Bridging Innovation to New Strategies

Machines Italia

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BRIDGING TO

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INNOVATION NEW STRATEGIES WITH ITALIAN SOLUTION PROVIDERS

f r o m t h e I t a l i a n Tra d e Co m m i s s i o n e r — C h i c a g o

Enabling Innovation and Growth in An Ever-Changing World Italian machinery manufacturers are quickly responding to new product and process developments by providing the right solutions to North American manufacturers.

Italian Trade Commission Dr. Pasquale Bova Trade Commissioner—Chicago Address: 401 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 3030 Chicago, Illinois 60611-4257 Toll-Free: 1.888.ITALTRADE / 482.5872 (U.S. and Canadian Callers) Telephone: 312.670.4360 (outside the U.S. and Canada) Fax: 312.264.6209 E-mail: info@italtradeusa.com Web Site: www.machinesitalia.org The Italian Trade Commission’s North American offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Toronto and Mexico City are principally responsible for the machinery and technology sectors covered in this publication.

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s the Italian Trade Commissioner in Chicago, every day I see how the coming decade will challenge North American manufacturers as no recent decade has.

Globalization has deeply changed the manufacturing landscape, especially in the most industrialized of nations. Rising costs, rapid growth of emerging economies and dramatic improvements in logistics have revolutionized marketplaces. Simultaneously, extreme environmental pressures, large-scale economic disruptions and technologically amplified human expression are combining to create what may seem like an unfamiliar landscape.

Resulting advances in information technology, robotics, biotechnology and other sciences have expanded the horizon of new product development and opportunities for both Italian machinery producers and the customers they serve.

Due to cost pressures, North American companies have been outsourcing and building plants abroad, where labor and energy tend to be cheaper. In fact, the extensive trend has led some to see the U.S. economy as one based almost completely on services. The truth is, in order to keep an industrialized economy healthy, it is absolutely necessary to pursue innovation, improve labor skills and education, adopt new management

techniques and invest in technology and production processes.

In this edition of Machines Italia, we illustrate and explore solutions to some of the problems that manufacturing faces today and will continue to face tomorrow. We present these articles with the perspective of partnership between North American and Italian companies.

I trust the articles will leave you with the message that through partnerships, it is possible to achieve a competitive advantage and secure long-term growth and success.

While technology and equipment are available from countless suppliers worldwide, advances in flexible and customized manufacturing solutions—developed by Italian companies experienced in a wide variety of markets and sectors—are helping North American manufacturers while contributing to and investing in local economies throughout North America.

We hope you will be able to take away some useful and concrete examples in case studies citing strategies that Italian companies implement on a daily basis to compete and support their North American customers in an ever-changing world economy.

Sincerely, Pasquale Bova Trade Commissioner—Chicago

TABLE OF

CONTENTS Machines Italia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 News briefs from a selection of our 10,000 partner companies.

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Supplier Collaboration Enables Global Competitiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Italian machinery manufacturers are boosting service offerings for North American customers, says Patricia Panchak.

Ready for the Robot Rally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 As manufacturers around the world invest in increased factory automation, Italian machinery and robotics manufacturers are ready to respond.

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Taking Lean to the Next Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Italian manufacturers will continue to improve customer service and quality through lean accounting, says Tonya Vinas.

Advanced and Adaptable Italian Bottling Meets Niche Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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As innovation drives growth in the U.S. beverage market, bottles and packaging must also adapt.

Weaving a New Tapestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Italian machinery manufacturers are helping the U.S. textile industry grow new markets with technical textiles.

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Power Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 With energy costs soaring to record levels, Italian manufacturers are helping to reduce bills through innovation, says Ruari McCallion.

Awards Promote Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Italian packaging and machine-tool industries host students.

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Italian Innovation in the Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Machines Italia is taking innovation on the road at major North American events.

Trade Shows in Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Upcoming exhibitions sponsored by our partner associations.

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Innovation at Work in Global Markets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A brief look at Machines Italia’s 14 partner associations and industries.

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MACHINES ITALIA

NEWS

ITALIAN TOUCH FOR AMERICAN FLAGS

Earth-Moving Equipment Sector Booming

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Exports of Italianmade earth-moving machinery are fueling what is expected to be three years of solid growth for the sector. According to COMAMOTER, the Italian consortium of earth-moving machinery manufacturers (www. comamoter.com) production in 2007 rose by 20.3%, with further growth of 10.3% expected in 2008 and 8.5% in 2009. Exports grew 21.5% in 2007 and will grow 10.9% and 9% respectively in 2008 and 2009, according to COMAMOTER. Growing product lines for 2007 included: bulldozers, excavators, loaders and graders—6.6%; miniexcavators— 6.8%; and skid-steer loaders—10.7%.

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hat could be more patriotic than U.S. flags being manufactured by American citizens in South Boston—at the world’s oldest and largest flag manufacturer nonetheless. Here, at one of Annin & Co.’s (www.annin.com) three U.S. plants, two digital printing machines from Italy’s Reggiani Macchine S.p.A. (www.reggianimacchine.it) help to manufacture 10,000 different types of flags, including the U.S. flag.

“They are great machines,” Bill Kelehar, director of operations, said of the Dream Digital inkjet printers. “We bought the first one four years ago, and we were so happy, we put in a second one.”

Kelehar said the company purchased the machines because they are more efficient than older, screen-printing machines. He said one operator runs both machines simultaneously. To get an equal amount of output on the older machines, 25 people had to run them.

“They are expensive, but you make up for it because they are less labor-intensive,” Kelehar said.

©2008 JUPITERIMAGES CORP.

NEWS BRIEFS

Family-owned Annin, which also has plants in Ohio and Virginia, has been part of several major events in history since its founding in New York in 1847. It made the flags used during Robert E. Peary’s expedition to the North Pole, Richard E. Byrd’s flights over the North and South Poles, the National Geographic Society’s expedition to the top of Mount Everest, and the Apollo moon missions.

Reggiani, located in Bergamo, has been a leading developer, manufacturer and service provider of flat/rotary screen-printing machines and stenters for textile printing and finishing for over 50 years.

BANDERA CREATES NANOTECH DIVISION

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talian extrusion lines maker Bandera S.p.A. (www.luigibandera.com) is creating a nanotech division and has received a patent for its plastic photovoltaic solar panel all-in-one.

Bandera has created the nanotechnology division in order to begin introducing nanotechnology capability in plastic extrusion

machinery. The Italian firm has patented a process to create a multilayer (up to 12) film that will reduce the cost of plastic solar panels, creating an alternative to the classic glass-silicon approach.

Bandera is working on the improvement of polymer mechanical properties by the selection, modification and dispersion of nanofillers, natural

NEWS BRIEFS

Frigel President a ‘Plastics Pioneer’ Steve Petrakis, president of the North American unit of Italian industrial cooling equipment manufacturer Frigel Firenze S.p.A. (www.frigel.it), was recently inducted into the Plastics Pioneers Association. Membership is limited to 250 active members who must have at least 25 years or more in the industry to be considered. Petrakis has been in the plastics industry for more than 30 years. As president of Frigel NA, Petrakis is introducing Ecodry to the North American market. Ecodry is a closed-loop process-cooling system that uses less water and energy than traditional systems.

Cefla Chooses N. Carolina for U.S. Base

©2008 JUPITERIMAGES CORP.

nanoclays and/or synthetic nanopowders. Bandera will continue to seek agreements with academia and joint ventures with industry in order to develop new intelligent plastic products and also to improve the production process, reducing the cost of plastic substrate for electronic and photovoltaic applications.

Bandera specializes in designing and manufacturing complete plastic extrusion lines.

Established in 1947, Bandera has produced more than 20,000 machineries. Recently, it has boosted its presence in the market, concentrating its production range on three different applications: blown film, foils and sheets, and pipes (thermoplastic and steel pipe coating technology).

TORNINOVA EXPANDS N. AMERICAN SALES, OFFERINGS orninova S.r.l.

Plastic Machinery (www.torninova.com), based in Perugia, Italy, will expand its North American presence this year with a new sales and service office in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. The company will be selling extrusion and bubble-wrap machinery.

“This entry to the market was strategically planned to coincide with the major expansion of a brand-new manufacturing and assembly facility that allows for the increased production requirements of North America as well as the expansion Torninova has been experiencing throughout the world,” said Maurizio Mencarelli, general manager.

Products to be offered to the North American market include: I Coex Bubble 10 In-Line Processing® I Power Bubble In-Line Processing® I Pollyboll In-Line Processing® I Twin Bubble In-Line Processing® I MAC Bubble® I Air Basic Off-Line Processing® I RP® Coreless Rewinder I Lam Lamination Machine®

TORNINOVA S.R.L. PLASTIC MACHINERY

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Torninova, which makes bubble-wrap packaging equipment such as is shown here, will be expanding its sales and service capabilities in the United States with a new office in New York state.

For more information, contact: Torninova USA P.O. Box 1354 2073 Feuereisen Ave. Ronkonkoma, N. Y., 11779 Phone: 631.676.7060 Fax: 631.676.7063

Italian wood-processing machinery manufacturer Cefla Group s.c. (www.ceflagroup. com/en) is locating its North American headquarters in Huntersville, N.C. Cefla America plans to build an office, manufacturing plant, distribution facility and research lab. The company is considering two sites. Cefla will ultimately invest about US$16 million in the new headquarters. According to the Charlotte Business Journal, the company also will hire about 90 people. Cefla America already has locations in High Point, N.C., and Canada.

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HT Italy Resurrects MIR Brand HT Italy S.p.A. (www.htitalyspa.com) has purchased MIR, a longtime Italian producer of construction and injection-molding machines that has been under special commission management due to financial troubles, according to Polimerica.eu, the online European report of Plastics and Rubber News. The publication reported in July that production has restarted at the Brescia-based plant with about US$8 million worth of orders.

With this purchase, HT Italy becomes a producer of industrial machinery; previously, it had been only a distributor and service company. CEO Pietro Nicolazzi said at the beginning of 2009, HT Italy will change its name and logo to HT IMM, and the machines will be branded MIR and HT IMM.

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JOBS’ MULTIFUNCTIONAL MACHINE LEADS AEROSPACE TREND

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talian machinery manufacturer Jobs S.p.A. (www.jobs.it.) continues to support the Boeing 787 project underway at U.S. aerospace giant Boeing. Jobs has supplied various dedicated systems to leading Boeing partners and suppliers.

Recently, the company sold a milling machine directly to Boeing.

According to Jobs, the purchase of the JomaX 265 for its Seattle plant is representative of a trend for companies such as Boeing to invest in large, multifunctional machines. The JomaX 265 is composed of a large five-axis milling centre, which is able to machine various types of material, from aluminium to titanium.

“It allows the user to rough out and finish complex parts in a wide variety of materials such as titanium, inconel, steel, aluminium and aluminium alloys,” according to Jobs.

THE BOEING COMPANY

NEWS BRIEFS

Looking up at the nose of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner provides a unique vantage point on the all-new jetliner.

More than 890 of the jetliners have already been ordered by 58 customers.

OR.P. STAMPI EXPANDS IN RESPONSE TO DEMAND

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R.P. Stampi S.r.l. (www.orpstampi.it), Viadanica, is expanding its headquarters facility in response to increased demand from customers. OR.P. Stampi makes moulds for the production of O-rings, gaskets, bellows, rubber-tometal applications and other products.

According to a report by Plastics and Rubber Weekly (www.prw.com), OR.P. Stampi has increased the floor space at its facility by about 10,700 square feet in response to increased demand. Production exceeds 1,000 moulds per year and is expected to continue increasing. In addition to square footage, the expansion included new machinery, staff increases and logistics improvements.

OR.P. Stampi said it exports 70% of its finished goods and credited its growth to the dedication of its highly qualified technicians and to innovative ideas developed in its Application Laboratory.

Italy Remains Leader in Textile Machinery Italy continues to be a leader in the textile machinery business, with 11% of the world market and a 3% increase in sales in 2007. Exports increased 2% in the same year. ACIMIT, the Italian association of textile machinery manufacturers (www.acimit.it), reported this news in its stateof-the-industry report released this summer.

According to ACIMIT, demand for textile maintenance machinery is rising, although output for the global industry as a whole was flat in 2007.

collaboration

SUPPLIER COLLABORATION

ENABLES GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS ITALIAN MACHINERY COMPANIES ARE BOOSTING SERVICE OFFERINGS FOR NORTH AMERICAN CUSTOMERS.

By Patricia Panchak

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very association, IT company, research firm and consulting group is full of advice these days on how to run a successful global manufacturing company. The advice tends to mirror the group’s political or sales objectives. All of these groups, however, have something to say about suppliers, and usually it is the same thing: One of the keys to remaining competitive in today’s global manufacturing economy is to work with suppliers that are dedicated to high-quality products and ongoing improvement of service.

“Our research shows that supply chains are being driven to transform and evolve due to market realities such as globalization of supply, increasing competitive pressures, and dwindling product life cycles,” said Bob Shecterle, a vice president and group director for supply chain research at Aberdeen Research.

At the 2008 Supply Chain Management Summit that Aberdeen hosted in April, the researchers identified “driving deeper interactions with trading partners of all kinds” as one of four key drivers of supply chain transformations. Overseas suppliers are deepening interaction with their North American customers is to increase their sales and service presence here—Italian machinery manufacturers included.

One of these is Frigel Firenze S.p.A. (www.frigel.it), which makes industrial processcooling equipment used by makers of plastic, rubber, metal and food products. Its Ecodry system has been installed at more than 5,000 locations worldwide and uses less energy and saves water while working more effectively than traditional cooling systems.

Frigel established a North American unit in 2006 (www.frigel.com/na) to sell a newly advanced version of the Ecodry system and better serve its customers. Frigel NA includes experts in design, installation, testing, training and service.

“We started out to increase our abilities to serve our customers here on all fronts,” said Steve Petrakis, president of Frigel NA. “We’ve grown over the past two and a half years. Right now we have approximately 80 different companies, and within those 80 companies there may be several different locations that use our product.”

Prior to founding Frigel NA, the Italian company used distributors to serve North American clients,

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collaboration

Petrakis said, and these companies primarily focused on sales and had minimal mechanical capability. Frigel NA started out with one service expert, and now has three plus the capability of phone diagnostics and “As cutting edge as this service, meaning customers get technology is, every year instant attention. they [Frigel Italy] come out “Wait time is non-existent,” with something new and Petrakis said. “We service our customers on demand, and we are set a new standard.” looking at technology that in the –Steve Petrakis, president of Frigel NA near future will allow us to monitor customers’systems remotely at their request and even do system upgrades remotely.

We’ve talked to multiple companies that are interested because they have several facilities around the world, and they want a technician to be able to get a report daily on all of their systems.”

Frigel is planning for more growth in North America.

“We started out with five people and 5,000 square feet of space. Currently we have 14 individuals, and we are building a 40,000 squarefoot building to start manufacturing in the United States,” Petrakis said. “Currently all of the units sold here are manufactured in Italy.”

Frigel NA is building the plant outside of Chicago and expects to start production in November of 2008.

Petrakis, who has a long career in manufacturing and recently was inducted into the Plastics Pioneers Association, said Frigel—and Italian companies in general—are highly respected technological leaders in process-system machinery.

“As cutting edge as this technology is, every year they [Frigel Italy] come out with something new and set a new standard,” he said.

Another Italian machinery manufacturer, Biesse S.p.A. (www.intermac.it), is partnering with a U.S.based company to increase products offered to customers in the glass and stone fabrication industries. Through its North American subsidiary, Intermac America, Biesse signed an agreement in June of 2008 with Salem Distributing Company.

Under the new agreement, Intermac’s service department will install all Intermac machinery and provide technical support, parts and service to

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Salem customers with Intermac products.

According to the companies, both Intermac and Salem noticed that their glass machinery portfolios complemented each other, and in fact the Intermac sales force will sell Salem machinery lines to Intermac accounts.

Intermac is investing significantly in North America overall, hiring and strengthening its dealer network in support of aggressive expansion plans.

This agreement is part of that effort.

“This collaboration between the two strongest glass machinery sales and service organizations in North America provides our joint customers with the largest portfolio of high quality machinery,” said Carey Brayer, Intermec glass product manager.

“Both Salem and Intermac customers are already realizing the benefits of this joint effort.”

Another example is Milan-based NO.EL Industrial Automation S.r.l. (www.nuovesales.com/about.html), which makes packaging machinery. The company is responding to the “green” trend of creating less waste in industrial processes. In July, it introduced the NO.EL Coreless Rewinder II in North America, a machine that had previously been sold only in Europe and Brazil. The Coreless Rewinder II produces rolls of post-extrusion film wrap without disposable cardboard cores at the center. This makes for less waste and eliminates the need to purchase the cores.

“Our European customers are convinced that getting rid of their cardboard cores is a mandate for responsible business practices going forward, and they successfully sell this as a value-add to their film customers,” said Roberto Colombo, NO.EL vice president and company partner. “We believe North American producers are ready to follow this trend, because it’s cost effective and positive for the environment.”

Italian companies such as Frigel, Biesse and NO.EL understand the new global dynamic: Suppliers that make serving customers a priority will share in the success and growth of those customers.

Patricia Panchak is Editor-at-Large for Target, the journal of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of IndustryWeek magazine.

robotics

READY FOR THE

ROBOT RALLY AS MANUFACTURERS AROUND THE WORLD INVEST IN INCREASED FACTORY AUTOMATION, ITALIAN MACHINERY AND ROBOTICS MANUFACTURERS ARE READY TO RESPOND.

Manufacturers in many segments are investing in robots for a variety of reasons including quality control, improved efficiency, reduced energy consumption and/or scrap, increased safety and expanded capabilities.

The automotive industry is the biggest consumer of industrial robots, but that is changing. According to IFR, robot suppliers are offering “increasingly tailored solutions” to nonautomotive industries such as metals, food and beverage, glass and ceramics, pharmaceutical and medical devices, and the photovoltaic industries. Specifically in the United States, robot sales in the automotive sector are stagnant while they are growing in the electrical/electronics industry, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, metals, engineering, and rubber and plastics.

COMAU S.P.A.

IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY

Traditionally, the automotive industry is the biggest user of industrial robots, such as this Comau automated system. Other industries, however, are starting to buy more robots, particularly for materialhandling applications.

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ales of industrial robots worldwide grew 5% in 2007 and will continue to increase by 8% to 12% this year, according to estimates. Driving this trend are improved technology, growing demand in new market segments and a need for increased automation among end-users.

According to the International Federation for Robotics (IFR), the stock of industrial robots in the Americas (mainly the United States, Mexico, Canada and Brazil) increased by 8% in 2007 to 167,000 units, about 17% of total world stock.

According to IFR, “Improvements in sensor technology [such as] robot vision, force-sensing or environment recognition will enhance quality control and inspection. Improvements in communication such as remote operation or better human-machine interface will open new customer groups such as smalland medium-sized companies. Improvements in system technology, [such as] offline programming, safety and multirobot cooperation will guarantee solutions for sophisticated automation processes.”

Innovation in robotics often comes from collaboration among producers and/or research institutions and customers. For example, Italian industrial automation manufacturer Masmec S. r. l. (www.masmec.com) has ongoing research

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This global forecast for industrial robots is provided by the International Federation for Robotics: Robot sales will vary in the three big regions. Nonautomotive sectors will increase remarkably in the Americas, but such increases will not be sufficient to offset the expected cyclical decline in sales to the automotive sector.

Robot supplies in Europe will continue to grow. In the biggest market, Germany, the order intakes of the first quarter 2008 are still at double-digit rates.

In Italy, an increase of robot installations is expected to be between 5% and 10%. In the Eastern European countries, further strong robot investment will be realized.

The robot supplies to Asia will increase in 2008 after the stagnation in 2007.

Moderate growth in Japan and the Republic of Korea and surging sales to the growing markets in Asia will be realized.

GROWING DEMAND FOR AUTOMATION

The European Union has doubled the amount it will contribute to robotics research through the next two years.

One reason manufacturers are investing in the automation of processes is in response to a skilled worker shortage that will become even more drastic as a large portion of U.S. workers retire in the next decade.

“This technology is really needed for the global community,” said Russell Bodoff, executive director at the Center for Aging Services Technologies (www.agingtech.org), Washington, D.C. “If you look 30 years out, we have what I would call a global crisis

in front of us: that we will have many more aging people than we could ever deal with.” 1 Robotics are needed to assist the aging population not only focus on job-specific tasks, such as painting, but on making current tasks easier on older bodies. This, too, is fueling growth as companies that make sector-specific machinery will include more robotic applications. For instance,

MANUFACTURERS USE 1 MILLION INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS Estimated worldwide operational stock of industrial robots 994

1,000

923

Worldwide yearly supply of industrial robots 2006–2007 by main industries I 2007* | I 2006 Motor vehicles

+4%

951

750

605

600

Automotive parts

-2% +9%

Chemical/rubber/ plastics

-2% +6%

Metal products Machinery (industrial/consumer)

454 400

+8% +19%

Food Communication

200

66 0

3

-37%

Glass/ceramics

+64%

Medical/precision/ optical instruments

+38% 0

1973 1983 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007

5,000

10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 Units

SOURCE: IFR STATISTICAL DEPARTMENT

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NONAUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES BUYING MORE ROBOTS

Electrical/electronics

800

thousands of units

Global Industrial Forecast 2008

projects, including the application of robots in new settings. One project has the company partnering with two Italian research groups, the Istituto Oncologico di Bari and the Politecnico di Bari, to determine innovative application of robots in the biomedical field, a growing market.

Another Italian robotics company Motoman Robotics Italia (www.motoman.it), worked closely with auto manufacturers to develop the Motoman EA1800N, which is designed to move highercapacity loads and can be used, for instance, in an application that requires a piece of process equipment be mounted into the robot.

COMAU S.P.A.

robotics

*PRELIMINARY DATA

SOURCE: IFR STATISTICAL DEPARTMENT

farmers also will be aging, so farming equipment needs to become more automated, as do industries that involve food-handling. According to IFR, demand for robots used for handling of materials is booming in the United States and Europe.

“Robots offer similar benefits to the food industry as they do in other industries,” said Ronald Potter, senior director, distribution and emerging robot markets, Motoman Inc., in a Robotics Industry Report on robotics in the food industry. “Robotics improve productivity and quality, lower direct labor costs, and improve safety by reducing lifting and repetitive-motion injuries for workers.” 2 Additionally, as companies become more global, they are looking for ways to standardize production methods to improve quality and consistency of product. Many are turning to robotics, which reduces variation.

“The stability is a clear advantage in that it confers higher precision,” explained Johnny Jarhall, Motoman European marketing director, referring to the EA1800N when it was introduced in May. “Quite simply, it reduces the small unwanted movements [that] can affect the processes.”

Finally, environmental standards are forcing all manufacturing industries to modernize their plants in order to be competitive on the global market, according to IFR. This includes not only replacing outdated production equipment, but also upgrading environmental-control equipment such as vacuum lines.

These trends are affecting not just large companies, but also small and medium companies.

They, too, are turning to robotics.

“Small and medium enterprises will become firsttime robot users, due to attractive prices and intelligent, easy-to-use systems,” reported the IRF in its outlook for 2008.

DOUBLED INVESTMENT IN R&D Italian robot producers will benefit from increased investment in robotics research. The European Union (EU) announced that it will double investment in the field through 2010. The US$630 million program aims to forge stronger links between academia and industry. The EU Commission said it will set up a technology transfer program that will allow close collaboration among researchers and manufacturers, and bring concepts to market faster.

Robotics in Italy These are some of the Italian companies involved in robotics.

3B6 Sistemi Electtronici Industrial, www.3b6.it ABB S.p.A., www.abb.it Alcatel Alenia Space, www1.alcatel-lucent.com/space Altair Engineering, www.altairtorino.it Amatech S.r.l., www.amatech.it Automation Group S.r.l., www.automationgroup.it Balluff Automation S.r.l., www.balluff.it BDC Electronic S.r.l., www.bdcelectronic.com Bisiach & Carrú S.p.A., www.bisiachcarru.it C-Labs S.r.l., www.c-labs.it Comau S.p.A., www.comau.it CTS Electronics, www.ctsgroup.it Coord 3, www.metris.com CREA Centro Ricerche Europeo Amada, www.crea-amada.it Deltavisione, www.deltavisione.com Demitalia S.r.l., www.demitalia.com Elcis S.r.l., www.elcis.com Emco Mecof S.r.l., www.mecof.it ERXA S.r.l., www.erxa.it Faiveley Italia S.A., www.faiveley.com Fidia S.p.A., www.fidia.it Gefit, www.gefit.com Hexagon Metrology, www.hexagonmetrology.net Icon S.r.l., www.icon.it Incas S.p.A., www.incasgroup.it

KUKA Roboter Italia S.p.A., www.kuka.com Masmec S.r.l., www.masmec.com Microtecnica, S.r.l., www.microtecnica.it Motoman Robotics Italia, www.motoman.it Newlast Group, www.newlast.com Nke S.p.A., www.nke.it Osai S.p.A., www.osai.it Prima Electronics S.p.A., www.primaelectronics.com Prima Industrie S.p.A., www.primaindustrie.com Ribes Tecnologie S.r.l., www.ribestecnologie.it Rockwell Automation, www.rockwellautomation.it Robox S.p.A., www.robox.it Rtm S.p.A., www.rtm.it Sandretto Industrie S.r.l., www.sandretto.it Sarmas, www.sarmas.it Seac02 S.r.l., www.seac02.it Seica S.p.A., www.seica.com Selca S.p.A., www.selca.it Selet Sensor S.r.l., www.selet.it Siecab S.r.l., www.siecab.com Skf S.p.A., www.skf.it Spea S.p.A., www.spea.com Telerobot Advanced Robotics S.r.l., www.telerobot.it Teoresi S.r.l., www.teoresi.it Vigel S.p.A., www.vigel.com

Sources: Italian Trade Commission and “Robotics in Turin and Piedmont,” compiled

by Invest in Turin and Piedmont “There is a clear window of opportunity for automation industries in Europe, in particular robotics, not just to maintain leadership, but to grow further and to move higher up the value chain,” said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

1 “Automation Seen as Solution to Aging Population,” www.futurepundit.com, April 13, 2004.

2 Bennett Brumson, “Food for Thought: Robotics in the Food Industry,” Robotics Industry Association, 6/12/2008.

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lean manufac turing

TAKING LEAN TO THE

LEVEL NEXT ITALIAN MANUFACTURERS CONTINUE TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND QUALITY WITH CONCEPTS SUCH AS VALUE-STREAM MANAGEMENT AND LEAN ACCOUNTING.

By Tonya Vinas

M

What is a value stream?

According to the Lean Enterprise Institute, a value stream is “all of the actions, both value-creating and nonvalue-creating, required to bring a product from concept to launch and from order to delivery.”

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anufacturers have been studying, implementing and exploring efficient manufacturing tactics for decades. Known most widely as “lean manufacturing,” this management system has contributed to significant productivity growth in the United States and Europe during the past 20 years. Customers have benefited from increased attention to service and quality, morestable suppliers and faster delivery.

So what can customers of Italian industrial machinery manufacturers continue to expect in the future from these suppliers’ lean efforts? Even more efficiency and customer focus as Italian companies continue to embrace a more holistic and unified approach to lean. Some people describe it as having taken lean to the next level—beyond the tools stage to the enterprise-wide stage where everyone in the organization (even those who have never set foot on a plant floor!) works according to these beliefs.

I have been in several U.S. plants that are moving to this stage. What I see is organizations that are more focused on customers than ever. For instance, some plants that have reorganized into value streams have

placed customer service representatives, payables and receivables specialists, design engineers, operations managers and administrative support employees together in a space next to the production lines for that value stream’s product(s).

The group works together as a “mini-company” while still working within the “parent company’s” framework of standards and strategy.

It’s still the same company, but when a customer calls in with a billing question, the billing reps know them by name because they handle only the customers that buy that value stream’s products.

When a customer calls in with a specification question, an engineer answers the phone and can give an immediate answer. If a customer wants to rush an order and needs to know RIGHT NOW! if it is possible, the value stream manager can respond RIGHT NOW! because he or she is responsible for all aspects of producing and delivering that product and doesn’t need to check with anyone else. The aim is to build more direct inroads for customers by removing red tape and other inefficiencies that can be frustrating and counterproductive.

One company that has moved to this next level is Italian manufacturer Biesse S.p.A. (www.biesse.it), which makes wood, glass and stone fabrication equipment. In April, Biesse announced that it is reorganizing into value streams.

“Lean manufacturing enables us to reduce waste and inefficiency, perfecting a flexible manufacturing system that is able to ‘bend’ to the market, [resulting in] complete customer satisfaction and better profitability,” said Stefano Bartolini, Biesse industrial manager. “Biesse had felt

the need for a radical rethinking of its existing manufacturing flow, as the traditional methods were no longer sufficient to support change and guarantee success.”

Some companies reorganize into value streams as the first step to adopting lean accounting, a movement that started accelerating in the United States about four years ago and now is spreading to Europe, including among Italy’s industrial equipment manufacturers.

Traditional accounting can limit the potential of lean by frequently discouraging lean behavior and rewarding antilean behavior, such as considering excess inventory an asset rather than waste. Also, the forecasting, tracking and control activities of traditional accounting are maddeningly complex, redundant, imprecise, time-consuming, focused on the past rather than the present, and generally do not provide useful information to managers of lean processes. Lean companies have realized they need a new way to measure performance and control processes, particularly as they reorganize into value streams and turn profit-and-loss responsibility for individual products over to these “mini-companies.”

As the trend to go lean increases in Europe, even the U.S.-based lean accounting training company BMA Inc. last July held its first Lean Accounting Master Class in Stresa, Italy. Numerous people from Italian industry attended to learn from Brian Maskell, author of the book Practical Lean Accounting: Proven Systems for Measuring & Managing the Lean Enterprise, and Ross Maynard, author of Successful Business Growth and a member of Maskell’s recently created European unit. Additionally, BMA’s alreadyestablished Italian clients include Continental Automotive Trading S.r.l. (www.conti-online.com), Parker Hannifin S.p.A. (www.parker.com), and Fres-Co Systems USA Inc., a division of Italian packaging company Goglio S.p.A. (www.goglio.it).

According to Maynard, companies that attend lean accounting training usually are well-advanced in lean and want to advance even further.

“The most common barrier they face is that they begin to discover that their accounting/finance system is not fully reflecting the benefits they are deriving from lean,” Maynard said. “Using the tools

and methods that we outline, participants can begin to see how they can adapt their management systems to reflect the benefits of lean.”

Customers benefit from supplier adoption of lean accounting as suppliers become more efficient and have real-time data on costs, quality and other production information. This results in quicker response time and improved flexibility. Also—and perhaps most significantly—those who work most directly with customers are freed from the burden of “Biesse has felt the need for a complicated cost tracking and radical rethinking of its existing reporting. Lean accounting reveals what actually is manufacturing flow, as the happening—not what has traditional methods are no longer happened—and so yields sufficient to support change and financial reports that are much guarantee success.” quicker, simpler and more meaningful than traditional –Stefano Bartolini, Biesse industrial manager accounting. So customers aren’t paying for unnecessary overhead costs that do nothing for them and distract those whom they rely upon for service.

I continue to expect that more Italian manufacturers will be reexamining and exploring value-stream management and lean accounting, as Biesse and others have already done. BMA said interest has been high in Italy, where companies are known to be motivated to become even better suppliers. The last thing Maynard covered in the Stresa class was creating key action steps for each company to take back and implement.

“It was probably the most intense lean accounting training I have experienced, with a very high level of involvement,” Maynard concluded.

Like everything else in business, lean practices are evolving and changing as customers demand and expect more from suppliers. Fortunately, Italian manufacturers continue to respond with exceptional enthusiasm, bringing their customers continued value within competitive markets such as North America.

Tonya Vinas is a writer and editor specializing in manufacturing and continuous improvement. She is founding editor of the monthly newsletter Lean Accounting News.

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packaging

ADVANCED AND ADAPTABLE ITALIAN BOTTLING MEETS NICHE DEMAND AS INNOVATION DRIVES GROWTH IN THE U.S. BEVERAGE MARKET, BOTTLES AND PACKAGING MUST ALSO ADAPT TO MAKE NEW PRODUCTS STAND OUT AND GRAB CONSUMERS’ ATTENTION.

SIPA S.P.A.

B

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everages is the fastest-growing category of grocery-store items in the United States.

Once dominated by a few major manufacturers specializing in carbonated soft drinks, it now includes multiple niches fed by smaller companies exploring new markets.

Growing demand for healthy, tasty and convenient products—drinks with nutritional supplements, clean labels, organic ingredients, and unique and different flavors—is coming from consumers looking for an alternative to traditional soda. Enter a wide assortment of beverages, including energy drinks, vitamin water and iced teas.

A similar trend is happening in alcoholic beverages, as lime makes its way into beer, microbreweries grow in popularity, and the

snobbery for wine bottles sealed with a cork dies down due to ecological concerns about cork harvesting.

“Consumers are relatively fickle, and there is not a lot of loyalty in beverages,” said Christopher Shanahan, an analyst for U.S.-based research company Frost and Sullivan (www.frost.com).

“People buy different drinks every day, so innovation is increasingly important. The fluidity of the market spurs change.”

Packaging plays a large part in the success of new beverages, with innovation focusing mainly on the size and shape of the bottle to make the product stand out on store shelves. Popular new features include easy-grip shapes, lightweight bottles, widemouth bottles, colored glass, and tall, thin aluminum cans.

“While packaging for new niche drinks is not substantially different from the bottles and cans consumers are accustomed to seeing, subtle differences mean the new products stand out from the more traditional beverages,” said Stephen Rannekleiv, vice president for Rabobank’s beverage, food and agribusiness research and advisory division (www.rabobank.com). “A slightly different can and a successful marketing campaign helped shoot Red Bull energy drink to a popularity it has enjoyed for 10 years so far, for example.”

Investing in Italian machinery for bottles and beverage packaging can help support a company’s bid to guarantee its products a place in U.S. shopping baskets. The Italian machinery industry is highly regarded for its technological innovation in areas ranging from everyday household brands to high-end goods such as cars. And bottling is no exception. Italian companies are keen to provide original, high-quality and safety-assured machines, while working closely with different companies to provide custom-made solutions.

ITALIAN MACHINERY RISES TO THE CHALLENGE Despite strong competition in the market, Italian machinery manufacturers continue to make a profit by increasing sales both at home and abroad. In fact,

72% of Italian machinery for manufacturing glass is sold abroad, according to figures provided by the Italian Institute of Statistics (www.istat.it).

Exports of machinery for glass increased 5% overall between 2005 and 2006, amounting to US$1.4 billion. Exports to the Americas made up more than 12% of exports in 2005, with the volume rising 15% in 2006, due largely to “People buy different drinks every increased sales in the day, so innovation is increasingly United States, Brazil important. The fluidity of the market and Argentina.

Meanwhile, Italian spurs change.” exports of blow- –Christopher Shanahan, analyst for U.S.-based research molding machines to company Frost and Sullivan the United States increased in value from US$2.5 million in 2005 to US$7.3 million in 2006, and reached US$18.3 million in 2007. The United States is second behind Russia for importing Italian blow-molding machines.

One of the strengths of the Italian machinery industry is adapting to the shifting needs and individuality of beverage companies, according to GIMAV (the association of Italian manufacturers and suppliers of machinery, equipment and special products for glass processing—www.gimav.it).

The group said: “One of the main peculiarities of working in this field is the ability to be openminded, to understand exactly what the final user wants to be offered as an individual solution. The flexibility needed to cover the several realities and obtain the best result became in time an advantage for our country.”

Mario Maggiani, deputy general manager for ASSOCOMAPLAST (the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery and moulds manufacturers’ association—www.assocomaplast.org), said Italy’s manufacturers of packaging machinery have achieved such global success for three reasons: “updated technology thanks to 50 years of experience all over the world, modularity to adapt machines to the specific needs of small, medium and large-sized converters, and flexibility of the Italian approach to manufacture tailormade machines.”

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packaging

DEMAND GROWS FOR LIGHTER PLASTIC PACKAGING

AVE INDUSTRIES

Bottling systems such as this from Ave Industries S.p.A. of Italy are helping beverage producers to increase sales through innovative packaging and flavorings.

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Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are evolving—becoming taller, thinner, fatter or with wider mouths for energy drinks, vitamin water or iced teas and coffees.

Analyst Rannekleiv said: “There is a variety of packaging choices at a number of different levels, and PET bottles can be adapted depending on what the manufacturer wants and who it is targeting.”

Bottles have been tailored to suit demands ranging from added convenience for beverages on the move and during exercise, to ones that are more environmentally friendly.

“The number of consumers here in the U.S. concerned about environmental sustainability is rapidly increasing,” Rannekleiv said. “What people say is important drives all food retailers and beverage companies, so they are taking initiatives to reduce carbon footprint.”

Eco-savvy consumers are moving away from bottled water, for example, as awareness of the problem of waste management grows. Bottles have become lighter, thereby using less plastic and being cheaper and easier to transport. Warehouse retail chain Sam’s Club has gone one step further, selling its milk in a square bottle so packing and shipping are made easier and cheaper.

Italian plastics company Sipa S.p.A. (www.sipa.it), which has offices in 14 countries including the United States, has developed several packaging solutions suitable for the global market, including machines for the production of lightweight bottles.

Sipa said one popular machine in the beverages market is the SFL linear blower, which was introduced to the market in 2006 and has since

been installed in 47 different countries. The appeal comes from its ability to produce up to 1,800 bottles per hour, while using up minimal energy and, above all, being versatile and flexible.

Sipa’s SFR 12 EVO rotary blower has been on the market since 1999 and produces up to 24,000 bottles an hour with lower levels of air and energy consumption, according to the company. It said the model has maximum capacity and increased flexibility because of the change in the blowing pitch, which also enables the production of necks that are up to 43mm long.

Italian packaging firm Ave Industries S.p.A. (www.aveindustries.com) has been supplying to the American market since 2003, and focuses on ensuring safety and hygiene through its machinery.

As consumer trends move evermore toward natural and clean-label products, food and beverage companies have to find alternatives to artificial preservatives.

An Ave Industries spokesperson explained: “Manufacturers are having to respond to the growing consumer demand and are turning to aseptic, ultra-clean plants for treating various products to help them achieve maximum hygiene and long conservation without impairing organoleptic properties.”

The company has therefore developed aseptic bottling systems, such as Life Programme and Elite Technology, which enable an extended shelf life without the use of added artificial ingredients.

“Ave sees each plant as a challenge to implement novel, creative solutions that meet the specific needs of the customer,” said the company.

GLASS BOTTLES CHANGE SHAPE AND COLOR Liquor producers are using the most variation in glass bottles, with consumers “associating the quality of the drink with the bottle,” according to Shanahan from Frost and Sullivan.

Noteworthy products are Starr African Rum, which comes in a pyramid-shaped bottle, and Skyy Vodka, which is sold in an easily recognizable cobalt blue bottle.

However, wine bottles have also seen much variation, with single-portion bottles coming to market in packs of six, and less emphasis placed on high-quality wine requiring a cork.

COFFEE AND TEA INNOVATION GAINS SPEED Coffee and tea are also areas that have been seeing substantial growth as a result of innovation.

Although not achieving such strong levels of growth as are energy drinks and vitamin water, the ready-to-drink coffee segment grew in volume by 7% in 2007, for example, according to data provided

by ACNielsen (www.acnielsen.com).

New launches include Coca-Cola’s JV with Illycaffè S.p.A. (www.illy.com) coffee, which will come out in 2008 and 2009, with impressive packaging. Rannekliev said: “When you see the packaging, you’ll see how it really stands out, with clean lines and crisp imaging to help position the product.”

There has also been a huge increase in the number of powdered coffee options between 2007 and 2008, particularly in products available in individual sachets for ease and convenience.

And this is yet another area where Italian machine manufacturers can contribute to successful product launches. Established in 1961, IMA S.p.A. (www.ima.it) is a leading player in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of products such as tea and coffee.

The Italian-based company is present in over 70 countries and has 17 production plants worldwide.

It said it maintains a customer-oriented policy with after-sales assistance being a top priority.

Its machinery has successfully been integrated into the production lines at some notable U.S.-

Italian plastics company Sipa S.p.A., which makes this rotary blower, has offices in 14 countries, including the United States.

SIPA S.P.A.

Meanwhile, emerging microbreweries have turned away from the once-popular twist bottletops to return to traditional ones for their beers.

Nino Boglione, who works for Bottero S.p.A. (www.bottero.com), a producer of glass machinery exporting to more than 50 countries, reiterated Italy’s ability to recognize companies’ needs to have their products stand out through unique packaging.

“We consider it important to keep in touch directly and constantly with customers, and we do our best to be clear in answering every inquiry without taking anything for granted,” Boglione said.

“Nowadays, locations and time are not boundaries, and the care we offer to customers by keeping in touch with them directly is a rewarding choice.”

based food giants, such as Sara Lee, which uses the machines for greater efficiency in its tea production.

The company has recently established IMA Flavor, which offers a wide range of machines for the packaging of coffee in filter paper pods, and of tea and herbs, which are becoming increasingly popular and varied thanks to the health and wellness trend, in filter bags.

And U.S. companies have been able to seamlessly include Italian machines into their operations. Coffee and hot chocolate manufacturer, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (www.green mountaincoffee.com), uses a Bergami S.r.l. (www.bergamisrl.com) case packer for its bags of whole-bean and ground coffees.

“It has been reliable and has the ability to run a wide range of cases,” said Don Allen, project manager in engineering at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. “It is easy to operate and is fairly simple to change sizes. It also has good safety features.”

Continuing developments for U.S. beverages have paved the way for increased innovation in packaging. And the fast pace of change and high turnover of new, niche products mean manufacturers of packaging machines need to keep up with emerging trends, while keeping high levels of safety and reliability.

The Italian machinery industry has become welladept at handling the evolving beverage markets.

With so much of its product going to international markets, there is a wide range of machines available adaptable for foreign markets.

The niche demand is set to continue, although the rate of growth may lose speed because of the negative effect of the changing economy and rising commodity prices, say analysts. However, this only highlights further the need for flexibility from beverage manufacturers and packaging manufacturers alike.

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new frontiers

WEAVING A NEW

TAPESTRY ITALIAN MACHINERY MANUFACTURERS ARE HELPING THE U.S. TEXTILE INDUSTRY GROW NEW MARKETS WITH TECHNICAL TEXTILES.

Above right: One of DuPont’s oldest and most well-known nonwoven technical textiles, TyvekŽ, is used by the construction industry on houses and buildings as well as for medical, packaging and other applications.

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DUPONT

T

he U.S. textile industry, which has been devastated by the rise of lower-cost overseas producers, is staging a comeback with research, investment and production related to technical textiles. Supporting them are Italian textile-equipment manufacturers, who are actively partnering on research and designing machinery to support this growing industry.

Technical textile fibers have characteristics that enable them to endure heavier stress and higher wear and tear than fibers in traditional textiles, according to ACIMIT, the association of Italian textile-machinery manufacturers (www.acimit.it).

Machinery creates these distinct characteristics, although the machinery processes are similar: spinning, weaving, knitting and finishing.

Companies use technical textiles for a variety of purposes, including for speciality clothing, medical materials and procedures, industrial applications, building and construction, and transportation equipment. Technical textiles can have many subcategories such as smart fabrics, which combine electronics and textiles, and nonwovens, which are textiles that are not woven or knit but are created by mechanically binding materials.

The major categories of technical textile technologies as described by the Textile Centre of Excellence at the University of Leeds, U.K., are:

Nonwoven materials: Single-use or durable fabrics that find applications in a host of different technical textile applications including medical devices, civil engineering and construction, automotive and transport components, hygiene and absorbent products, liquid and gas filtration, packaging and protective clothing.

Fibrous materials: High-strength/highmodulus fibers, including carbon, glass, bast fibers and aramids; thermally resistant; antistatic; bicomponent; microporous; micro- and nanofibers; and fibers from biopolymers. Examples include composite materials, automotive products, medical textiles, protective clothing, geotextiles and textile structures in civil engineering architecture.

Sport and performance clothing: Designed for durability and performance related to specific environments. Used for clothing (water resistance/ breatheability, and survival and protection), filtration, defense and transportation applications.

Smart materials: Piezoelectric materials, negative materials, conductive polymers, advanced composites, shape-memory materials and magneto-rheological fluids.

In the United States, one of the largest producers of technical textiles is DuPont (www.dupont.com), maker of Tyvek®, Sorona® and other technical materials. DuPont’s Richmond, Va., Tyvek® plant uses a customized slitter-rewinder machine from Italian producer A. Celli Nonwovens S.p.A. (www.acellinonwovens.com).

According to ACIMIT, world consumption of technical textiles is 19.6 million tons and will rise to 33.8 million tons in 2010, with an average growth rate of 3.8%. The United States is a growing market for technical textile production and, in 2007, was Italy’s fifth-largest export market for companies that make technical textile machinery.

In addition to contributing to innovation in clothing, medicine and other fields, Italian machinery technology is supporting reuse of textile material, a practice that is in demand as manufacturers look for ways to reduce waste and material costs. (See “Italian Firm Honored for Carpet Recycler,” right.)

MARKET GROWTH Technical textile producers account for about 10% of Italian textile machinery sales, which in 2007 amounted to over US$1.9 billion.

In a recent survey of its members, ACIMIT found that: I 100 member companies produce machines that make technical textiles.

DUPONT

The development of technical textiles combines traditional textile practices such as knitting with recently developed chemical, molecular and machining applications.

I Of those manufacturers, technical textile machines account for 5% to 10% of sales.

I Half of the members will be investing in technical textile research and/or machine production capability in the next five years.

Italian Firm Honored for Carpet Recycler Dell’Orco & Villani (www.dellorco-villani.it) has received extensive praise in the United States for creating a joint venture (Post Consumer Carpet Processing Technologies LLC) that manufactures machinery to recycle carpet fibers. The machine makes it possible to reuse a substantial amount of commercial-grade recycled nylons and polypropylene for new carpeting. Processing 30 million pounds of carpet provides 9 million pounds each of carpet fiber and polypropylene. The rest can be reused as plastic filler for other products.

The machine has the potential to keep a huge amount of used carpeting out of landfills. According to the non-

profit group Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), five million pounds of used carpet is dumped into landfills in the United States each year.

The joint venture’s customer in the United States is InterfaceFLOR of La Grange, Ga., which acquired worldwide rights to the technology and expects to recycle about 25 million pounds of carpet a year.

The company has a goal of eliminating all negative environmental impact from its operations by 2020.

Post Consumer Carpet Processes won the top Energy Globe (www.energyglobe.com) award in the United States for its technology, which has a patent pending.

WWW.MACHINESITALIA.ORG | 19

Front row, from left: Paolo Banfi, CEO of Comez S.p.A. and ACIMIT president; Federico Pellegata, ACIMIT director; and James M. Boreman, editorin-chief of Textile World.

Middle row, from left: Dr. A. Blanton Godrey and Dr. Russell Gorga, both of North Carolina State University College of Textiles.

Back row, from left: Francesco D’Oria, Italian Trade Commission, Rome, Italy; Alessandro Mussa, assistant trade commissioner for the Italian Trade Commission’s Atlanta office; Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi and Dr. Gregory Parsons, both of North Carolina State University College of Textiles.

TEXTILE WORLD

new frontiers

In the United States, the technical textile market is very diverse and does not report sales as a whole.

However, according Electronics.ca Publications (www.electronics.ca), which conducts global research on the electronics industry, the United States dominates in the number of companies producing and organizations conducting research in the field of smart fabrics. “[The] United States is the single largest market for smart fabrics and interactive textiles worldwide,” Electronics.ca reported in April of 2008. “The market is forecast to be about US$193 million in 2008.

Consumer products is the largest end-market with an estimated 50% share in 2007. Biomedical and military segments are projected to witness tremendous growth through 2012. Non-U.S. markets are projected to record growth with a compounded annual rate exceeding 12% through 2012.”

Companies manufacturing and/or conducting research on such products include DuPont, Peratech Limited, Foster-Miller, Gorix, Intelligent Clothing, Interactive Wear AG, International Fashion Machines, Kimberly-Clark Health Care, Marktek Inc., Milliken & Company, Noble Biomaterials, Outlast Technologies Inc., Royal Philips Electronics, Schoeller Textiles, Sensatex, Smartex, Softswitch, Textronics, Toray Industries, VivoMetrics and others.

U.S. DELEGATION SEES ITALIAN INNOVATION In early 2008, the Italian Trade Commission hosted a delegation of researchers and other leaders in technical textiles. The program included several presentations on the state of the industry and individual research projects at the North Carolina

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State University’s (NCSU) College of Textiles, and visits to several machinery producers. According to industry publication Textile World, which participated in and covered the events, visits to machinery producers included: I Bonino Carding Machines S.r.l. (www.bonino1913.com), Biella region, producer of rotary cutters and rag-tearing machines, machines to prepare fibers, cotton cards, nonwoven cards and carding sets.

I Aletti Giovanni & Figli S.r.l. (www.sueding.com), Varese, producer of buffing and dedusting lines.

I A. Celli Nonwovens S.p.A. (www.acellinonwovens.com), Lucca, producer of customized winders and slitter-rewinders for processing nonwoven fabrics with a special focus on hygiene and medical products (spunbond, SMS and spunlace). Its areas of business include airlaid forming technology, called Wingformer, and proprietary technology to integrate winding, slitting and rollpackaging into a synergetic, operational concept, known as Slittopack.

I Tecnorama S.r.l. (www.tecnorama.it), Prato, makes machinery for the polychromatic printing of yarns and fabrics, and for the automatic dispensing of chemical products and liquid and solid dyes.

I Dell’Orco & Villani S.r.l. (www.dellorco-villani.it), Prato, produces cutters, tearing machines, conveying systems, baling presses, boxes and bin emptiers, waste diversion systems and other machinery.

I Biancalani S.p.A. (www.biancalani.com), Prato, finishing machinery for woven and nonwoven textiles.

I OMMI S.p.A. (www.ommi.it), Prato, produces bale openers, cleaners, bin emptiers, card silos and other machinery.

The purpose of the program was to exchange information and collaborate on ways to develop new technical textiles and machinery to produce them. Research at NCSU is focusing on nonwovens (raw materials, production and end-uses), bimolecular engineering (surface modification of textiles), and polymer nanofibers and nanocomposites (used in filtration and medical procedures).

Innovation and improved quality are behind the growth of technical textiles as is a desire to manufacture raw materials and finished goods that

are less harmful to the environment when discarded or are not petroleum-based. For instance, DuPont’s Sorona® material, which can be used in clothing, is made from vegetable-based plastic.

Innovation and improved quality require ongoing investment in and improvement of processes, and the field is open to all sizes of manufacturers. For instance, Rhode Island-based Concordia Manufacturing Inc., which holds several patents on processes used to produce advance thermoplastic composites, built a new 24,000square-foot medical manufacturing facility this year with a $500,000 loan from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. Small Business loan fund. The overall expansion will cost US$1.6 million and will include new machinery, expanded production space, a 5,000-square-foot clean room suite and the hiring of 10 to 15 additional staff members to join an existing staff of 57. The facility will house Concordia Medical, the company’s newest division.

One of the company’s most promising areas for growth—and for the technical textile industry in general—is the medical field. In 2005, Concordia launched its Concordia Medical division to focus on this area. Its textile product BIOFELT® is used by doctors in applications that require the growth of cells and tissues.

Concordia manufactures technical textiles for a variety of customers at its original 100,000-squarefoot facility, which includes three double-decker twisting machines from Italian company Ratti Group S.p.A. (www.ratti.it). Concordia’s clients come from bio-engineering, aerospace, automotive, home furnishings, environmental sciences and consumer products. Since its founding in 1920, the company has manufactured materials that have been used to make consumer products ranging from airbags to tennis racquets.

“It is extremely important for us to keep our competitive edge, and this expansion will allow us to increase our capacity for research and development along with medical manufacturing to meet the needs of our current and future clients,” said Concordia President and CEO Randal Spencer.

Indeed, as the technical textile industry continues to innovate and grow in the United States, Italian machinery manufacturers will be there to support it.

About Italian Textile Machinery Italy has about 300 textile machinery manufacturers employing 22,000 workers.

> excellent quality/price ratio.

The manufacturers tend to be located in areas and towns of ancient textile tradition, where a profitable exchange of experiences with the end-users is a stimulating contribution to the improvement of the machines.

These towns are located in northern and central Italy— Biella, Como, Milano, Bergamo, Brescia, Prato, Vicenza.

> close and continuous relationship with the textile and clothing industry.

> reliability and problem-free operation.

The companies continue to carry out research on safety and environment sustainability in order to propose solutions keeping the pace with European and international regulations.

The main characteristics of Italian machinery are: > advanced technological level. > flexibility and versatility.

ITALIAN TEXTILE MACHINERY EXPORT BY AREA | 2007 ASIA 43% EUROPE 38% SOUTH AMERICA 9% NORTH AMERICA 5% AFRICA 5%

ITALIAN TEXTILE MACHINERY EXPORT BY CATEGORY | 2007 SPINNING MACHINERY 17%

FINISHING MACHINERY 18%

KNITTING MACHINERY 15%

ACCESSORIES 18%

WEAVING MACHINERY 14%

LAUNDRY AND OTHER MACHINERY 18%

Information provided by ACIMIT, the association of Italian textile machinery manufacturers. ACIMIT maintains a list of all of its member companies that participate in technical textile machinery manufacturing. Go to www.acimit.it and look under “club directory” in the technical textiles area.

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energy

POWER

PLAY

WITH OIL AND GAS AT RECORD LEVELS AND UTILITY BILLS SKYROCKETING, ITALIAN MANUFACTURERS ARE HELPING TO CONTROL AND REDUCE BILLS THROUGH INNOVATION, NEW MATERIALS AND IMPROVED EQUIPMENT AND PROCESSES.

By Ruari McCallion

W

ith oil prices above $100 a barrel, energy initiatives that were too pricey to pursue a few years ago are now coming to the top of the agenda. Exploitation of the oil sands of the Rocky Mountain region has become an economic proposition, and billions of dollars are being poured into exploration and production. Wind farms and solar thermal heating panels are becoming a common sight, but the new technologies on their own are not yet able to replace oil and gas energy generation. The only way to cut costs in the short term is to reduce consumption. The trick is to achieve that without cutting production or surrendering living standards. That’s a game in which Italian manufacturers are already ahead. In part, it’s

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because of legislation in their home markets. Also, it is the Italians’ constant striving for improvement— most familiar in the shape of ever-faster Ferraris and ingenious packaging of space in Fiat sedans—that has been applied to products across a range of industries.

IMPROVING PROCESSES TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY Lonati Group S.p.A. (www.lonatigroup.com), of Brescia, Italy, makes the classic G5JA men’s sock knitting machine, which has been used and trusted by manufacturers in all its international markets.

It currently has 100 of its new units ready for installation across North America, and their owners will find some marked improvements.

“Over the past three years, we have redesigned most of the parts of our machines to optimize (and reduce) waste movement and reduce friction,” said Lonati’s Sergio Del Re. “We have introduced new, gearless and brushless motors, directly fitted on cylinders, and new electrovalves.” This is very much in line with the Italian Energy Efficiency Action Plan published in 2007 by the Ministry of Economic Development, in the light of the European Union’s (EU’s) Directive on energy end-use efficiency. It reported that motors account for 84 percent of electricity consumption in industrial activities not covered by emissions trading (aluminum, chem-

“Over the past three years, we have redesigned most of the parts of our machines to optimize (and reduce) waste movement and reduce friction. We have introduced new, gearless and brushless motors, directly fitted on cylinders, and new electrovalves.”

–Sergio Del Re, Lonati Group

Indesit’s Aqualtis washing machine is the first to receive a five-star award from Australia’s Standard Tests Board for water consumption.

INDESIT COMPANY S.P.A.

icals, hides/leather/footwear, food, and mechanical engineering). High-efficiency motors are forecast to deliver annual savings of 110 GWh by the end of 2010 and 3400 GWh/yr five years later. “We’re also employing new materials, such as tecnopolymers in place of metals, to reduce size and weight. We have been studying flat-part braking to minimize friction and have been working continuously with lubricant producers to improve performance.”

Lonati also supplies equipment for use in electronics, iron and steel, and agriculture. It has a long history of research, innovation and development, and it has extended those efforts to its own practices and methods. Its factories are all ISO9001 accredited; it has standardized its working processes and uses molds, instead of machineworked pieces, to cut the number of processes per part—which saves energy. It has also invested in automation, including robotics, to reduce costs and boost effective energy usage. The result has been increased productivity per head through raising piece runs per worker.

“Most of the parts of our machines are standardized, which leads to easier utilization and handling, as well as lower costs of operation, including maintenance,” Del Re said. The drive to increase efficiency began a few years ago and is ongoing, with the aim of reducing lifecycle costs, energy usage and capital investment.“ Our objective is to reduce waste, energy usage and streamline processes wherever possible.”

WASH AND GO In commercial or domestic settings, familiar appliances, such as washing machines and refrigeration equipment have a major part to play.

Renzacci S.p.A. (www.renzacci.it) specializes in industrial and commercial laundry, dry cleaning and washing machines, as well as machines for sole and metal degreasing. It sells equipment in 108 countries across the world, including the U.S., where it has been able to meet differing power standards and regulations, such as solvent retrieval requirements imposed by five New York boroughs.

Commitment to innovation and improvement—it invests an average of five percent of revenues in R&D annually—helps it to achieve industry-leading standards in low-maintenance mechanical solutions with high energy and water efficiency, and low use of solvents and other polluting substances.

With its SpeedMaster™ Drycleaning Machine, Renzacci has reduced cycle time by 45 percent, leading to a 37 percent cut in electricity consumption: It even cut the installed power requirement by a tenth.

Renzacci’s Perchloroethylene machines feature components that combine speed with performance, resulting in energy savings. For example, a computerized inverter driver enables users to control the spin cycle: the extraction phase prior to drying is more efficient, leading to faster drying times and energy savings. In addition, double “waster” saving valves are used in both the refrigeration and distillation system and reduce

WWW.MACHINESITALIA.ORG | 23

INDESIT COMPANY S.P.A.

energy

The Hotpoint-Ariston Quadrio’s four-door refrigerator design has cut energy consumption by up to 50 percent.

24 | 1-888-ITALTRADE

water consumption by 30 percent. Renzacci’s washing, drying and dry cleaning equipment is found in hotels and hospitals, schools, colleges and military facilities across the world.

Every improvement helps, as Fabio Ginesi, international technical manager for Indesit Company S.p.A. (www.indesitcompany.com), of Ancona, Italy, points out.

“Refrigerators and washing machines have a very heavy impact on energy and water consumption,” he said. In the home, such equipment accounts for 80 percent of total energy demands. That figure may not be as high in commercial settings, such as restaurants, cafés, hotels and retail stores, which have other energy demands, but there’s no doubt they’re still high users, and economical initiatives are welcome with open arms. The new generation of machines carrying the Indesit, Ariston and Hoover badges have “intelligent strategies” built in, monitoring water and energy requirements closely so that a washing machine doesn’t simply go through a cycle with a fixed amount of water, heated to a predetermined temperature. It reacts to the load and allocates water and power as required.

“Compared with the equipment of the 1990s, energy use in refrigerators is down 50 percent; in washing machines, 45 percent,” said Adriano Mencarini, innovation and EDT director. Its Hotpoint-Ariston Quadrio refrigerator, which is found in both domestic and light foodservice applications such as cafés and restaurants, features four doors.

“In real usage, tests have demonstrated that the four-door arrangement cuts energy consumption by 50 percent,” Ginesi said. In a conventional, two-door design, cooling is lost every time the door is opened, exposing the interior to the outside air.

If you only have to expose a smaller part of the volume, you save the energy needed to recool the rest.

The initial impetus for the drive to improvement was probably the EU’s Energy Labeling Directive, which was implemented in 1992. It required white goods to have their energy consumption clearly displayed on the outside of the equipment, on a color-coded label ranging from A (very good) to G (expensive to run). A measure of how Italians are meeting high standards came in 2006, when Indesit’s Aqualtis washing machine became the first

to receive a five-star award from Australia’s Standard Tests Board for water consumption.

What’s more, the company is pursuing worldclass standards in all its factories. It cut electricity consumption by four percent in 2007 and has implemented energy audits to help it improve further.

NEW POWER There is a lot of talk about alternative or novel sources of energy, but you don’t have to switch over to corn-derived methanol fuels. According to The Italian Ministry of Economic Development’s report, the adoption of high-efficiency cogeneration could save the country 540,000 tons of oil equivalent by 2016. Offices and factories are looking more closely at micro-generation, such as combined heat and power (CHP). One of the world’s leaders in the field is Turboden S.r.l. (www.turboden.it), Brescia, Italy.

It was established in 1980 with the aim to design and manufacture turbines and turnkey turbogenerator units based on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Concept.

“Our typical clients are sawmills; pellet producers; district heating generators; waste-toenergy operators; industrial plants such as glass, cement, lime, steel, non-ferrous metals, food production and processing; and others,” Turboden said. “Our technology is used in wood and pellet drying, waste heat recovery and other applications.”

It is currently working on a number of biomass CHP and heat recovery projects with capacities up to 800 kW. The Federal Arsenal facility in Biere, Switzerland, has had a 300 kWel Turboden biomass district heating CHP plant in operation since 1999.

ORC’s main difference from conventional steam turbines is the use of a high molecular mass organic fluid to drive the turbine, which allows efficient exploitation of low temperature heat sources to produce electricity from just a few kW up to 3 MW electric power per units. The fluid is vaporized by the application of a heat source, expands in the turbine and is condensed using either a flow of water in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger or ambient air. The condensate is pumped back to the evaporator, completing the thermodynamic cycle. Heating and cooling sources are not directly in contact with either the working fluid nor with the turbine.

Systems can work with a variety of heat sources and achieve up to 85 percent turbine efficiency, with low

CRITICAL MASS But energy saving goes hand-in-hand with increased capacity. The U.S. already has 104 atomic power stations, and energy needs are such that they are in increasing demand. One small problem: the U.S. has no producers of equipment to expand or renovate them—or to build any of the six new plants that have received permits for construction through 2010. The manufacturers are all in Europe or Asia. One of the leaders is Ansaldo Camozzi Nuclear & Energy Special Components, which is part of Camozzi Group S.p.A. (www.camozzi.com), a leading Italian machine tool, textile machinery, pneumatics and energy group.

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, located 50 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, is the largest nuclear electric generating site in the United States.

When the time came to replace the steam generators, it went to Ansaldo, located in Milan, Italy.

The contract was signed in 1999 and, over the next eight years, six generators were produced at the Milan factory and transported thousands of miles over land, sea and ocean to Arizona. That may seem a leisurely timetable, but each of the generators is 15 meters long (about 50 feet), six meters (20 feet) in diameter and weighs 550 tons. The generators are capable of producing 2,000 MW of thermal power, making them the largest pressurized water reactors in the world at the time the order was placed—a significant increase in output to Palo Verde.

There can be no compromise with safety when it comes to nuclear materials. The equipment has to be able to withstand huge pressures, very high

INDUSTRIE COMETTO S.P.A.

INDUSTRIE COMETTO S.P.A.

mechanical stress, because of its low peripheral speed—which also permits direct drive to an electric generator. U.S. companies interested in the technology may have to exercise some patience, as the company is in the process of assessing the American market on a case-by-case basis.

temperatures and retain structural integrity in radioactive environments. Ansaldo’s ability to deliver in America had already been demonstrated at the Kewaunee nuclear power plant, Wisconsin, for which it had supplied the evaporator sections for two steam generators. Between 1999 and the fall of 2007, six generators were produced at the Milan factory and transported to Arizona.

The original 1999 contract was for two generators; the other four followed at two-to-three year intervals. Getting the generators from Italy to Arizona was also entrusted to an Italian-owned company, Fagioli Group S.p.A. (www.fagioli.it), which has its American headquarters in Houston, Texas.

“We specialize in extremely heavy loads and are leaders in our field in the nuclear power industry,” said Edoardo Ascione, president and managing director of Fagioli, Inc.“We moved them from the factory in Milan to the sea, shipped them across the Atlantic on special barges, offloaded them on a beach in Mexico and then moved them at four km/h 200 miles to Arizona.”

Fagioli used self-propelled transport modules (SPTMs) manufactured by yet another Italian company, Cometto S.p.A. (www.comettoind.com), headquartered in Cuneo, Italy, for the land transport.

That project won the company the Specialized Carriers & Riggers Association’s 2008 award for the Job of the Year, for the third time running.

Whatever the task, wherever the application, wherever the need, Italian companies are addressing and helping to solve the world’s energy needs through cutting consumption, improving efficiency and increasing generating capacity.

Left: Heavy tubing on a Fagioli barge.

Right: Cometto SMPTs carrying a fabricated section of an energy rig.

Ruari McCallion is a freelance business journalist whose work has been published in the U.S., UK, Europe, Russia, China and Australia. He is contributing editor of ExecUK magazine and a regular contributor to Business Excellence, Sustainable Solutions and other publications.

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aw a r d s

ITALIAN TECHNOLOGY AWARD PROGRAMS

SHOWCASE INNOVATION The 2008 IMTTA Student Winners are: Eric Stoner, Kettering University (www.kettering.edu); Adrian Teo, Arizona State University (www.asu.edu); and Jonathan Bailey of California Polytechnic State University (www.calpoly.edu).

The 2008 IPTA Student Winners are: Danielle Fisher, Rochester Institute of Technology (www.rit.edu); Jessica Fox, University of Florida (www.ufl.edu); Greg Curtzwiler and Gianni Donati, California Polytechnic State University (www.calpoly.edu); Denise Gardner, Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu); Jack Gordon, Michigan State University (www.msu.edu); Anna Shealy, Clemson University (www.clemson.edu); and Sayaka Uchida, San Jose State University (www.sjsu.edu).

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T

o foster continuing education in machine tool and packaging industries, the Italian Trade Commission (www.italtrade.com/usa), in conjunction with several partners, made it possible for two groups of North American students and professors to gain first-hand knowledge of the Italian machine tool and packaging machinery industries this year.

These Italian industries are noted for holding significant global market shares. Italian machine tools manufacturers are ranked as the world’s third largest supplier, while Italian packaging machinery manufacturers provide one out of every four machines worldwide.

Winners of the Second Italian Machine Tool Technology Awards (IMTTA) were awarded a oneweek trip to Italy (June 22–28) to visit top Italian companies in the machine tool industry. In addition to the ITC, sponsors included UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machine Tools, Robots, Automation Systems and Ancillary Products, www.ucimu.it) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Education Foundation (SME, www.sme.org/foundation).

The Seventh Italian Packaging Technology Awards (IPTA), sponsored by the ITC in collaboration with UCIMA – Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association (www.ucima.it) and the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP, www.IoPP.org), awarded the winners a two-week trip (June 7–21) to visit leading Italian companies in the packaging industry.

Both these programs begin with writing competitions open to North American universities with strong metallurgical and packaging engineering curriculums. Students are asked to write a paper on technical innovations within the machine tool and packaging industries. Winners are then awarded trips to Italy to visit leading manufacturers.

Accompanied by professors, students are able to see in person how Italian manufacturers excel at making these lines of machinery and equipment.

The company visits also foster discussions on the current challenges and opportunities these industries offer. The trip also provides the professors with a valuable opportunity to discover new technologies and enhance their programs by sharing their experiences with other students when classes resume.

Ceremonies presenting the awards to the winners will be conducted at special events during the International Manufacturing and Technology Show and Pack Expo International Show both in Chicago this fall.

The IMTTA tour offered this year’s participants opportunities to see the latest in Italian machine tool machinery. Company tours included the following manufacturers: BLM S.p.A. – BLM Group (www.blmgroup.com); Jobs S.p.A. (www.jobs.it); Losma S.p.A. (www.losma.it); Marposs S.p.A. (www.marposs.com); Prima Industrie S.p.A. (www.primaindustrie.com); Rosa Ermando S.p.A. (www.rosa.it); and Silmax S.p.A. (www.silmax.it).

The IPTA tour included the following nine manufacturers: ACMA S.p.A. Liquid Division (www.acmagd.it), Cavanna S.p.A. (www.cavanna.com), Goglio S.p.A. (www.goglio.it), ILAPAK Italia S.p.A. (www.ilapack.com), IMA S.p.A. (www.ima.it), MG2 S.r.l. (www.mg2.it), PRB Packaging Systems S.r.l. (www.prbpack.com), SACMI IMOLA S.C. (www.sacmi.com) and Tissue Machinery Company S.p.A. (www.tissue.it).

For more information on these programs and for the latest machine tool and packaging technologies from Italy, contact the Italian Trade Commission at 888-ITALTRADE or via email info@italtradeusa.com.

innovation

ITALIAN INNOVATION IN THE SPOTLIGHT

MACHINES ITALIA TAKES “TURNING INNOVATION INTO PRODUCTIVITY” ON THE ROAD BY PARTICIPATING AT MAJOR NORTH AMERICAN EVENTS.

For More Information For more information on all these events, please visit their respective Web sites: www.imts.com www.wbfny.com www.oesa.org www.fewa.org www.packexpo.com www.worldagexpo.com www.npe.org www.awfs.org

I

f you make the purchasing decisions for your company, you have an enormous responsibility. You must know the ins and outs of production in a way no one else does—finding machines and systems solutions that are functional, reliable and durable, with readily available service and spare parts. You decide whether the return on investment ultimately can be realized. In short, much of your company’s success depends on your purchasing choices. Italian machinery can make your decision easier.

That’s why Machines Italia, together with its partner associations, is proud to be among the featured participants and/or sponsors of major industry events: the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, September 8–13, 2008 (with UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE); the World Business Forum in New York City, September 23–24, 2008; the OESA—Original Equipment Suppliers Association’s 2008 Outlook Conference and 10th Annual Meeting of Members in Detroit, November 5–6, 2008; Farm Equipment Wholesalers Association (FEWA) 2008 Fall Convention & Industry Showcase in Reno, Nevada, November 5–8, 2008; Pack Expo International/ Process Expo in Chicago, November 9–13, 2008 (with UCIMA); the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, February 12–14, 2009; the National Plastics Exposition (NPE) in Chicago June 22–26, 2009 (with ASSOCOMAPLAST); and Association of Wood-working Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) 2009 Fair in Las Vegas, July 15–18, 2009 (with ACIMALL).

Of these events, the World Business Forum will feature a Machines Italia network luncheon— “Manufacturing Strategies for Global Competition: Turning Innovation into Productivity”—for invited top North American C-Level executives, with noted strategist Michael Porter and FEDERMACCHINE’s Dr. Alberto Sacchi participating.

These events share the common goal of striving to improve global competitiveness within the manufacturing industry by presenting technological advances, workshops and education on best practices. In keeping with this aim, Machines Italia will present the latest information on its partner associations and companies at these events.

At all our event booths, Machines Italia affiliates from our associations and/or divisional representatives of the Italian Trade Commission will help you find the right partners and manufacturers who can administer to your most challenging and specific production needs.

You will obtain information on the world’s most highly skilled engineers, designers and manufacturers who always turn innovation into productivity either by retooling existing concepts or by creating entirely new systems not yet imagined.

While the conferences will address a variety of issues affecting global enterprise excellence and corporate leadership, Machines Italia will provide visitors with case histories, industry white papers and current information on what Italian machinery manufacturers are doing here in North America to keep local manufacturers productive.

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t ra d e s h o ws

ITALIAN EXHIBITIONS Sector

Trade Show

Title

Machines Italia Partner Association

Show Location

Show Dates

Agriculture

EIMA INTERNATIONAL 2008

International Agricultural Machinery Exhibition

UNACOMA

Bologna, Italy

Nov. 12–16, 2008

Ceramic Technology

TECNARGILLA 2008

International Exhibition of Technology and Supplies for the Ceramics and Brick Industries

ACIMAC

Rimini, Italy

Sept. 30– Oct. 4, 2008

Food Technology

CIBUS TEC

Food Processing & Packaging Technology Exhibition

Not In Attendance

Parma, Italy

Oct. 27–30, 2009

Food Technology— Baking

SIAB

International Exhibition of Technology and Products for Bakery, Pastry, Confectionery, Fresh Pasta and Pizza Fields

ANIMA (ASSOFOODTEC)

Verona, Italy

May 2010

Food Technology— Catering & Restaurant

HOST

International Exposition of the Hospitality Industry

ANIMA (ASSOFOODTEC)

Milan, Italy

Oct. 23–27, 2009

Footwear & Leathergoods Machines

SIMAC 2008

International Exhibition of Machines and Technologies for Footwear and Leathergoods Industries

ASSOMAC

Bologna, Italy

Oct. 28–30, 2008

Foundry

FOUNDEQ EUROPE

Exhibition of Equipment and Products for the Foundry of Ferrous and Non Ferrous Metals

AMAFOND

Montichiari (BR)

April 14–17, 2010

Glass

VITRUM 2009

International Trade Show Specialized in Machinery, Equipment and Systems for Flat, Bent and Hollow Glass and in Glass and Processed Industrial Products

GIMAV

Milan, Italy

Oct. 28–31, 2009

Graphic, Printing and Converting

GRAFITALIA 2009

Exhibition of Machinery and Materials for the Graphic Arts, Publishing, Paper, Converting, Package Printing and Communication Industries

ACIMGA

Milan, Italy

March 24–28, 2009

Machine Tools, Components & Ancillary Products

SFORTEC

Technical Subcontracting Exhibition

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Milan, Italy

Oct. 3–7, 2008

Machine Tools for Metalforming

LAMIERA

Machines and equipment for the machining of sheet metal, pipes, sections, wire and metal structural work, dies, welding, heat treatments, surface treatment and finishing

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Bologna, Italy

May 12–15, 2010

Machine Tools, Robots & Automation Systems/ Subcontracting

26.BI-MU

Machine Tools, Robots, Automation

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Milan, Italy

Oct. 3–7, 2008

Machine Tools, Robots & Automation Systems/ Subcontracting

EMO MILANO 2009

The World of Metalworking

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Milan, Italy

Oct. 5–10, 2009

Machine Tools, Robots & Automation Systems/ Subcontracting

BI-MU MEDITERRANEA

Machine Tools, Robots, Automation

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Bari, Italy

Feb. 18–21, 2010

Marble

MARMOMACC

International Exhibition of Stone Design and Technology

ASSOMARMOMACCHINE

Verona, Italy

Oct. 2–5, 2008

Marble

CARRARA MARMOTEC

International Fair for Marble Technologies and Design

ASSOMARMOMACCHINE (Exhibitor)

Carrara, Italy

May 2009

Packaging/ Food Technology

Ipack-Ima 2009

International Exhibition for Packing, Packaging, Material Handling and Food Processing Machinery

UCIMA - ANIMA (ASSOFOODTEC)

Milan, Italy

March 24–28, 2009

Packaging/ Pharmaceuticals

Pharmintech 2010

The Innovations Exhibition for the Pharmaceutical Industry

UCIMA

Bologna, Italy

May 12–14, 2010

Plastics & Rubber

PLAST ‘09

International Exhibition for Plastics and Rubber Industries

ASSOCOMAPLAST

Milan, Italy

March 24–28, 2009

Tanning Machines & Chemical Products

TANNING-TECH 2008

International Exhibition of Machines and Technologies for Tanning Industry

ASSOMAC

Bologna, Italy

Oct. 28–30, 2008

Textiles

IKME 2009

International Exhibition of Finishing and Knitting Machinery

ACIMIT

Milan, Italy

Nov. 18–22, 2009

Woodworking Machinery

XYLEXPO 2010

Biennial Exhibition for Woodworking Technology

ACIMALL

Milan, Italy

May 4–8, 2010

* When calling Italy, dial 011 + 39 (country code) before the local number

28 | 1-888-ITALTRADE

LISTED BY SECTOR Web Site

Organizer

Address

Zip Code

City

Telephone*

Fax*

Email

www.eima.it

UNACOMA Service Surl

Via Venafro, 5

00159

Roma

06 432981

06 4076370

eima@unacoma.it

www.tecnargilla.it

RiminiFiera S.p.A.

Via Emilia, 155

47900

Rimini

0541 744468

0541 744243

info@acimac.it

www.fiereparma.it

Fiere di Parma S.p.A.

Via Rizzi, 67/a

43100

Baganzola (PR)

0521 9961

0521 996270

cibus@fiereparma.it

www.siabweb.com

VERONAFIERE

Viale Del Lavoro, 8

37135

Verona

045 8298111

045 8298288

info@siabweb.com

www.host.expocts.it

Expocts S.p.A.

Via Generale G. Govone 66

20155

Milano

02 349841

02 33600493

expo@expocts.it

www.simac-fair.it

Assomac Servizi S.r.l.

Via Matteotti, 4/a - CP 73

27029

Vigevano (PV)

0381 78883

0381 88602

exhibition@assomac.it

www.foundeq.com

Edimet S.p.A.

Via Brescia, 117

25018

Montichiari (BR)

030 9981045

030 9981055

info@edimet.com

www.vitrum-milano.it

VITRUM

Via Petitti, 16

20149

Milano

02 33006099

02 33005630

vitrum@vitrum-milano.it

www.grafitalia.biz

CENTREXPO S.p.A.

Centro Mostre Specializzate, Corso Sempione, 4

20154

Milano

02 3191091

02 341677

centrexpo@centrexpo.it

www.bimu-sfortec.com

EFIM-ENTE FIERE ITALIANE MACCHINE S.p.A. in cooperation with CEU-CENTRO ESPOSIZIONI UCIMU S.p.A.

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinisello Balsamo (MI)

02 262551

02 26255214/ 349

ucimu@ucimu.it

www.lamiera.net

CEU-CENTRO ESPOSIZIONI UCIMU S.p.A.

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinisello Balsamo (MI)

02 262551

02 26255214/ 349

ucimu@ucimu.it

www.bimu-sfortec.com

EFIM-ENTE FIERE ITALIANE MACCHINE S.p.A. in cooperation with CEU-CENTRO ESPOSIZIONI UCIMU S.p.A.

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinisello Balsamo (MI)

02 262551

02 26255214/ 349

ucimu@ucimu.it

www.emo-milan.com

EFIM-ENTE FIERE ITALIANE MACCHINE S.p.A. promoted by CECIMO (European Committee for the

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinisello Balsamo (MI)

02 26255860/ 861

02 26255882

info@emo-milan.com

Co-operation of Machine Tool Industries)

www.bimu-mediterranea.it

ENTE AUTONOMO FIERA DEL LEVANTE in cooperation with CEU-CENTRO ESPOSIZIONI UCIMU S.p.A.

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinisello Balsamo (MI)

02 262551

02 26255214/ 349

ucimu@ucimu.it

www.marmomacc.com/ home_en.asp

VERONAFIERE

Viale Del Lavoro, 8

37135

Verona (VR)

045 8298111

045 8298288

info@veronafiere.it

www.carraramarmotec.com

CarraraFiere S.r.l.

V.le G. Galilei, 133

54036

Marina di Carrara (MS)

0585 787963

0585 787602

info@carraramarmotec.com

www.ipack-ima.com

Ipack-Ima S.p.A.

Corso Sempione, 4

20154

Milano

02 3191091

02 33619826

ipackima@ipackima.it

www.pharmintech.it

Ipack-Ima S.p.A.

Corso Sempione, 4

20154

Milano

02 3191091

02 33619826

pharmintech@ipackima.it

www.plast09.org

PROMOPLAST S.r.l.

Centro Direzionale Milanofiori, Palazzo F/3

20090

Assago (MI)

02 82283743

02 57512490

info@plast09.org

www.tanning-tech.it

Assomac Servizi S.r.l.

Via Matteotti, 4/a - CP 73

27029

Vigevano (PV)

0381 78883

0381 88602

exhibition@assomac.it

www.ikme.mi.it

Fiera Milano Intl. S.p.A

Via Varesina, 76

20156

Milano

02 485501

02 48550800

info@fmi.it

www.xylexpo.com/eng

XYLEXPO

Centro commerciale Milanofiori, 1a Strada, Palazzo F3

20090

Assago (MI)

02 89210200

02 8259009

info@xylexpo.com

WWW.MACHINESITALIA.ORG | 29

Italian machinery

INNOVATION AT WORK IN

GLOBAL

AGRICULTURE/FARM MACHINERY UNACOMA represents Italian manufacturers of tractors, agricultural machinery and gardening machinery. These Italian manufacturers produce everything from power mowers for the homeowner to tractors and harvesters used by the world’s leading agribusiness enterprises. UNACOMA members account for 90% of Italian farm machinery production. Italian farm equipment manufacturers rank first in the world in terms of the range of machines produced. www.unacoma.com

CERAMICS Italian manufacturers of machinery and equipment for ceramics have earned a world-class reputation for providing solutions that meet a vast range of customer needs—from traditional ceramics to the latest design trends. Customers around the globe choose machinery produced by members of ACIMAC, the Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery and Equipment for the Ceramic Industry, because it is easy to program and simple to maintain; this machinery is also known for its ability to increase productivity and for its design flexibility. www.acimac.it

EARTHMOVING MACHINERY COMAMOTER is the group of UNACOMA representing the Italian manufacturers of earthmoving machinery, attachments and components. COMAMOTER has approximately 40 members (manufacturing over 80% of the total output) who build high-quality, reliable, heavy, medium and light equipment for worldwide use, valued at over $3 billion a year. Italy exports more than $1 billion of earthmoving machinery, equipment and parts annually to more than 140 countries worldwide. www.comamoter.com

FOOD TECHNOLOGY ASSOFOODTEC (Incorporating UCMA)—the Italian Association of Machinery and Plant Manufacturers for Food Production, Processing and Preservation—has leveraged the Italian spirit of innovation into a global leadership position. ASSOFOODTEC operates within the Federation of Italian Mechanical and Engineering Associations (ANIMA), and its members turn out machines for global exports that are well-known for technological superiority, durability and ingenuity. www.assofoodtec.it

FOOTWEAR, LEATHERGOODS AND TANNING ASSOMAC is the association representing the Italian manufacturers of footwear, leathergoods and tanning machinery. The 180 member manufacturers are world leaders in this sector supplying the most advanced footwear, leathergoods and tanning technologies all over the world. The industrial sectors represented by ASSOMAC export almost 70% of their production. www.assomac.it

FOUNDRY AND METALLURGICAL MACHINERY AMAFOND is the Italian association of companies producing machinery, plants, furnaces and products for the foundry industry. Its 80 member companies provide machinery used in the manufacturing of everything from automobile engines and components to domestic appliances. AMAFOND credits the“Italian approach”to business— characterized by extra customer care and stronger personal relationships—as one of the reasons its member companies attract worldwide customers. www.amafond.com

GLASS As an evolution of the Italian glass-making tradition, GIMAV—the Italian Association of Glass-Processing Machinery and Accessory Suppliers—represents Italian excellence in glass-making machinery today. This industry sector has expanded internationally by employing innovative technology that meets today’s marketplace needs. GIMAV’s 80 member companies are known for customizing machines to meet exacting end-user specifications—from high-rise building construction to fine arts applications. www.gimav.it

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MARKETS MARBLE AND STONE Three hundred and seventeen companies form the foundation of Associazione Italiana MARMOMACCHINE, the association representing the Italian marble and stone machinery industries. These companies supply the advanced technology that makes Italy a global leader in the stone and manufactured stone industries. Italian machinery is engineered to be versatile and provide customers with unique solutions to process marble and stone at competitive prices. www.assomarmomacchine.com

METALWORKING UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE is the Italian Machine Tools, Robots and Automation Manufacturers Association.

As an official representative of the industry, UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE acts as a worldwide ambassador for some of the latest technology developed in Italy. The 214 member companies, who produce around 70% of the output for the sector, have won universal recognition for their quality, flexibility, reliability and customization. www.ucimu.it

PACKAGING UCIMA groups the Italian Manufacturers of Automatic Packing and Packaging Machinery. Its members represent 65% of the total Italian production and, on average, 85% of Italian exports. One packaging machine out of every four in the world bears the wording “Made in Italy.” And the United States is the industry’s main outlet market for the sector. The worldwide success of the Italian packing and packaging industry is firmly rooted in a consolidated technological tradition and in the ability to find customized packaging solutions. www.ucima.it

PLASTICS AND RUBBER The companies of ASSOCOMAPLAST, the Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Molds Manufacturers Association, are globally renowned for their “turnkey solutions”—addressing customer needs through sophisticated machines and engineering. As a result, the Italian plastics and rubber processing machinery industry has seen steady growth since its inception in 1960. Italian machines are highly prized by the world’s most industrialized and economically advanced countries. www.assocomaplast.org

PRINTING, GRAPHIC AND CONVERTING ACIMGA represents the Italian manufacturers of machinery for the graphic, converting and paper industry. Members of this association are world leaders in making machinery for rotogravure and flexographic printing, paper and cardboard processing, and converting. Most of what is produced is absorbed by the packaging market with 60% of the industry’s turnover, followed by the graphic sector with 35%, then niche applications with around 5%. www.acimga.it

TEXTILE MACHINERY ACIMIT is the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, representing 80% of the entire Italian textile machinery production. Each member takes pride in helping their manufacturing customers spin “cloth into gold.”

Italian textile machinery manufacturers meet the full spectrum of industry needs (spinning, weaving, knitting, and finishing machines), and leading American textile and clothing manufacturers rely on the quality of Italian high-tech machinery. www.acimit.it

WOOD In every segment of woodworking, from sawmills to the industrial processing of solid wood and panel to finishing, the Italian industry is present with technological solutions capable of responding effectively to a multitude of user requirements. ACIMALL, the Italian Woodworking Machinery and Tools Manufacturers Association, with over 220 of the most qualified companies in their field, represents 90% of the whole industry, both in terms of employees and in turnover. www.acimall.com

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