management and CSR, Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University) during Ipack-Ima 2012 will analyse in detail the results of a study on sustainability premiered in Milan.
The relationship between packaging and sustainability will also be further gone into, and especially in the area of the event "Shaping the future, packaging is quality of life", this too set up along with Conai: meetings and debates will centre on the theme of eco-compatibility, not only as a phenomenon downstream of post-consumer recycling, but also in terms of prevention and responsible production. The area will be animated by the major industry associations and universities, that will showcase research projects, but space will also be allotted for the presentation of packaging, designed according to the criteria of environmental sustainability.