IMA Digital: What’s new

IMA Digital, i.e. advanced and enhanced services for an increasingly digital production. Objective: to facilitate each specific phase related to production flows.

Launched in 2017, the IMA Digital project was born from the desire for continuous research and innovation. The core of the initiative developed by the IMA Group is both the realization of machines connected to web platforms able to read and monitor their production performance and the creation of accessory services, to make the management of the fleet of machines easier and more interactive on the customer side.

Preparing for new scenarios

Collection, analysis and protection of plant data

On the occasion of the virtual event IMA Sensing Future Days - Digital Natives, that took place last 7th and 8th October, dedicated to digitalization processes in the packaging world, IMA presented the latest services addressed to its customers in order to improve the efficiency of their machine fleet and optimize production performance.

Among the latest innovations introduced, the Group relaunched IMA Sentinel, a desktop and mobile data extraction and analysis tool able to monitor the condition of the plant 24/7 and improve its efficiency thanks to an intelligent and dynamic list of actions to be taken.

The IMA Control Room, physical and digital space active 24/7, consists of a team of experts who, through data analysis, takes care of operational problems by storing data and information related to specific events.

And as regards data protection from possible cyber attacks - a particularly hot topic at the moment - IMA has developed A4GATE, an integrated hardware and software solution to be installed on board the machine able to control the flow of information entering and leaving the plants. The product is the result of a synergic collaboration with Terafence, Israeli company, world leader in cyber-security devices.

Services that improve processes

In parallel, IMA is enhancing a series of other services with the aim of facilitating each specific phase related to production flows.

• IMA Virtual training: services dedicated to the training of operators; the wide range of training offers sees as a basic step a traditional classroom training through the use of touch monitors. In an intermediate phase, Virtual Reality is used to give the full immersion of the virtual context, while maintaining the real security of a training classroom.

The use of augmented reality with Hololens 2 allows operators to follow in real-time and at a more advanced level the operations carried out by an expert directly in the field.

The versatility of augmented reality and Hololens 2 allows the operators themselves to continue the training activity directly within the lines, having access to the operational guidelines stored on the device and usable through 3D menus.

• IMA Remote FAT provides the possibility to realize Factory Acceptance Tests with the customer connected remotely, actively involving him in web sessions thanks to streaming platforms and tools, even if he is not physically present.

The wide range of tools available guarantees a continuous and effective interaction, making this service more current than ever in a historical moment in which geographical barriers can be an obstacle.

• IMA Remote Assistance Solutions, tools enhanced by Augmented Reality (Quick-Kit, AR ready tablet, Hololens 2) and designed to make available to customer production environments different types of devices to receive immediate and remote assistance from an IMA expert.
• The IMA Smart Service Suite APP and the IMA Customer Service Portal are the desktop and mobile services to provide customers with faster access to plant documentation, requests for offers related to format change and spare parts list exports, but also to receive technical assistance faster.
• IMA Cobots, i.e. KUKA and Universal Robot collaborative robotic technology, integrated into the production workflow for repetitive, heavy and low value-added jobs.

Rethink everyday industrial life

IMA Digital is therefore increasing the areas of development to address, in particular, the technological challenges represented by the potential inherent in Artificial Intelligence and the rethinking of the role that man will have to play within the operational and decision-making processes of the factory.

At the center of these new scenarios, which every day become clearer and clearer and at the same time change in form and perspective, the confidentiality and security of data generated within the production plants play a role of primary importance.

In this context, the importance and necessity of this type of service has grown exponentially.

IMA expresses great satisfaction not only for the results achieved but also for its ability and willingness to implement new and continuous ad hoc solutions.

StayConnect!, a platform with macro sectors

The same drive allows the Group to further accelerate the improvement of processes and business opportunities, as already happened with StayConnect!, a digital platform launched in early 2020, created with the aim of providing its partners and customers with a single touch-point for an easier use of all those digital services offered by the Group.

The wide digital proposal that IMA proposes today is the result of a complex work started three years ago. The project, structured in four main macro areas, has been designed to divide, organize and manage the development of each innovative process in the best possible way:

• Smart Machines, that is the area that collects all the projects related to the digital connection of plants and their interactive dialogue; initially limited to connected machines, HMI 4.0, cobots and monitoring applications, this area was later enriched by Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity;
• Smart Service organizes all customer oriented projects such as portals and platforms, digital services and infrastructures, applications, management programs, plant maintenance and, last but not least, the training of operators through augmented reality and virtual reality;
• the Smart Factory is the heart of the IMA Digital Project, and takes all the opportunities to transform IMA itself into a Smart Factory. These are projects related to the dematerialization of flows, platforms for faster internal communication, more efficient digital production and the creation of digital tools for internal use for a more fluid collaboration;
• Smart Organization instead manages all the projects related to the actual organization; therefore, not only HR development programs to train employees on the use of new technologies, but a reorganization of internal digital communication and a 4.0 quality able to balance the continuous innovations, while maintaining a consistent relationship with partners and customers.

As time goes by and projects increase, to date IMA Digital has more than 25 digital transformation sites and involves numerous transversal development teams, made up of engineers, researchers and developers for a total of more than 110 resources dedicated full-time to the development of each dedicated activity, a sign of the commitment that the Group is pursuing in maintaining and enhancing this type of activity.