Machines Italia Magazine 2009

Fall 2009 www.machinesitalia.org 1-888-italtrade

from the Italian Trade Commissioner—Chicago

Turning Innovation into Responsibility

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talian machinery manufacturing industries relay the message that quality and collaboration are key components of success.

The latest issue of Machines Italia examines successful business practices both within Italy and North America. Italian technology is the central theme of Machines Italia, illustrating how local manufacturers here employ Italian Italian Trade Commission innovation to achieve sustainable, responDr. Pasquale Bova Trade Commissioner—Chicago sible production solutions.

Initially, we look at the need to collaboAddress: rate, part of every company’s road to suc401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 3030 cess.

Italian companies are environmentally Chicago, Illinois 60611 aware (green), efficiently productive (lean) Toll-Free: and committed to the responsible use of 1.888.ITALTRADE / 482.5872 resources (sustainable). These examples are (U.S. and Canadian Callers) illustrated through the articles published Telephone: in this issue.

312.670.4360 The News section includes stories of (outside the U.S. and Canada) Italian investment in North America. The Fax: feature articles look at the disciplines of green 312.264.6209 (the environment and how to protect it); lean E-mail: (the rules and guidelines to streamline busiinfo@italtradeusa.com ness processes to eliminate waste); and sustainability (a commitment to be more ecoWeb Site: friendly in the production process). www.machinesitalia.org Also presented are results from an excluThe Italian Trade Commission’s sive Automation World survey of more than North American offices in Chicago, 200 manufacturers who buy, specify and Atlanta, Los Angeles, Toronto and Mexico City are principally responsible recommend machinery and equipment for the machinery and technology purchases. It reveals that quality and relisectors covered in this publication. ability are the top challenges facing manufacturers today, who look to innovative machinery, such as that provided by Italian

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manufacturers, to lower production costs and improve product quality.

This summer, the Italian Trade Commission sponsored a small group of editors who toured Italian companies in a variety of industries. One of these editors, Gary Mintchell, editor in chief of Automation World, our publishing partner on Machines Italia, contributed three Field Reports of some highlights from this tour.

The Italian Trade Commission works with 14 professional associations and organizations that represent major Italian machinery manufacturing industries.These groups and their member companies support Italian manufacturing, which plays a significant role in maintaining the flow of goods and services throughout the world.

For example, every fourth piece of packaging equipment worldwide bears the words, “Made in Italy.” Big machinery (machine tools), smaller equipment (lacemakers), printing presses and companies that supply automotive, aerospace and other complex industries are also included in the mix of Italian manufacturing and machinery suppliers.

In a period of financial turmoil, the value provided through practices such as green, lean, and sustainable manufacturing reflect an increasing commitment to manufacturing responsibility, efficiently creating the best products, as well as taking care to respect the environment and to appreciate its resources.

Sincerely, Pasquale Bova Trade Commissioner—Chicago

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Table of Contents 4

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Collaboration Travels the World

Global partnerships promote collaboration; collaboration promotes success

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Italy Field Report: Collaboration

Italian OEMs find collaboration fuels innovation

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Machinery Trends

Survey finds machinery users look for lower

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operating costs, improved quality 10

Italy Engineers Green Machines

Italian machinery makers are using resourcesaving technologies and practices

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Lean Manufacturing Equals Value

Lean practices lead to increased profits

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Italy Field Report: Lean

OEMs find a way to get lean

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Sustainability a High Priority for Italian Manufacturers Who Deliver Innovation

Interest in resource-saving, environmentally protective practices abounds

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Italy Field Report: Sustainability

Engineers seek emerging technologies to fuel growth

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Awards Promote Education

The Italian packaging and woodworking machinery industries host North American students

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Italian Innovation in the Spotlight

Machines Italia at major North American events

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Machines Italia News

News briefs from a selection of our 10,000 partner companies

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Italian Exhibitions Listed by Sector

Upcoming exhibitions sponsored by our partner associations

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Innovation at Work in Global Markets

An overview of Machines Italia’s 14 partner associations and industries 1-888-italtrade l Fall 2009

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collaboration

Collaboration Travels the World

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“

o man is an island,” said a poet, and almost no company stands alone in the 21st century. The superb quality that characterizes Italian manufacturing now reaches around the world as companies and their customers collaborate on research, participate in knowledge sharing and exchange information that fosters expansion and growth in traditional and emerging markets.

Clemson University’s state-of-the-art Sonoco Institute features an OMET S.r.l. seven-color Varyflex press.

Customers are loyal. For instance, Manny De Oliveira, president of 10-yearold United Marble & Granite Inc., a premier fabricator and employer of 50 employees in San Jose, Calif., is a customer of Breton USA which represents Breton S.p.A. (www.breton.it). In 2003, Breton was awarded the UNI EN ISO 9001— VISION 2000 Quality Certification According to De Oliveria, “I use Italian machinery and Breton provides very efficient service. I’d buy from them again and I highly recommend them. It’s important to maintain relationships. Good companies deserve credit.” He adds that the industry is well aware of excellent suppliers.

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Partnering to educate In the U.S., Clemson University (www. clemson.edu) is acclaimed for its focus on printing and packaging studies. The university recently welcomed the new Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics, poised to become the global leader in packaging design, graphics technology and research. A major contributor to the institute’s endeavors is Italian press manufacturer OMET S.r.l. (www.omet.it).

“When we were looking for a company to partner with, we were looking for one that could support our flexible packaging needs, both solvent and water-based, and multiple processes—both gravure and flexo.With printed electronics, you need to have variable printing processes and the ability to mix and match,” says Chip Tonkin, director of Sonoco Institute.

“Once we put together our requirements,” he adds,“we realized that there was really only a handful of companies that had the capabilities we desired, and from a partnership standpoint, a company that would benefit from what we have to offer. We wanted a company with vision, one that would raise the bar of research and learning, one where we could get immersed in each other’s R&D. OMET has that vision and that desire.”

A true partnership has developed between the company and the university. Its centerpiece is the installation of an OMET VaryflexVF530-F1 seven-color press at the institute.The press, which OMET has donated, will be housed in the new Harris A. Smith building on Clemson’s campus.

“Cooperating with a university is very important to the development of new technology,” says OMET sales director Marco

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Calcagni. “It became clear that this would be an excellent opportunity for OMET to increase its presence in North America.”

Amerigo Manzini, OMET manager, comments, “The Varyflex is a true multisubstrate press with the ability to print on any substrate from .5 mil unsupported film to 24-pt board. It offers combination printing with HD flexo, silkscreen cassettes, gravure cassettes, and hot/cold foil cassettes that slide in to any station on the press.

“Additionally, OMET has an offset print station that can be added to the Varyflex to make it an even more versatile platform.The press platform at Clemson will change and expand as Clemson’s requirements grow.

This will be a cutting-edge facility that will push the boundaries of packaging.We are an engineering-focused company and innovation is our passion, and this matches well with the focus of the institute.”

The research and development that Sonoco Institute students, teachers and the OMET team anticipate is based on the school’s holistic approach to packaging design, which covers four areas of focus: packaging design workflows, sustainability, the consumer experience, and printed electronics.

“We’re the only facility of its kind with these capabilities,” Tonkin says. “We have everything under one roof—the lab, prepress equipment, and the OMET press.

Our pitch to the industry is that you can come here to Clemson and make your ideas work.”

The facility will be OMET’s North American press demonstration and training center, giving the company a permanent home at the university and expanding OMET’s presence across the Atlantic.

OMET will run print demonstrations for customers on the Varyflex, plus training

collaboration

seminars for customers, and seminars for the converting and packaging industries.

“North America is one of the world’s most important markets,” says Calcagni.

“The relationship between OMET and Clemson University demonstrates that cooperation between industry and education can produce significant technological developments.”

Partnering to produce According to Ralph Keller, president of the U.S.-based Association for Manufacturing Excellence (www.ame.org), “In the day of the Internet, your competitor is just a mouse click away from your best customer. With the world virtually shrinking at a rapid rate, how can companies become globally competitive and continue to grow and succeed? It’s not an easy issue for most companies and requires a well thought-out strategy and a well executed implementation plan. For many companies, it requires owners and managers to really understand that this is a different world and they must either adapt or change, or their companies will, like dinosaurs, become extinct.”

Keller continues, “A few enlightened companies have adopted a strategy of global expansion where they have undertaken the extremely difficult task of finding customers for their products in global markets. Once they have found these customers and started supplying them from their home locations, they either establish local operations in these markets to expand their reach or they find local partners that can produce their products for the foreign markets. Once established with multiple manufacturing location capability, it becomes easier to continue to expand global operations.There is only a small fraction of manufacturing companies globally who have an active export strategy, much less a global production capability strategy, but it is these companies that will survive and prosper in the virtually shrinking world.”

Partnering to share expertise Collaboration with prominent global manufacturers has led Ronchi Mario S.p.A. (www.ronchi.it) to maintain higher

levels of implementation of technological and quality advancements than those of its competitors, according to the company.

A partner now nearly-100 years old, Clorox Company (www.clorox.com) is a leading manufacturer of laundry bleach and household cleaners and disinfectants.

Its equipment must survive in extremely corrosive manufacturing environments involving liquid and vapor contact.

Clorox offered to share its expertise and experience in materials selection and surface treatments for its equipment with Ronchi Mario.

Clorox continues to offer critical feedback on materials, treatments and functional design improvements to maximize the lifecycle of its equipment.

This synergy offers a benefit to each company, creating robust end products for corrosive manufacturing environments.

the same or similar products to become standardized manufacturing models.

The sharing is vital. Global customers invest time and resources in R&D to seek advances in technology that best suit their needs for improved throughput, greater efficiencies and reduced maintenance.

Findings are shared during the collaborative process of specifying or requesting implementation of new concepts by customers for new equipment or upgrades.

Collaborative feedback from existing and potential customers lets the company preserve and expand its global market position and build strong continuing partnerships.The collaboration with global customers can be measured in terms of continuing worldwide market penetration, permitted by collaborative enhanced design flexibility, shortened manufacturing cycles, levels of applied technology and improved efficiencies for end users.

Ronchi Mario’s high-speed rotary trigger inserter is shown at top, with its rotary filler capper monoblock at right.

Another partner, Procter and Gamble (www.pg.com), a world-leading manufacturing company with diverse lines of top quality products in consumer goods markets, maintains its best-in-class position by anticipating competitive challenges and focusing on consumer trends.

P&G achieves manufacturing excellence through a goal of delivering better quality goods to the market more efficiently and cost effectively—making the company the market leader in household, personal, hair care, and oral care products.

The P&G and Ronchi Mario partnership has grown over years of mutual cooperation across geographic borders. Shared technical solutions, joint development and equipment design enhancements resulted in additional manufacturing and operational efficiencies. These are exported worldwide to all P&G facilities producing

Partnering to seek solutions For Marchesini Group S.p.A. (www. marchesini.com), more than 85 percent of group revenues are generated by exports, mainly in the U.S. and Europe to customers such as Pfizer,Wyeth, and L’Oreal.

The company produces complete lines to handle the entire packaging process, as well as stand-alone automatic packaging machines for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors.

The Group maintains a leading role in Italy internationally and operates on the basis of a mission described by Maurizio Marchesini, managing director:“The pack-

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collaboration

Buying Decision Preferences Revealed by Survey

“Extremely Important” to “Not Important At All.” The survey found that 96% chose the attribute of “The Equipment Meets My Needs/Expectations” as Extremely Important or Very ImporAn important aspect of business collaboration in the buyer- tant, with the highest percentage of responses. Clearly, the most seller partnership is examining factors that contribute to pur- important aspect in the business collaboration is understanding chasing decisions. In the just-completed Automation World and meeting the needs of your customers. survey of 205 North American industry professionals, of whom The category of “Return on Investment” was the next most more than 80% were involved with buying, specifying and/or highly ranked attribute, with 89% of respondents selecting recommending machinery, survey respondents were asked to it as Extremely or Very Important, followed by the category rank a series of attributes when deciding to buy equipment from “Technical Support After the Sale,” which was selected by 86% as Extremely Important or Very Important. “Availability of Spare Parts” How important are the following attributes when deciding to purchase equipment? (Check one box for each category) was selected by 82% of respondents as the next most critical attribute in Extremely Very Somewhat Not very Not at all N/A Rating evaluating purchase decisions. These important important important important important average results show that the manufacturers Price 26.3% 51.0% 22.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.5% 4.04 are looking at more than just price— Return on 42.3% 46.9% 9.7% 0.0% 0.0% 1.0% 4.33 investment they are considering the lifecycle ROI of their equipment purchases, and Reputation of the 20.1% 49.0% 27.3% 2.1% 1.0% 0.5% 3.85 manufacturer how they will support the equipment Technical 43.1% 43.1% 11.3% 1.5% 0.0% 1.0% 4.29 after purchase. support after In a nod to the business partnership, the sale 69% ranked “Reputation of the ManuRelationship 12.4% 47.2% 30.6% 8.3% 0.5% 1.0% 3.63 with the facturer” as Extremely or Very Impormanufacturer tant, while 62% chose “Availability of or distributor Training” and 60% selected “RelationFinancing 6.2% 14.9% 24.2% 26.8% 22.2% 5.7% 2.54 offered by the ship with the Manufacturer.” manufacturer The least important categories are or distributor “Financing Offered By the ManufacAvailability of 33.8% 48.2% 14.4% 3.1% 0.0% 0.5% 4.13 spare parts turer or Distributor” and “Country of Origin of Manufacturer.”

Availability of 20.9% 41.3% 27.0% 8.2% 1.5% 1.0% 3.73 training by the In a global market driven by partnermanufacturer/ ships that span geographical borders, distributor the respondents to the Automation Country of origin 7.7% 24.7% 32.0% 24.7% 7.2% 3.6% 3.01 of the equipment World survey have made their preferThe use of the 16.4% 46.2% 29.7% 6.2% 0.5% 1.0% 3.73 ences clear. Purchase decisions are latest technology based on the suppliers’ abilities to in the equipment meet their customers’ needs, provide The equipment 70.9% 25.5% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% 0.5% 4.67 meets my a return on investment, and support the needs/ lifecycle costs of the equipment, regardspecifications less of where the partners are located.

aging sector is continuously evolving, and to be competitive a company must constantly address innovations in technology.

We are convinced that we can be the right partner, working together to search among new possibilities for the ideal solution that is best suited to the needs of our customers.”

Machines initially produced in the various Marchesini Group locations or in

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partner companies are later forwarded to the central production facility in Pianoro, to be assembled in complete lines and shipped to customers worldwide. Because of modularity, the lines are able to adapt to the layout of any environment (straight lines to a range of geometric shapes), ensuring flexibility. The phase of production engineering and design for each machine takes

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place at headquarters, in close collaboration between Marchesini and the customer.

As Italian manufacturing marches around the globe, collaboration is embraced by companies that value the potential of their markets and move ahead to bring unparalleled quality to their industry. Partnerships have become widespread in the global mix.

italy field report: collaboration

Italian OEMs Find Collaboration Fuels Innovation

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ompanies that build machines so that their customers can manufacture their own products, called original equipment manufacturers or OEMs, come in several varieties.

Building a custom machine requires close collaboration with the customer. The machine must be built to accomplish the end result the customer desires, of course. But sometimes the OEM engineer needs to consult with customer engineers on ways to modify the design of the end product or process in order to make the part more efficiently or economically. Sometimes companies will consult with favored OEM partners from the beginning of product design in order to speed the entire process.

Pietro Carnaghi S.p.A. (www.pietrocarnaghi. it) produces large vertical lathes. The machines feature tables of up to 8 meters in diameter and weigh as much as 100 metric tons. They machine parts that weigh as much as 500 pounds.The 230 employees of Pietro Carnaghi work on machines for some large manufacturers such as Rolls Royce (aircraft engines for the Boeing 787) and Boeing (for the Delta IV rocket). Giuliano Radice, area manager, says engineers worked with Boeing for five years on a project that is only now coming online.

Collaboration is key at Jobs S.p.A. (www. jobs.it), which manufactures high-speed, five-axis milling machines. It serves customers in aerospace and automotive markets with its largest customer being Boeing. The company’s principal innovation is its linear motor. It’s capable of 50 meters/ minute. “In today’s globally competitive market,” says Paolo Bosi, “Jobs competes best when it tries not just to sell a machine but when it works with its customers to help them figure out the optimum way to machine their part.”

President and co-founder Aris Ballestrazzi of Sitma Machinery S.p.A. (www.sitma.it) says Sitma’s engineers work collaboratively with supplier engineers to develop newer parts that may reduce manufacturing cost.The company designs and manufactures machines that work at the end of a printing

operation performing such operations as film and paper wrapping, envelope insertion, bundle wrappers, inserting lines, addressing and labeling systems, feeders and stackers.

Sitma engineers also look at ways to reduce complexity or otherwise take cost out of the machine.

Unique bottles Filling bottles with liquid might seem like something that is old hat. But how about when bottle designers get over-the-top creative with shapes and sizes? And what if the customer wants to fill a bottle with something highly viscous— for example, something like a salve or petroleum jelly? That’s when machine designers and customer packaging engineers need to huddle like the witches in MacBeth to devise a new potion—that is, machine.

Ronchi Mario S.p.A. (www.ronchi.it) builds machines to fill and cap bottles with cosmetics or chemicals. During a typical process, bottles are dumped in a feeder that assures they are upright and aligned correctly for presentation to the filling and capping stations. The problem comes when your target market is cosmetics and the bottle is an intimate part of branding and point-of-sale selling.That’s what Ronchi’s engineers design. So they work with bottle designers to assure that all of the various shapes and sizes can be fed into the system. They also work on the product end with customers in a small lab setup to find the best and fastest way to fill the bottles.

Testing an envelopestuffing machine at Sitma Machinery.

Working on a large vertical lathe at Pietro Carnaghi.

Italy as a country is one of the largest exporters of machines to the United States.

In July 2009, Gary Mintchell, Editor in Chief, Automation World magazine, joined a small group of editors who toured many builders of these machines from various industries.

Information from the visits was compiled into his series of Italy Field Reports.

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machinery trends

Survey Finds Machinery Users Look

for Lower Operating Costs, Improved Quality

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echnology is under scrutiny today in all its forms. Results from a special Automation World survey on sustainable manufacturing trends reveal what manufacturers are doing now and hoping for in the future.

Readers of AutomationWorld.com responded enthusiastically to a multi-question survey this summer to present new insight into areas of sustainable manufacturing.

The survey, specifically targeting machinery and equipment, received 205 responses, and ascertained that 80.1% of those responding are involved with buying/specifying/recommending machinery.

Among those queried, 70.7% said that they were familiar with the term “sustainable manufacturing,” and 40.9% of the companies already have a sustainable manufacturing initiative in place.

The chart that outlines what respondents said about how recent purchases of machinery and

A variety of answers was forthcoming as respondents considered in what areas of technology they would like to see innovation in their industry.

equipment provided their companies a competitive advantage shows the top category of competitive advantage is “Lower Operating Cost” (52.7%), with the category “Improved Product Quality” next at 49.5%. This was followed by “Increased Throughput” at 43.6% and “Reduced Downtime (equipment availability)” at 43.1%.

Next were “Improved Equipment” and “Asset Maintenance” at 38.3% and “Better Energy Management” at 30.9%. Finally, “Allowed You to Enter into New Markets/Niches Previously Unexplored” came in at 19.7%.

The graphic representation of the sectors of machinery manufacturing from which respondents purchase equipment reveals that the sector most cited (47.1%) is Metalworking (Machine Tools). The next category is Packaging at 40.5%, followed by Plastics and Rubber at 22.2% and a tie for the categories of Food Technology (Processing) and Printing, Graphic and Converting at 21.6%.The lightest sector of purchase is Footwear, Leathergoods and Tanning at 1.3%.

In response to the question “What are the top challenges for your manufacturing organizations?,” Quality and Reliability are tied as the top challenges, with 97% of respondents saying these are extremely or very important. Efficiency, Production Costs and Machine Uptime are ranked next in order of importance.

In what areas have your recent purchases of machinery and equipment provided your company competitive advantage?

Lower operating cost Improved equipment and asset maintenance Improved product quality Reduced cycle time Increased throughput Reduced downtime (equipment availability) Better energy management Allowed you to enter into new markets / niches previously unexplored

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52.7%

38.8%

49.5%

38.3% 43.6% 43.1%

30.9% 19.7%

machinery trends

An array of individual opinions

simulators, reduction in manpower, part identiA variety of answers was forthcoming as respondents fication for tracing, free tech support, and end considered in what areas of technology they would forming of tubes. like to see innovation in their industry.

Generic categories included cost, packaging, Concerns ranged from broad areas targeted production, and robustness and intelligence. by multiple respondents—particularly wireless A very few marked N/A and one respondent networks and automation (including electronics, simply said, “I don’t know.” robotics, vision systems, control systems, optical The diversity of the responses and the specisystems, inspection, communication, telecomm, ficity of so many of them appear to indicate a diagnostics and monitoring, remote, IT systems, wide-ranging commitment to the evolution of RFID, motion control programming, and addian array of technologies across industry. tional related categories).

There was a strong response, termed in various ways that focused on green technology, renewable energy, general efficiency, battery efficiency, and power consumption.

Many respondents targeted much more From which sectors of machinery manufacturers specific topics such as packing and labeling, do you purchase equipment? modular servo amp design, laser applicaAgricultural/Farm tions, improved control valves, leak detection,

9.2% Ceramics

5.9% safety and protective solutions, CANopen Earthmoving

4.6% networking, subsea compression, conveyor Food Technology (Processing)

21.6% belt weighers, improved data bridging, and Footwear, Leathergoods and Tanning

1.3% marking and coding systems.

Foundry and Metallurgical Machinery

13.1% There also was the occasional very speGlass 7.2% cific answer such as “automated bone in Marble and Stone 2.0% beef cutting,” a best-in-class wiper blade, and Metalworking (Machine Tools)

automaton of damaged mail recovery. And Packaging

who could argue with that respondent who Plastics and Rubber

22.2% dreamed of “idiot-proof machinery.”

Printing, Graphic and Converting

21.6% Others wished for innovation in preTextile Machinery

4.6% ventive maintenance, industrial buses, Wood

11.8% nanotechnology, graphical displays and

40.9% of the companies already have a sustainable manufacturing initiative in place.

47.1% 40.5%

What are the top challenges for your manufacturing organization?

Energy Costs

Extremely important

Very important

Somewhat important

Not very important

Not at all important

Rating average

29.4%

41.8%

26.3%

2.6%

0.0%

3.98

Labor costs

27.5%

44.4%

26.5%

1.6%

0.0%

3.98

Production costs

42.3%

51.0%

6.2%

0.5%

0.0%

4.35

Maintenance costs

28.5%

45.6%

24.4%

1.6%

0.0%

4.01

Commodity and raw material costs

30.2%

38.1%

23.3%

7.4%

1.1%

3.89

Foreign competition

18.8%

33.3%

29.2%

15.1%

3.6%

3.48

Domestic competition

23.6%

34.6%

31.9%

7.9%

2.1%

3.70

Machine uptime

34.0%

52.4%

12.0%

1.6%

0.0%

4.19

Efficiency

46.7%

47.1%

5.6%

0.5%

0.0%

4.40

Quality

57.7%

39.8%

2.6%

0.0%

0.0%

4.55

Reliability

58.6%

38.2%

2.6%

0.5%

0.0%

4.55

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green manufacturing

Italy Engineers Green Machines

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talian machinery makers are crafting more efficient machinery through resource-saving technologies and practices.

Italy boasts a rich cultural heritage in many areas, including art, science, and environmental responsibility. The latter should come as no surprise—Italy was one of the first countries to harness geothermal power, an energy resource.

industries grew by 61 percent from 1971 to 2004 and accounts for nearly one-third of today’s global energy usage and is responsible for 36 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Italy’s environmentally friendly legacy has percolated throughout its renowned manufacturing sector where companies have innovated through the development of green machines. These are machines engineered to meet today’s market demands to use less resources, save energy, and reduce pollution. The machines allow customers to help the environment and reduce operating costs. As the following examples show, the creative paths of innovation taken by Italian manufacturers of environmentally attuned and engineered systems are as varied as the fountains of Rome.

Dewatering technology from Fraccaroli e Balzan S.p.A. permits up to 90 percent of the water required during quarrying to be reused to conserve natural resources and to meet emerging regulations.

At the same time, the United States participates as a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (www.oecd.org), an organization of 30 democracies that also includes the United Kingdom and Italy.While concern about the environment underlies all of its efforts, OECD has turned its attention to the issue of manufacturing efficiency. The OECD points out that manufacturing industries account for a significant part of the world’s consumption of resources and generation of waste.Worldwide, the energy consumption of manufacturing

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Rock, water, and the environment

Fountains, geothermal springs, and even life itself are all impossible without water. Although it covers 70 percent of the earth, it is a precious resource that is gaining importance. As a result, water management throughout Europe and elsewhere is an important issue, including how it relates to quarry processes.

Europe’s Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) set requirements for the management and protection of surface water against water pollution. That was followed in early 2009 by the so-called “daughter directive” aimed at protecting groundwater.

Quarry operators have long worked to reduce the impact on the environment

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from the discharge of surface water, but under the new directive the impact on groundwater must also be assessed.

The Italian firm Fraccaroli e Balzan S.p.A. (www.fraccarolibalzan.it) is seeing a growing market for its innovative solutions for wastewater treatment in quarrying applications, particularly now that environmental legislation is becoming more rigidly enforced and per-liter taxes on water have been enacted in some countries.

Its well-proven technology was developed for use in marble quarries, but has now been broadened to an array of aggregate applications as well.These systems allow a significant portion of the water to be reused, with up to 90 percent recycling in marble quarrying applications and 80 percent in aggregates duties.

The systems are particularly important in areas where water is in short supply and its use poses additional operating costs.

In some applications and areas, recycling plants can pay for themselves within a year. For example, the Nordic Countries as well as Germany, Northern Italy, and other regions have strict enforcement of regulations on wastewater from quarrying operations. Enforcement is likely to appear elsewhere, such as Eastern Europe, in the near future.

For every cubic meter of aggregate produced, quarries need 1.5 to 2 cubic meters of water. A throughput of 2,000 to 5,000 liters/min is the most common size for a dewatering plant. The largest plant built by Fraccaroli e Balzan, in Switzerland, can handle 14,000 liters of water/min, and another 10,000 liters/ min plant has been built in Germany.

The aim of a dewatering plant is to yield more clean water and less mud.

green manufacturing

Resource-saving developments for industrial machinery from Denver s.a. include energyefficient speed control systems and simulation software to optimize machinery conditions before actual production runs.

Wastewater enters the plant and is agitated, chemicals are added, and the heavy particles sink to the bottom allowing clean water to be drawn from the top.

Sensor-equipped, programmable logic controller (PLC)-controlled presses detect when the water stops dropping out of the material under pressure and then open to let the dried cakes fall out as neutralized waste. The waste can then be used as backfill or as a sub-base for road construction. The biggest press Fraccaroli e Balzan has built has 100 plates measuring 1.5 x 1.5 meters.

The use of these filter presses to recycle process water in quarries can not only reduce operational costs at the site, but can also significantly lower the environmental risks associated with ground- and surface-water pollution.

Melding environmental and commercial interests It is the machine tool sector upon which the manufacturing industry largely depends for the means to plan, execute and commercialize products. In fact, it is the foundation of almost all production processes worldwide. Italy’s exceptional expertise in this market makes it the preferred technology partner for users around the world: It has 25 percent of the global production output and 33 percent of exports in this sector.

However, machine tool producers cannot develop solutions based on conventional designs or solely on operational consistency and flexibility. They must combine their specialized know-how with other factors to compete as problem solvers rather than as machinery suppliers.

Making production eco-compatible is one of these problems that must be solved: it is an area of ongoing entrepreneurial development that was begun in 1974 by Giancarlo Losma, founder and president of LOSMA S.p.A. (www.losma.com).

He is also president of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE (www.ucimu.it), the Association of Italian Manufacturers of machine tools, robots, automation systems, and auxiliary technologies.

LOSMA is a company specializing in air filtration and purification of industrial effluents from metalworking to meet ecological requirements inside and outside the factory.

Giancarlo Losma states, “Getting started was awful: a potential client told me,‘Thank you, but I have no use for an exhaust fan for oil vapor or liquid purifiers for my machinery. I already have thirty operators that breathe in gas and breathe out clean air...’

“Today, that would be considered an [outrageous] statement, but it captures the lack of interest, if not irritation, that had developed at that time.Yet this was a market, and a world, that needed to be educated.

Over time, environmental awareness has [proliferated] in civil and manufacturing sectors, translating my youthful ‘bet’ into an activity that is profitable and, in its small way, useful to society.”

Today, the company has subsidiaries in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain; its 2008 sales were 11.5 million Euros (approximately U.S.$16 million).

Seeking improvements in the quality of life associated with manufacturing operations has led to an “eco-industry” of companies dedicated to controlling air pollution, treating liquid effluents, managing solid waste, controlling noise and vibrations, recovering contaminated soil, and controlling pollution of the oceans.

According to studies, the ecoindustry has annual sales of 270 billion Euros (approximately U.S.$383 billion), confirming its widespread growth and importance.

Additionally, many believe that by acknowledging ecological parameters in analyzing production factors and a product’s yield over its lifecycle, companies can obtain significant advantages: in terms of efficiency, by optimizing resources; and in reducing energy consumption and therefore costs. “‘Image return’ is not to be underestimated. It makes it easier for a large company to build customer loyalty, gain credibility with public and private institutions, and retain the most qualified staff,” observes Losma. “The entrepreneur must not let the opportunity escape to blend commercial and environmental interests.

Integrated UVRay technology from Cefla Finishing Group offers in a compact system significant energy savings over conventional ultraviolet-curing methods.

Targeting ‘eco-efficiency’ is increasingly often the key to success. My company’s history attests to this.”

Environmental concerns and the recession It’s one thing to be eco-minded, it’s yet another to maintain a green outlook in the midst of an economic crisis such as the world is experiencing. Remaining on a path of sustainability can be considered particularly virtuous in today’s economy, according to managers with

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green manufacturing

Denver s.a. (www.denver.sm), a company that provides cutting and polishing machines for stone, glass, and other materials.

“Denver began producing systems for the control of the environmental quality in stone workshops. We were the first ones to produce large numbers of dust collector systems and clarifying water systems—attention to the environment is engraved in our DNA!” declares Adolfo Fabbri, Denver technical department and environmental manager. “Our machines have helped assure recyclability,

duced the concept of the monobloc sawing machine that’s easy to transport and install. All Denver products can be transported in a 40-foot container to reduce the impact on the environment.”

The company’s commitment to the environment includes its own facilities.

“The entire new facility in Gualdicciolo is cooled without the use of air conditioning systems by controlling the humidity,” states general manager Roberto Nori.“This sophisticated system produces less pollution and saves energy. This year we have also reduced drastically the use

A converting cure yields energy conservation

UVRay by Cefla Finishing Group (www.ceflafinishinggroup.com) represents state-of-the-art ultraviolet curing and offers significant energy savings compared to traditional UV ovens. A new design concept lets UVRay integrate in one module all process components: conveyor, UV lamps and an advanced PLC that controls all operations and diagnostics, with a user-friendly touch-screen programmer allowing an easy management of all functions.

“We have always believed in product and technology innoWhich of the following are most important in achieving vation of finishing lines as a key sustainable manufacturing processes? factor for sustainable manufacExtremely Very Somewhat Not very Not at all N/A Rating turing,” states Roberto Scala, important important important important important average managing director of Cefla FinDecrease energy 31.5% 40.2% 20.1% 3.3% 0.0% 4.9% 4.05 ishing Group. “Our Research consumption & Development team has a real Reduce material waste 47.6% 36.4% 8.6% 2.7% 0.0% 4.8% 4.35 focus on responsible design. Cefla Reduce rework 45.9% 36.2% 10.8% 1.1% 0.0% 5.9% 4.35 engineers work with tomorrow’s 35.4% 46.4% 12.7% 0.6% 0.0% 5.0% 4.23 Improve throughput user in mind, developing new 30.6% 35.0% 24.0% 404% 0.5% 5.5% 3.96 Reduce labor costs finishing systems with low envi19.3% 28.7% 27.1% 13.3% 4.4% 7.2% 3.49 Use of recyclable ronmental impact.” materials UVRay can provide energy40.2% 44.0% 9.2% 2.2% 0.0% 4.3% 4.28 Reduce equipment resource savings up to 30 percent downtime compared to traditional systems: 33.0% 43.8% 15.7% 2.7% 0.0% 4.9% 4.13 Improve maintenance An electronic control unit on processes transformers ensures efficient power management, enabling savings of approximately 10 More than 200 respondents to a recent Automation World survey rank the most percent when compared to a standard important factors in achieving sustainable manufacturing. solid-state supply. The electronic consimpler processes of production, less polof paper in our offices and the sending trol optimizes lamps power delivery lutants, the reduction of painting cycles of paper materials.We prefer to talk more and consumption according to manuand acoustic comfort for the operator. to our clients rather than to flood them facturing requirements and self-adjusts “We have as an option in all our with brochures, with the double goal to accordingly in the case of gaps in promachines a speed control system or consume less resources and to aim more duction. Tests on production lines show inverter,” reports Fabbri. “This device at the value of relationships.” energy savings of approximately 20 perregulates power to the electric motor What kind of results can customers cent for short runs and approximately as demand dictates, without waste. Also, expect? “Those who purchase a Denver 30 percent for long runs. cooling on our Electrospindles uses a product can verify the eco-advantages hydraulic, closed-loop system that drasin terms of smaller electric costs and Food for thought tically reduces water consumption. water requirements, ideal acoustic and Still another take on green comes from “Additionally, a software option for environmental comfort, transport cost Cavanna S.p.A. (www.cavanna.com), customers simulates the process and reduction, less waste of stone and glass which has a 49-year history in packaging optimizes machines to save marble, materials, and a drastic reduction of the machinery building. In March 2009, stone, and glass otherwise used for the costs of assembling and disassembling of the company’s exhibit at Ipack-Ima in tests. And remember that Denver introthe machinery,” concludes Nori.

Milan, Italy, promoted the slogan: “We

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green manufacturing

Where the rubber meets the road

Revolutionary flow-wrapping machinery from Cavanna S.p.A. is designed to accept earth-friendly biofilms to help make the landscape for packaged foods a greener one. are building the future of packaging.” It was, with two interrelated developments that combine to put those words into action. Cavanna has invested in the development and introduction of the Model Zero 5 Flowsonic flow wrapper.Although it resembles a conventional flow wrapper, it belies the strong environmental technology found “under the hood,” ultrasonic longitudinal sealing. The machine can accept sustainable biofilm materials, including the innovative Bioflowpack, the first high-barrier totally biodegradable and compostable flowpack introduced at the last Italian Packaging Exhibition.

It represents the cooperation of three partners: composed by Mater-Bi from Novamont S.p.A. (www.materbi.com), NatureFlex from Innovia Films (www. innoviafilms.com), printed and laminated

by Sacchital S.p.A. (www.sacchital.it), developed thanks to the ultrasonic sealing technology. A green alternative to traditional plastics, the flowpack is made up of a layer of Mater-Bi laminated to cellulose film that give the necessary high oxygen and water vapor barrier properties. It meets all technical and hygiene requirements in food packaging.This guarantees the integrity and sturdiness of the seal and provides visual appeal. It is appropriate to any kind of food, especially temperature-sensitive products that benefit from the cold contact sealing of ultrasonic technology.

Another green approach is to provide equipment with features that maximize efficiency.

Founded in 1885, COMERIO ERCOLE S.p.A. (www.comercole.it) is constantly innovating industrial processes related to the rubber, plastic, and nonwovens business. The company has developed and patented a fully hydraulic nip adjustment. Such a device has been equipped on a new calendering plant— one of the world’s largest—that produces rubber conveyor belts.

The plant is suitable for the production of both rubberized webs that compose the conveyor structure and final rubber coatings of large thickness.Advantages of the hydraulic system include: n Elimination of wear of mechanical parts and of clearances due to moving parts; n Constructive simplification and managing simplification of the required automation; n Reduction of commissioning times and of management and maintenance costs; n High roll positioning speed during recipe change; n Possibility of fast opening in case of emergency; n Highly accurate positioning; and n Protection of rolls integrity in case of particularly hard raw materials.

The company has also developed technology for its ETP family of recycling extrusion plants. This technology combines a thermoplastic matrix with filler such as rubber pieces from tire waste, thermoplastic scrap from nonwovens, mineral fibers, or up to 75 percent wood particles. The end products pro-

vide good insulation properties, a welcome feature in a time of sensitivity to energy conservation.

Colorful textile technologies turn green Eco-innovation comes in many forms and many colors besides green. Such as indigo—as in IndigoGenius, new yarn dyeing technology from MASTER S.r.l. (www.mastermacherio.it) that is used for yarn materials that produce denim fabric. Based on integrated dyeing modules, the new patented technology eliminates many typical problems of traditional dyeing technology while increasing the environmental aspects.

In addition to better operational performance, including higher dyeing yield and a process independent of external variables, IndigoGenius offers eco-centric advantages with reductions in: n The use of caustic soda and other chemicals; n The number of dye vats required; n Yarn waste; n Waste water reduction; n Electric power; and n The amount of sodium sulfite amounts in effluents.

This overview of testimonials of machinery engineering provides a taste of eco-minded Italian ingenuity. As a memory aid, consider the Italian flag, where the color of green echoes in the country’s machinery offerings to meet the demands of today’s marketplace.

Hydraulic systems manufactured by COMERIO ERCOLE S.p.A. for the rubber, plastic, and nonwovens industries are tailored to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.

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lean manufacturing

Lean Manufacturing Equals Value

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talian manufacturers who pursue efficiency through streamlined production processes and energy savings pass value on to customers through lowered costs and timely deliveries.

Forward-looking manufacturers around the world have adopted segments of lean practices. These companies consider an expenditure of resources for any goal other than creation of value for the end user to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. From a customer perspective, value is any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. Lean attempts to create more value with less work. Efficiency through the optimization of workflow is a theme throughout quality-driven Italian manufacturing facilities.

According to U.S.-based analyst Julie Fraser of Cambashi Inc., a management and marketing consultancy firm (www.cambashi.com), “Machinery and equipment has two major facets to consider for the customers. First is revenue-generating capacity and capability.

Now at this point with the volatile economy, flexibility and quick change-overs are probably more important than pure throughput for some segments. However, machines are valued based on ability to generate revenue, rememModel PULASU from OMT BIELLA S.r.l. bering that revenue right now is is a machine that cleans greasy wool both products and the information and reduces maintenance procedures required to meet environmental through an autocleaning system. regulations for the producers. And second is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) which might be commonly associated with lean—how to get value from something that has little waste. Managing costs is critical in this economy—think lean.”

A philosophy of lean OMT BIELLA S.r.l. (www.omt-biella.com) pays close attention to its internal production system in order to supply its customers with products that meet the highest standards of quality and delivery.

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Since 1963, the family-run business has designed, built and sold machines and systems used in the opening and blending of textile fibers. All the machines can be linked to create specific systems. Complete solutions are developed to design and build complex and very large systems. Customers, spread across five continents, are characterized by the company as seekers of highquality machinery, generally demanding and never satisfied with run-of-the-mill equipment.

The production philosophy values the lean manufacturing model, characterized by tools aimed at achieving a pull system in production management. (“Pull” in lean production is a response to the pull, or demand, of the customer.) Concurring with the belief that a reduction of waste leads to an increase in profits, OMT BIELLA embraces lean.

Among their methods is an in-house self-governing laser cutting system that operates on a 24/7 capacity.

Operation is also for third parties. It allows OMT BIELLA to obtain, in very short time periods, all the carpentry work necessary for machines designed and constructed according to its technical drawings.

Collaboration and harmony among employees (credited to knowledge-sharing), and the effort made by each employee to maintain a clean, efficient workplace, adhering to the 5S method, represents the best way to prevent errors.

The workplace organization method 5S uses a list of five Japanese words which, transliterated and translated into English, start with the letter S—a mnemonic for a methodology often incorrectly characterized as “standardized cleanup.” But it is more than cleanup. 5S is a philosophy and way of organizing and managing workspace to improve efficiency by eliminating waste, improving flow and reducing process unevenness.

According to the Japanese interpretation, this is a poka-yoke or foolproof approach. The term means fail-safing or mistake-proofing. Poka-yoke is any mechanism in a lean manufacturing process that helps an operator to avoid (yokeru) mistakes (poka). Its purpose is to eliminate defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors.

lean manufacturing

Customization Supports Success

The Delta VacMap flow-wrapper from ILAPAK Group S.p.A. allows manufacturers to produce high-quality flow-wrap packs with the same shelf life as thermoformed packs at lower cost.

During the worldwide economic crisis, it is not easy to level the work load of the production cell (Heijunka), but following guidelines of Kaizen (improvement), OMT BIELLA intends to equip its lasercutting department with a robot to provide new energy to its alreadysuccessful Takt Time system (Takt is the German word for the baton that an orchestra conductor uses to regulate the speed, beat or timing at which musicians play).

One example of the many Italian companies that continually grow throughout a variety of customer bases is Jobs S.p.A. (www.jobs.it). Founded in 1978, the company makes high-power, 5-axis highspeed milling machines and automated milling systems. Jobs products and solutions are widely employed by manufacturing industries worldwide.

Jobs offers complete integration for new production systems into existing ones, maximizing return on investment, particularly in the aerospace industry, for customers such as Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier Aerospace, and Alenia Aeronautica.

In the broad fields of aerospace, composites, molds and dies, and energy and general engineering, Jobs understands that dedicated automation means productivity and flexibility and the fulfillment of manufacturing strategies for an array of dissimilar customers. Targeting total customer satisfaction, a team of Jobs technicians develop customized and, when required, highly engineered solutions up to the supply of turnkey plants.

Italian machine tool technology equates to lower costs According to UCIMU-SISEMI PER PRODURRE (www. ucimu.it), the Italian Machine Tools, Robots and Automation Manufacturers’ Association, American users are well aware of the high quality of Italian machine tools. The Association reports that from 2003 to 2008, the number of Italian machine tools exported to the U.S. increased by 44 percent.

The question comes to mind: Are manufacturers becoming more aware of the impact that new machinery technology has on the cost of their products?

Fast-growing ILAPAK Group S.p.A. (www.ilapak.com) manufactures industrial wrapping machinery for primary packaging and specializes in high-quality packaging machinery produced in Nova Milanese and Arezzo, Italy, as well as Lugano, Switzerland.

ILAPAK solutions minimize food manufacturers’ cost-per-pack, whatever the style and level of pack presentation. The company’s emphasis on innovative technology and equipment, great service, low energy and material consumption leads to this goal.

Lean manufacturing, more than just a set of guidelines, becomes the workplace lifestyle in outstanding plants. ILAPAK puts energy-saving features into its machines—greater thermal efficiency of sealing jaws and rollers and energy recuperation systems in motor drives.

Reliability is built in through use of high-quality, commercially available electronic components, a user-friendly HMI to minimize operator error, a control platform capable of web connection to allow remote monitoring and software to predict component failures.

A 5-axis milling machine from Jobs S.p.A. about ready for shipment.

Producing many multifunctional modules, accessories and special equipment provides the simplest answers to different production strategies of customers companies.

Jobs customer Mickey Guckian is the CAD CAM manager at Century Tool & Gage (www.centurytool.com), compression mold builders, a shop with 65 employees in Michigan. He explains, “We’ve been using Jobs since 1991. We have three styles of their equipment—Jobs 23, 5-axis gantry mill lighter duty machine for cut run board, finished steel and aluminum, all finished cutting; we’re very happy with that equipment. Then we have Jobs 245 heavy duty gantry mill, 3-axis roughing head, 5-axis power head, 5 axis-high-speed electro spindle head, 15,000 Continued on page 16

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lean manufacturing

Continued from page 15 rpm, which we found was very good for what we needed.

We run two 12-hour shifts. And in 2002 we got our first LinX high-speed finished machine, more specialized. We run them all. We got a second LinX three years ago. The linear LinX is accurate, very fast; it can get a job done that normally takes eight to ten days in just two to three days.”

As the relationship developed, there were visits back and forth between Italy and Michigan, as Jobs was planning to move from its nearby U.S. facility. Century offered them space, where they are located today.

Guckian, who has been with Century Tool for 25 years, adds, “We help them by bringing people through to see their machines in operation. It’s been a really good relationship. And if we need them, they are right here to help us out.”

The company’s experience, gained through hundreds of installations in various production contexts, is collected in its Customer Application Support. Customers can interact with a group of skilled technicians who can study “tailored” solutions, from technological consultancy, to the analysis of optimized machining processes to the complete definition of the production system: the machine, the fixture, the tools and technological parameter optimization for all machining.

With tens of thousands of machines installed worldwide, another global leader, COMEZ S.p.A. (www.comez.com) works with U.S., Canadian, Chinese and Mexican agencies and subsidiaries.

The manufacturer of crochet knitting machines, weaving needle looms and warp knitting machines used in the production of a range of narrow fabrics such as laces, ribbons and bands, technical textiles, fancy yarns, and fabrics for outerwear, the company is closely linked to the business of its end-users. COMEZ participates in research along with customers and collaborates to determine the best finishing processes.

The company provides training courses for customers, as well as technology exchanges with end-users. The lessons learned during those exchanges drive COMEZ to continuously modify and integrate new products. Depending on the articles produced and yarn specifications, special devices and/or accessories are applied to basic machines.

Customization is a key component of its business as COMEZ produces made-to-order equipment according to users’ needs. Consultant services for studies and projects target the production of narrow fabrics.

Assessments by company experts also help users to expand production and competitively break into varied textile sectors, both traditional and innovative.

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“In the business world it’s the results that count,” says Luciano Sottile, CEO of ILAPAK Group.“ILAPAK only has a future if we can add value to our customers and help them to be successful. Our philosophy of lowest cost per pack encompasses a consistent approach that we are taking to our products, services and organization which has one single objective—to improve the bottom line of our customers’ Profit and Loss accounts.”

50 percent more throughput The new Delta VacMap flow-wrapper from ILAPAK lets manufacturers produce attractive, high-quality flow-wrap packs that provide the same shelf life as thermoformed packs at lower cost. Usable with all bakery and fresh food products, the patented unit has a 3-in-1 packaging solution—flow-wrap, modified atmosphere (MAP) and VacMap—in one efficient machine to substantially reduce production costs.

The high-performance, horizontal, form, fill and seal (HFFS) flow-wrapper puts vacuum and MAP packaging into one machine. In-line vacuum systems extract trapped pockets of oxygen from inside the product, particularly spongy bakery goods, to maintain freshness.

This results in a comparable The ultrasonic longitudinal sealing shelf-life to thermoforming but on HFFS machines from ILAPAK it’s more economical and efficient.

Group S.p.A. seal wet film, which Features include high throughput, has been in contact with wet fast product size changes, ease of wipes, at higher speeds. use, reduced material and labor costs, fully automatic feeding and high-quality pack presentation.

Manufacturers easily switch formats; if requirements change from an ambient product to a one requiring greater shelf life, they can quickly meet that demand and maintain full capacity.

Automatic product feeding means reduced labor. Changeovers are so quick that line disruption is minimal. VacMap achieves up to 50 percent greater throughput than typical thermoforming machines and reduces the cost of packaging material. For higher volume manufacturers, there are enormous financial and environmental benefits.

ILAPAK provides ultrasonic sealing technology on form fill and seal packaging machinery. This results in a molecular bond between thermoplastic materials created by mechanically-generated acoustic waves of specific amplitude and frequency.

Tangible benefits in flexible packaging are improved seal quality, lower energy consumption and reduced down-time, as well as a reduction in product waste.

Saving time, eliminating waste, meeting deadlines and streamlining across the enterprise comprises lean philosophy. As supported by Italian manufacturers, lean concepts change the face of modern manufacturing and create successful businesses.

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italy field report: lean

OEMs Find a Way To Get Lean

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ean manufacturing remains an impornew spraying mechanisms, they were able to track tant and often discussed topic. For a pieces of leather through the process and reduce machine builder, lean can work two the amount of paint going into the air by almost ways. One is internally, that is, the two-thirds. way a company designs and builds machines.

Another industry that faces challenges of The other lies in the work of the machines for applying ink to a substrate is converting—coating customers. The essence of lean manufacturing is and laminating materials for eventual use in the the elimination of waste. Machine builders find packaging industry. Nordmeccanica S.p.A. a number of creative ways to eliminate waste in (www.nordmeccanica.com) is an original equipthe build process and for customers. ment manufacturer (OEM) in that market and has The Italian tanning and leather working industry also taken a look at how to apply ink to the mateis located in a broad valley in the northwestern rials feeding through its machines. Pigments usupart of the country. Tanning can be a smelly and ally need a fluid base for application, and solvents polluting industry. Although there is no evidence were the traditional answer. But solvents involve of that fact now, 30 years ago the river flowing overspray, drying ovens and unsafe fumes. Nordthrough the valley was so polluted that no one conmeccanica uses a technology that they refer to as sidered fishing from it. Through the concentrated similar to super glue, that is, two components of the efforts of the companies in the valley, the river is no pigment are mixed right at the point of application. longer polluted and fishing is once again popular.

Not only does this eliminate the solvent problem, The market for leather has changed drastically but it also eliminates hot air blowers that use a lot of over the past ten years as shoe manufacturing has mostly migrated to China. The United States remains an important market for leather working machines, though, because of the automotive and aircraft industries. Leather seat covers wear better and are easier to keep clean than alternative materials. Italian leather working machine manufacturers maintain close ties with their customers in order to help them be competitive.

One source of waste and pollution can be found in leather finishing. It’s no surprise that engineers have studied ways to apply dies and dry the leather as efficiently as possible in order to cut out all possible waste. The engineers at Gemata S.p.A. (www.gemata.it), for example, looked at the way machines had been built to spray the pigment resulting in clouds Explaining a roller pigment application machine at Gemata of overspray and runoff.They perfected a roller technology that applies pigment only to the leather energy.The result is a leaner energy profile. with no waste. It works well with newer pigments Transportation can be another source of waste— that are water-based rather than the more environespecially if you are shipping a lot of air.The conmentally unfriendly solvents. verting lines that Nordmeccanica makes when Engineers at Erretre S.r.l.(www.erretre.it), packaged would include a lot of wasted space in another company in the same area of the “tanthe shipping containers. It is solving that problem ning valley,” took a different approach in order by establishing an assembly operation in Shanghai, to achieve the same lean objective. By designing China. This greatly reduces shipping costs.

Italy as a country is one of the largest exporters of machines to the United States.

In July 2009, Gary Mintchell, Editor in Chief, Automation World magazine, joined a small group of editors who toured many builders of these machines from various industries.

Information from the visits was compiled into his series of Italy Field Reports.

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sustainable manufacturing

Sustainability a High Priority

for Italian Manufacturers Who Deliver Innovation

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ustainability affects diverse areas, such as agriculture, industry, or even society as a whole. Sustainability is the capability of complex systems to maintain themselves over time. Manufacturers attempt to operate sustainable production lines, to work without creating unnecessary waste products and, when possible, to recycle.

Interest in resource-saving, environment-protective practices abounds in the United States, including proactive moves by the government. The U.S. Dept of Commerce (DOC) has defined sustainable manufacturing as the creation of manufactured products that use processes that minimize negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, are safe for employees, communities, and consumers and are economically sound.

The DOC Manufacturing & Services unit has launched a Sustainable Manufacturing Initiative (www.manufacturing.gov/sustainability) and Public-Private Dialogue to identify American industry’s most pressing sustainable manufacturing challenges and coordinate public and private sector efforts to address these challenges.

Saving forests Always a strong advocate of sustainability, the Italian company PAL S.r.l. (www.pal.it) leads in the treatment of recycled wood, a business started in 1982 (with escalation of fresh wood prices), installing plants first in Italy and later worldwide.

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PAL, founded in 1978, fabricates machines to treat and process fresh and recycled wood for particleboard (PB), medium density fiberboard (MDF) and oriented strand board (OSB) panels used in the production of pellets and biomass preparation for energy plants.

With more than 3,600 machines at work worldwide, PAL has installations

plants, PAL machinery improves movement of material enormously, from the first volumetric reduction, through separation, classification, and finally through cleaning wood chips and biomasses from agricultural sources.

The excellent size separation obtained from using the latest-generation roller graders and new technology to select and classify by density, even when extrafine fractions are needed, allows use of these materials with an extremely high and constant energy yield.

The PAL Crusher Tiger easily digests all urban forest material, bulky or pre-crushed.

Infeed bulky material goes into PAL machines that are insensitive to pollutants such as stones, plastics or glass. in approximately 20 North American plants. The largest U.S. customers include SierraPine, Flakeboard and Louisiana Pacific Corporation.

As a leader on the wood-based panel market with a range of machinery, PAL supplies turnkey solutions for wood panels, pellets and energy production, including products from the log yard to the forming-pressing line: feeding, chipping, crushing, extracting, screening, cleaning, sifting and desanding systems.

For feeding lines of energy production

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In North and Central Europe, North America, Brazil and elsewhere, while more trees are being planted than ever before, the cost of obtaining those resources, as well as environmental issues, have caused most companies to look for options. The only proven option is urban waste wood (urban forests), of which most is attractively priced and, in some areas, can be collected free of charge.

In 1986, expertise acquired in chips cleaning enabled PAL to become the

sustainable manufacturing

first company to produce integrated recycling systems for urban wood waste.

With more than 200 plants that recycle any variety of urban forest worldwide, PAL leads the market.

The company recently entered the field of biomass energy production with the supply of large-capacity plants to big multinational groups. Its treatment of wood biomasses in wet areas includes: n Moving/loading/unloading systems; n Machinery for the first volumetric reduction; n Machinery for the separation of ferrous and non-ferrous metals; n Separation with roller graders which accurately select differing fractions; n Dry cleaners to remove pollutants; n Machinery for the second volumetric reduction; and n Gravitational and centrifugal separators to clean and separate fine particles.

In energy production plants, a key requirement is regular/uniform medium-fine particles so that fuel can be introduced into a burner at a constant rate, as well as the production of heat from the immediate combustion of the particles, and the consequent optimization of the average yield of the system. Excellent selection and elimination of heavy contaminants from the process without the use of water, but with efficient dry cleaning systems, is therefore essential. By means of its Centrifugal Cleaner and gravitational selectors, PAL guarantees effective removal of the finest silica.

New patented systems include a newgeneration Air Chip Cleaner designed to clean the recycling wood chip with more than 95 percent efficiency; a Desander developed from the simple and essential idea to save energy and maintenance costs in plants by removing silica/fine pollutants from the dust fraction; and Metal Killer, an innovative machine to replace old equipment for metal removal that separates mechanically (very low power consumption), in

only one stage, all kinds of metals such as iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper and brass from the wood chip flow.

These machines are included in the Cleaning Tower, the system for cleaning recycling chips, which offers low content of wood particles in reject fractions; wood saving by cleaning the very fine fraction; reduced installation footprint; reduced absorbed power to 5-6 kW/ton; reduced maintenance costs; and low investment with higher, long-lasting performance

Saving resources Sacmi Imola S.C. (www.sacmi.com) is a leading designer and producer of industrial technologies and systems, specializing in machines and complete plants for ceramics, beverage and packaging, processing and plastics.

Sacmi introduces its 7500-ton ceramic tile press.

A company-wide commitment to sustainability is reflected in Sacmi’s H.E.R.O. program.

Reduced availability of traditional energy sources and increases in cost make it vital for strategic development to identify the best way of managing production processes and optimizing resources. To meet this need, in environmental and economic terms, Sacmi founded H.E.R.O., High Efficiency Resource Optimiser.

This study and research laboratory is dedicated to developing innovative technologies for achieving the greatest possible resource savings in every phase of the production process. Special applications developed as part of the H.E.R.O. project enable energy consumption of the main machine in the installation to be reduced by more than 20 percent on average.The economic benefits are reflected in company profits from the first year of application, as part of a strategy of respect for the environment and constant raising of quality standards.

As another facet of sustainability, Sacmi documents its social responsibility in the form of a Social Audit, drawn up in compliance with GBS-Gruppo Bilancio Sociale accounting practices. The audit is divided into three theme areas: identity, added value, and social interaction.

On the environmental protection front, Sacmi adopted a management system per ISO 14001, integrating it with VISION 2000 and OHSAS 1801 worker safety quality systems. Among the company’s strategic environmental policy goals are correct disposal and recycling of waste, emissions control and water purification.

Saving waste products

Sacmi’s U.S. customers include giant corporations like Pepsi Cola, as well as businesses in specialized industries in compression molding technology— Silgan, Kerr, and Rexam—and others in ceramics, including American Marazzi, Dal-Tile Corp. and Florim USA. A large low-impact, high-efficiency press (7,500 tons) was recently delivered to Crossville Ceramics in Tennessee.

The search continues for new materials with different characteristics and new properties. Thus technical textiles have increasingly gained ground, often replacing traditional textiles and creating new applications. The main driver is the need to respond to worldwide demands to cut production costs, increase energy efficiency, embrace environmentally friendly materials, and boost operating flexibility of machinery and equipment.

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sustainable manufacturing

Sorema introduces the PRH model with interchangeable parts for the recycling industry.

Lap Formair is a new airlaying system from Cormatex. A range of samples can be achieved by using different types of raw materials.

Cormatex S.r.l. (www.cormatex.it) has been manufacturing textile machinery for the Italian and international markets since 1938 with an emphasis to reduce costs through sustainability.

For woollen spinning in areas such as fine yarns for knitting products, by using valuable fibers such as cashmere, angora and camel hair, either pure and/ or blended with fine wool fibers, Cormatex can supply turnkey solutions for wool deburring, cashmere dehairing, fiber opening and blending, plus complete woollen spinning lines.

For nonwoven machinery, the company offers fiber preparation systems, card-feeding systems, cards and crosslappers, an innovative airlay system, and cutting and winding-up systems, developing comprehensive technical solutions for needle-punching, thermobonding and airlaying lines.

One machine, many applications Flexible production equipment allows manufacturers to diversify their products with relatively small investment, leading to mass customization and quick changeovers.

Cormatex applied these principles when it vigorously channelled efforts into R&D, leading to the development of its new patented system Lap Formair.

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The low investment and operating cost result from a process based on a purely aerodynamic principle. Lower production costs are realized due to high output rates (over 2,000 kg/h), plus high production flexibility due to the absence of carding units and other mechanical components. The high quality of the end product is guaranteed by a state-of-the-art pressure control system that allows formation of laps with a weight inferior to 200 grams per square meter and with control of lap density uniformity.

Lap FormAir is designed for three types of industrial users—manufacturers of airlaid nonwovens, manufacturers of traditional nonwovens, and manufacturers of textiles in segments other than nonwovens.

Excellent performance levels make it possible to process all types of raw materials, fibrous or not. Features such as use of air for the transport and condensation of the material, in the use of a particular method for controlling air pressure inside the condensation chamber, and in the absence of carding units or other mechanical components, play into a primary sustainability goal to add value to poor raw material and wastes of other textile processes.

Lap FormAir was tested with highly heterogeneous blends, where fiber traditionally used in manufacturing of nonwovens was replaced partially or completely with low-quality natural fibers—sugarcane, coconut, recycled cotton, recycled jute hemp and flax, raw hemp, paper and cardboard, low-density polyurethane waste or even waste from other industrial processes (carding, carpet production cuttings, and certain textile finishing processes) not normally used in textile production.

Saving plastics With more than 30 years in the recycling industry, a Sorema division of Previero N. S.r.l. (www.sorema.it) seeks high efficiency at high capacities. The company, which specializes in turnkey recycling lines, leads in the design, construction and installation of recycling lines for plastic material.

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Its more than 280 installations worldwide offer solutions for post-industrial, post-consumer and agriculture polymers including PET/HDPE bottles, PE film and others. Its goal is to foster continuous technical progress to optimize process cost and cushion the environmental impact of recycling lines.

The latest innovation in wet grinding modules is Previero’s double-scissor PRH series, which features total interchangeable wearing parts, a boon for interchangeability of parts subject to wear applicable to all grinders with rotors of blade lengths of 1200-1600 and 2000 mm. Wet grinding is essential in PET bottles and PE film washing lines with a double function: material granulation and removal of contamination through strong mechanical friction on material surfaces.

The PRH series includes high-quality construction material, over-dimensioned bearings with external supports, an absence of water loss in cutting chambers for clean working conditions, nickel plating of the cutting chamber, and wedge blocking of pre-adjusted blades for a quick changing and side-anti-wear disks.

Sorema seeks high efficiency at high capacities. Customers benefit with minimized labor, flexible feedstock selection, higher prices for end products, the use of large quantities of recycled material, and realizing the high performance of plastic products containing or made of recycled materials.

Today the adoption of sustainable practices influences many areas across the manufacturing spectrum. Where innovation is the goal, Italian manufacturers can deliver responsible action that is required to preserve natural resources and human resources around the world.

italy field report: sustainability

Engineers Seek Emerging Technologies To Fuel Growth

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achine builders must be experts on both machine design and on the materials and products they process. If their engineers can keep up with current thinking in these areas, then the companies stand a good chance of winning in today’s hyper-global competitive environment. A recent tour of several Italian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) provided an opportunity to see how they accomplish this.

A recurring theme from most of the OEMs visited in early July 2009 was “The Crisis.” The global economic downturn was affecting almost all areas of the economy. But Comez S.p.A. (www.comez.com), a textile machinery manufacturer specializing in spinning, weaving, finishing and knitting machines, viewed this situation as an opportunity to prepare for future sales growth.

Or, as Administrative Director Paolo Banfi put it quoting from the Apostle Paul, “We delight in our weakness, because in our weakness is our strength.”

The company’s innovation foundation is an electric servo motion control system that can withstand the dust and humidity of typical textile manufacturing. This invention complemented nicely the major industry trend of moving to an electronic machine control that greatly speeds up set up time versus the original mechanical setup. Engineers have also developed a smaller, cheaper jacquard knitting machine than can be found on the market currently.

This positions Comez for growth in a new area.

When you buy a package at the store, you might think about how they stuff the product into the package. But someone must make the flexible materials that compose the package.

Nordmeccanica S.p.A. (www.nordmeccanica. com) makes machines that coat and laminate layers of plastic, films, foil and paper from which the pretty package is constructed. Showing how machine companies need to know customers’ materials as well as how to make a machine, it invented coating materials and processes to eliminate alcohol by applying a dry pigment. Not

only does this eliminate handling evaporating solvent, it also eliminates hot air blowers that use a lot of electricity. Engineers at Nordmeccanica have now applied themselves to developing a new 3-ply laminate machine.

Sacmi Imola S.C. (www. sacmi.com) builds machines for four different markets—packaging, plastics (both injection and compression molding), vision and A new machine from Comez for Jacquard knitting. ceramics. Engineers there developed an “electronic nose” that is a special semiconductor that changes resistance relative to the atmosphere around it. The device can be trained to distinguish smells. It can even distinguish from among four different flavors of vanilla ice cream.

Not only is this useful for its work with food products, an outdoor version can sense bad odors A Nordmeccanica in the environment. coating/ laminating Pietro Carnaghi S.p.A. (www.pietrocarnaghi. machine just about it) designs and manufactures very large vertical ready for shipment. lathes. These lathes machine large parts for the aerospace industry—for example the nose cone Italy as a country of a Boeing Delta IV rocket. But aerospace is not is one of the a stable market, and the company kept a lookout largest exporters for emerging trends where its capabilities would be of machines to the a competitive advantage. It found this in the burUnited States. geoning alternative energy market—specifically In July 2009, Gary wind turbines. A recent development in wind turMintchell, Editor in bine design replaces a turbine/gearbox combinaChief, Automation tion with a direct-drive generator that reduces parts World magazine, and potential maintenance issues. These parts are a joined a small group of editors perfect fit for its machining technology. who toured many With 50 installations in the United States, Pietro builders of these Carnaghi considers it to be an important market machines from even though it now exports machines worldwide. various industries.

Providing troubleshooting assistance for globally Information from the dispersed machines presents its own challenges, so visits was compiled it has adopted Internet technologies for helping into his series of customers maintain and fix their automation in a Italy Field Reports. fast and efficient manner.

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awards promote education

The Italian Packaging and Woodworking Machinery Industries

Host North American Students

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ward programs grant North American students trips to see the latest Italian innovations in the machinery sectors for packaging and woodworking.

This year, in order to foster continuing education in the packaging and woodworking industries, the Italian Trade Commission (ITC) (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 Italian machinery and technology for the industries of packaging and woodworking.

These two Italian industries are The 2009 noted for holding significant global IPTA Student market shares. Italian packaging Winners are: machinery manufacturers provide one Kathleen Kirsch, Michigan out of every four machines worldState University (www.msu. wide. Italian woodworking machinery edu); Lizanel Feliciano, ranked second in exporting woodOhio State University (www. osu.edu); Erin Hoppee, working machinery and technologies University of Wisconsin-Stout to worldwide customers. (www.uwstout.edu); Emily The Eighth Italian Packaging Clark, Rochester Institute Technology Awards (IPTA) orgaof Technology (www.rit. nized via the ITC Chicago Office, edu); Matt Baker, Clemson in collaboration with UCIMA – University (www.clemson.

Italian Packaging Machinery Manuedu); JD Howard, California facturers Association (www.ucima.

Polytechnic State University it) and the Institute of Packaging (www.calpoly.edu); Karleigh Professionals (IoPP, www.IoPP.org), Huff, Virginia Tech (www. awarded the winners a two-week trip vt.edu); and Nicholas (June 5-20) to visit leading Italian Crookston, University of companies in the packaging industry.

Florida (www.ufl.edu).

This program began with a writing The 2009 IWTA Student competition open to select North Winners are: American universities with strong Christopher Mihalcheon, packaging engineering curriculums.

Richard Hewitt, Andrew Students were asked to write a paper Pershin, and Alex Pearson on technical innovations within the all top graduates from packaging industry. the University of British For the Italian Woodworking Columbia (www.ubc.ca).

Technology Awards (IWTA), organized via the ITC Toronto Office (http://www.italtrade.com/countries/americas/canada_en) in collaboration with ACIMALL (Italian Woodworking Machinery and Tools Manufacturers Association, www.acimall.com)

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offered students of the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP, www.cawp.ubc.ca) at the University of British Columbia an opportunity for a week-long (July 6-12) experience. The participants for the trip were all top graduates from CAWP. Accompanied by professors and representatives from ITC and its Machines Italia division (www.machinesitalia.org), the students were able to see in person how Italian manufacturers excelled in these sectors of machinery and equipment. Visits to the companies fostered discussions on the current challenges and opportunities offered within these industries. These discussions were a big hit with the students and the professors.

This year the IPTA tour featured a wide range of machinery types: blister packaging and capsule fillers for the pharmaceutical industry, tea and coffee packaging lines, flow-wrappers for the food industry, wrapping and bundling machines for the paper industry and end-of-line packaging systems.

The IWTA tour focused on machinery dealing with: five-axis CNC machining, panel saws, boring, planning, and mortising machines, along with a visit to a high-end chair and sofa manufacturer, who currently supplies their products to the Kremlin.

A ceremony presenting the 2009 IPTA winners will take place during the Pack Expo Las Vegas 2009 Show. At the same event, the 2010 IPTA program, including guidelines and specifications, will be announced. Many of the IPTA winning students have already had professional experiences through co-ops in leading global companies including Campbell Soup, General Mills and the National Food Laboratory.

The IPTA tour offered this year’s participants opportunities to see the latest in Italian packaging machinery at the following companies: MG2 S.r.l. (www.mg2.it), I.M.A. S.p.A. (www.ima. it), Sacmi Imola S.C. (www.sacmi.com), Marchesini Group S.p.A. (www.marchesini.com), CFT Packaging S.p.A. (www. cftpackaging.eu), Cavanna S.p.A. (www.cavanna.com), SMI Group (www.smigroup.it), and Imball S.r.l. (www.imball.it).

The IWTA tour included the following manufacturers: Balestrini Renzo S.p.A. (www.balestrini.com), Pade S.a.s. (www.pade.it), Greda S.n.c. (www.greda.it), Griggio S.p.A. (www.griggio.com) and Galimberti Lino S.n.c. (www.galimbertilino.it).

For more information on these programs and for the latest woodworking and packaging technologies from Italy, please contact the Italian Trade Commission via its Machines Italia division at 888-ITALTRADE or via email info@italtradeusa.com.

sponsoring innovation

Italian Innovation in the Spotlight

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achines Italia takes “Turning innovation into productivity” on the road to major North American events.

If 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 a featured participant and/or sponsor of major industry events. Over the course of 2009/2010, Machines Italia will or is planning to appear at the events listed in the box at right.

To strengthen global competitiveness within the manufacturing industry, these events will include presentations on technological advances within the industry and instructional workshops on best practices.

Machines Italia will be at these events to reveal the latest in Italian mechanical innovation, representing its partner associations and companies.

An example of such collaboration will be at the Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show taking place in Toronto, (October 19-22, 2009). Machines Italia together with UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, are two of the proud sponsors and participants at the show. At the show together with the show’s organizer, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), they will be hosting a number of technical presentations on the latest and most innovative technologies in the metalworking industry from Italy, bearing the Made in Italy label.

Major Event Highlights Take advantage of these events by attending Machines Italia’s presentations. n The World Business Forum: “The Future of Global Manufacturing: Turning Innovation into Productivity.” Machines Italia will hold an exclusive C-Level executive luncheon featuring Ambassador Umberto Vattani, president of the Italian Trade Commission, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, FEDERMACCHINE’s president, Dr. Alberto Sacchi, and Italy’s National Council of the Economy and Labour, Prof. Antonio Marzano, among others. n The Machines Italia / Newsweek Manufacturing Summits. Machines Italia invitation-only event for leading C-Level North American executives will feature the publication’s top editors and noted Italian industrialists to address key concerns facing manufacturing today and tomorrow.

Machines Italia representatives and partner Italian machinery manufacturers associations will be at the events to help you identify the best Italian solution providers to meet your unique production needs.

Visitors to Machines Italia’s booth will access information on the world’s most skilled engineers, designers and manufacturers, who have been inventing or retooling productivityenhancing systems for decades. Representatives will be available to respond to your needs or point you towards appropriate materials, including case histories, industry white papers, news, and testimonials on how Italian solution providers are keeping North American manufacturers both productive and competitive.

As Machines Italia frequently adds additional events and conferences to its roster, please remember to visit the event websites or contact our offices at info@italtradeusa.com or 888-ITALTRADE (482-5872) for more information.

Calendar of North American Events Pack Expo Las Vegas/ Process Expo October 5th - 7th, 2009 Las Vegas, Nevada www.packexpo.com

World Business Forum October 6th – 7th, 2009 New York, New York www.wbfny.com

Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show 2009 October 19th – 22nd, 2009 Toronto, Canada www.sme.org/

Machines Italia / Newsweek Manufacturing Summits November (dates TBA) Toronto, Canada and Chicago, Illinois

OESA - Original Equipment Suppliers Association’s 2009 Outlook Conference and 11th Annual Meeting of Members November 9th (and 10th), 2009 *TBD Detroit, Michigan www.oesa.org

Farm Equipment Wholesalers Association - Agricultural & Industrial Manufacturers Representatives Association (FEWA-AIMRA) 2009 Fall Convention & Industry Showcase November 4th - 7th, 2009 Atlanta, Georgia www.fewa-aimra.org

AG Connect Expo January 13th -15th, 2010 Orlando, Florida www.agconnect.com

Covering 2010 April 27th – 30th, 2010 Orlando, Florida www.coverings.com

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news

Italian companies consider Ontario for business opportunities The 49-person business delegation from Italy was headed by Lombard’s president Roberto Formigoni and took part in an event hosted by the Ontario government to promote its investment advantages. It was held at the province’s state-of-the-art Ontario Investment and Trade Centre (OITC).

“Lombardy and Ontario (www.ontariocanada.com) bear striking similarities,” noted Minister of International Trade and Investment Sandra Pupatello in an address to a business delegation from the northern Italian province a few months ago. “Both jurisdictions are the economic engines of their countries, with a highly skilled work force, and an innovative economy.”

In her opening remarks, Minister Pupatello noted that Ontario is one of the fastest-growing jurisdictions in the industrial world and among North America’s top three financial services hubs (Toronto), surpassed only by New York and Chicago, as well as being ranked in the top three North American manufacturing jurisdictions by employment (after Texas and California).

Alesamonti S.r.l. (www.alesamonti.com), Astir S.r.l. (www.astir.com), Cargo Clay S.r.l. (www.cargoclay.com) and TE.M.A. S.r.l. (www.temaitaly.com) were among the Italian companies participating in the Ontario business tour.

Gefran renews emphasis in North America Eric Kirleis joined Winchester, Mass.-based Gefran Inc. in January as general manager. The company is the North American subsidiary of Gefran S.p.A. (www.gefran.com) in Italy, which recorded sales of an estimated U.S.$160 million last year.

Nine production sites worldwide employ 900 people.

The Italian company is renewing an emphasis in North America, according to Alfredo Sala, chief executive officer of Gefran S.p.A.. He says, “We see major opportunities for Gefran in this market, particularly in the area of automation control systems.”

According to Kirleis, North American sales are around U.S.$15 million to U.S.$18 million; 50 people are employed in the U.S., where the company makes sensors, pressure transducers, thermocouples and other melt pressure products, as well as linear position sensors. Drive and motion control products such as servodrives, inverters, converters and positioning motors are manufactured in Charlotte, N.C. Other products made at both facilities include components for automation—operator interface panels, controllers, timers, alarm units, remote input/output terminals.

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Italian TPE producer opens Mexican factory SO.F.TER S.p.A. (www.Softerspa.com) announces the opening of a $5 million production facility in Mexico.The venture is part of a plan for the thermoplastic elastomer and engineering plastics compounder to expand its activities in the South American market into the automotive and appliance sectors.

Located in Leon, the 10,000-metric-tonper-year plant will increase Mexican capacity by 50 percent. The facility comprises offices, laboratory and production facilities.The company has operated a TPE production unit in Leon for the local footwear industry since 2006.

SO.F.TER Mexico is one of two overseas subsidiaries (the other is in Brazil) of the parent company which is located in Forli, Italy, with estimated annual sales of U.S. $126 million, and a total global production capacity of around 150,000 metric tons.

According to SO.F.TER general manager and chairman Luigi Carfagnini, the company will be able “to seize new opportunities in the manufacturing sector,” particularly in the automotive and appliance industries.

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Teknoweb S.r.l. opens U.S. plant Teknoweb S.r.l. (www.teknowebsrl. com) and Triune Consulting Services, Inc., Monroe, Ga., have opened a North American facility.

Teknoweb NA, located in suburban Atlanta, offers sales, service, spare parts and commercial support for all Teknoweb machines for the production of wet wipes, wet gloves and custom products.

Additional support is available for the wet wipes machines previously produced by Fameccanica.

Data S.p.A (www.famec canica.eu), which have been licensed to Teknoweb since 2006.

The facility comprises 6000 square feet of office and warehouse space plus space for a new Teknoweb Futura wipes machine to be installed early in 2010. It will be available shortly after that for demonstration, trials and product development for North American customers.

news

Intermac and Biesse Canada open new facility

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ntermac Glass & Stone Division and Biesse Wood Division Canada (www. biesseamerica.com)—both part of the Biesse Group (www.biessegroup.com) have recently completed their move into new Canadian headquarters in Mirabel, QC, northwest of Montreal, and will mark the occasion by providing a three-day open house event for their customers.

The event takes place from October 28 to 30 and will run all day each day.An official ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on October 28th and will feature notable local public figures.

Canadian customers are invited to visit and take part in the festivities that will include live machine and software demonstrations. Refreshments will be served and experts will be on hand to answer customer questions about company technology.

Construction began in October 2008, and the new 25,000-square foot structure contains nearly 6,000 square feet of space dedicated for offices and meeting and training rooms. Green building approaches have been incorporated into the design—the liberal use of glass will let in abundant sunlight and improve energy efficiency by lessening the need for electric lighting.

The design keeps with that of the surrounding buildings and is primarily of brick, steel, and glass. Inside, a 6,000 square foot showroom allows for year-round live demonstrations of machinery. The building features a 13,000-square foot, 8-ton craned warehouse.

Biesse continues to maintain a 6,200-square foot facility in Toronto, which includes a 5,050square foot showroom, and utilizes the BCIT Showroom in Vancouver, BC. In an effort to enhance service for Canadian customers, the company has been building up its overall presence, expanding its dealer network, and bringing aboard additional sales and technical personnel.

Pugi unveils PTT machinery to U.S. dyeing and finishing market Pugi Group S.r.l. (www.pugi-group.com) has been manufacturing fabric sewing machines in the textile preparation, dyeing and finishing process since 1956. The sewing machines play an important role today in textile production because quality fabrics also depend on accurate and straight stitches.

The company’s newest machine is the model PTT which joins end-to-end knit tubular fabrics, both addressed in the tubular and open-width process. Pugi Group has recently supplied the first machine in the U.S. to a dyeing and finishing plant in South Carolina.

All machines, manual and automatic, incorporate high technological standards and are manufactured in full compliance with European Union regulations.

Nordmeccanica announces installation at Illinois printer Nordmeccanica S.p.A. (www. nordmeccanica.com) is constantly installing new equipment throughout the U.S. The latest news concerns Southeastern Printing in Naperville, Ill., one of the nation’s premier beverage label experts. In accordance with the company’s passionate commitment to environmental responsibility, Southeastern decided to invest in a new emission-free laminator. They chose a Nordmeccanica Super Simplex laminator

which was developed for solvent free twocomponent adhesives. The most recent release of Super Simplex is capable of up to 1,350 fpm production speeds with highquality output. Super Simplex has been the best selling laminator in North America for more than 10 years. The machine will be installed in the early fall at their plant.

Other U.S.-based customers include Plastic Packaging in Hickory, N.C., and Ultraflex/Brooklyn in New York.

Virginia’s Hampton Roads region welcomes Carraro Carraro Group (www.carraro. com) plans to locate its North American headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va. The company will invest $8 million in new machinery and tools, as well as create an additional 35 jobs with average annual salaries (excluding benefits) of $35,000.

Initially, the company has acquired mG miniGears, now Gear World S.p.A., part of a strategy aimed at granting independent growth to Carraro’s activities in the international gear industry and moved into its building in the Oceana West Corporate Park.

Plans include constructing a new facility in the same area to produce components for wind turbines (there are more than 8,000 parts in any one wind turbine).

Virginia Beach Mayor William D. Sesames, Jr. says, “They are coming here to make wind turbines which will employ Hampton Roads residents.”

Investment in clean energy such as offshore wind would create four times the number of jobs—triple the number of jobs paying at least $16 per hour—as the same investment in the oil industry.

According to Virginia Beach director of economic development Warren Harris, the city and Carraro are on a parallel track in support of wind energy with a mayor’s task force currently examining alternative energy for the area.

Tiziana Votta, senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales for Carraro, says, “Since Virginia Beach is one of the best places on the East Coast to manufacture wind energy, it made perfect sense to expand our operations to include manufacturing components of wind turbines here.”

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news

Over half a dozen direct felt lines installed in the U.S. Even poor materials can be used in bematic systems to produce a resilient batt structure.

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ettarini & Serafini S.r.l. is the parent company of Bematic (www.bematic. it), which offers a line that comprises an opening and blending sequence, a batt forming part and a thermobonding oven.

The company has more than half a dozen air laid nonwovens lines installed in the United States.

The opening and blending machinery can change and, according to the fibers to be processed, can be adapted to suit the material. The line offers bale openers with electronic weigh pans or bale openers in continuous feeding, with the mixing equipment bemamixer to open the tufts of fibers coming from the bale openers and with special oblique wings on the blending cylinders, mixing different fibers

together. After the first opening and blending, fibers are blown to a special double section opener and cleaner bemaopen before feeding stock into a double distribution system using transport fans.

The Direct Felt line is composed of a double system that comprises a ‘T’ bar junction on the end of the opener tube. Each end of the ‘T’ piece is equipped with a fan, which draws the fiber stock left or right into one of two bemablow feeding units that meter the fiber stock into the left and right channels of the bemaformer feed tower.

The bemamultiscale system measures the mass of batt passing over it via a series of load cell sensors (four along the working width). Short-term variations in length and across the width of the batt are recorded and fed back into the control system, which takes compensating action in the top part of the bemaformer. Before going into the oven, the edge-cutting unit bematrimmer can cut on the right and the left sides and adjust the fleece to feed into the oven.The two edges sucked will be blown in the system again so that there is no waste fiber.

The final stage is a thermobonding oven equipped with a double belt to calibrate the product during the thermobonding.

This new system is able to use poor materials and all kinds of waste, while running at high production. It can use even new staple fibers and natural fibers without any major adjustments to the line.

SIMET offers winders and more SIMET S.r.l. (www.simet.it), located in the heart of the Pianura Padana, the most industrialized area of Italy, between Reggio Emilia and Modena, manufactures machines and equipment for the textile industry.

Components are produced internally and externally with supervision of company personnel. Each is manufactured to precise specifications.

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Electronic Winders are machines where electronics and mechanics have been coupled in order to optimize functions. All have grooved drums and one motor per head controlled by an inverter. Applications include preparation of soft packages before dyeing, winding after dyeing/rewinding, preparation of packages with the selected number of meters/grams, general

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waxing of yarns and general winding.

Assembly Winders are designed for doubling/assembling yarns. A standard model can assemble up to three plies with creel in machine. Twisting Machines produce yarns in two head elements for twisting up to four (or six) plies with a multifunction keyboard/meter-counter.

Air Cleaners that suck in and hold textile dust are available in two sizes.

news

PRIMA ELECTRONICS at forefront of CNC 2009 marked a significant turning point for PRIMA ELECTRONICS S.p.A. (www.primaelectronics.com). Early this year the company completed the integration of OSAI—a process begun in 2007 with acquisition of 100 percent of the company’s shareholdings—now an integral part of PRIMA ELECTRONICS.As a member company of PRIMA INDUSTRIE Group S.p.A. (www.primaindustrie.com), with more than 30 years experience in developing electronic solutions for diversified applications, the company is the largest Italian manufacturer of computer numerical control (CNC) systems.

PRIMA ELECTRONICS is “fine-tuned” for customers in areas that constitute OSAI’s traditional strengths of wood, glass and stone processing tools, which is a development strategy for CNC products that makes use of skills in a sector that is a benchmark in motion control. The company boasts state-ofthe-art technologies and an advanced software development center.

OSAI possesses the quality standards and the industrialization capacity to compete in international markets. Personal relationships with customers and the availability of qualified consultants to address application problems are provided to end users.

OPENcontrol (OSAI Prima Electronics Network Control) is a new-generation hardware and software platform for automation and motion control products linked in a single network. The product line consists of solutions for diverse applications—from OPENBasic, a low-priced compact programmable logic controller (PLC) to the sophisticated Numerical Control for complete manufacturing processes. OPENcontrol will stand alongside and supersede current products, maintaining leadership in the wood, glass and stone markets and introducing new applications worldwide.

Cattinair in agreement for showroom and representation in the U.S. Cattinair Finishing NA (www.cattinair. com), a leader in flat line finishing systems, owned by Cefla Finishing Group (www.ceflafinishinggroup .com), and Costa & Grissom Machinery (www.costagrissom. com) have entered an agreement whereby Costa & Grissom will be the primary U.S. dealer/sales agent for Cattinair.

A new showroom will present equipment demonstrations of the new combined product line for customers as well as coating manufacturers. It is expected to be completed in October 2009.

Cattinair Finishing announces the Rotoclean rotary sprayer.

Rossini new ACIMGA president Felice Rossini is the new president of ACIMGA, Italian Manufacturers Association of Machinery for the Graphic, Converting and Paper Industry (www.acimga.com), replacing Ugo Barzanò. He will hold the office for a two-year period. He is president of Rossini S.p.A. (www.rossini-spa.it).

Under his leadership the family company grew steadily and established itself on the international market. Mr. Rossini is also president of Centrexpo S.p.A (www.centrexpo.it ), the exhibition organizer specializing in printing and converting events.

“I thank all member companies for having entrusted me with the leadership of ACIMGA,” says Mr. Rossini.

“I am proud to accept this responsibility, both out of loyalty to the Association and as a personal challenge.”

Cy Laser to distribute Italian laser systems in North America Chicago-based Cy Laser LLC (www.cylaser.com) and Italian companies Campana Livio S.r.l. and Finsomac S.r.l. (www.finsomac. com) have reached an agreement for the exclusive North American distribution of Cy Laser high-brilliance laser cutting systems, manufactured by the Italian companies. The agreement also includes an assembly operation for the systems in the U.S. starting in 2009.

According to Cy Laser president and CEO Massimo Denipoti, “Our objective is to quickly bring innovation to the sheet metal, plate and pipe processing industry and enable fabricators serving all industries to benefit from the advantages of this powerful new technology application.”

The high-brilliance technology essentially simplifies the generation and management of the laser beam. Specifically, when used for sheet metal, plate, or pipe cutting, the power requirements of the laser are reduced substantially, while attainable cutting parameters are comparable to a traditional CO2 laser generator.

The systems can cut 0.79-in. mild steel, 0.39-in. stainless steel, and 0.39-in. aluminum, as well as brass and copper. The laser beam can be carried through a fiber-optic cable, eliminating the need for mirror sets.

Cy Laser machines have been in development for several years. Denipoti explains that Campana Livio, S.r.l. is one of the first companies that applied glass-fiber laser sheet metal, plate and pipe cutting to achieve competitive performance capabilities.

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trade shows

Italian Exhibitions Listed by Sector Sector

Trade Show

Title

Machines Italia Partner Association

Show Location

Show Dates

Agriculture

EIMA International 2010

International Agricultural Machinery Exhibition

UNACOMA

Bologna, Italy

Nov. 10-14, 2010

Ceramic Technology

TECNARGILLA 2010

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

ACIMAC

Rimini, Italy

Sep. 27-Oct. 1, 2010

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 22-26, 2010

Food Technology: Catering & Restaurant

HOST

International Expositions of the Hospitality Industry

ANIMA (ASSOFOODTEC)

Milan, Italy

Oct. 23-27, 2009

Footwear & Leathergoods Machines

SIMAC 2009

International Exhibition of Machines and Technologies for Footwear and Leathergoods Industries

ASSOMAC

Bologna, Italy

Oct. 13-15, 2009

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 & Converting

GRAFITALIA 2012

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

ACIMGA

Milan, Italy

May 7-11, 2013

Machine Tools, Components & Ancillary Products

SFORTEC

Technical Subcontracting Exhibition

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Milan, Italy

Oct. 5-9, 2010

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

BI-MU

Machine Tools, Robots, Automation

UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE

Milan, Italy

Oct. 5-9, 2010

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 & Technology

ASSOMARMOMACCHINE

Verona, Italy

Sep. 30-Oct.3, 2009

Marble

CARRARA MARMOTEC

International Fair for Marble Technologies & Design

ASSOMARMOMACCHINE (Exhibitor)

Carrara, Italy

May 19-22, 2010

Packaging/ Food Technology

Ipack-ima 2012

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

UCIMA-ANIMA ASSOFOODTEC

Milan, Italy

Feb. 28-March 3, 2012

Packaging/ Pharmaceutical

Pharmintech 2010

The Innovations Exhibition for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Not in Attendance

Bologna, Italy

May 12-14, 2010

Plastics & Rubber

PLASTECH

Plastics Processing Technologies

ASSOCOMAPLAST

Ancona, Italy

May 6-8, 2010

Tanning Machines & Chemical Products

TANNING-TECH 2009

International Exhibition of Finishing and Knitting Machinery Tanning Industry

ASSOMAC

Bologna, Italy

Oct. 13-15, 2009

Woodworking Machinery

XYLEXPO 2010

Biennial Exhibition for Woodworking Technology

ACIMALL

Milan, Italy

May 4-8, 2010

28

Fall 2009

l www.machinesitalia.org

trade shows

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 ESPOSIZONI UCIMU S.p.A.

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinsello 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

Cinsello Balsamo (MI)

02 26255230/861

02 26255894

lamiera.esp@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

Cinsello Balsamo (MI)

02 26255229/861

02 26255890

bimu.esp@ucimu.it

www.emo-milan.com

EFIM-ENTE FIERE ITALIANE MACCHINE S.p.A. promoted by CECIMO (European committee for the Cooperation of the Machine Tool Industries)

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinsello Balsamo (MI)

02 26255860/861

02 26255882

info@emo-milan.com

www.bimu-mediterranea.it

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

Viale Fulvio Testi 128

20092

Cinsello Balsamo (MI)

02 26255229/861

02 26255896

bimumed.esp@ucimu.it

www.marmomacc.com/en/index.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.plastechancona.it

E.R.F. - Ente Regionale per le Manifestazioni Fieristiche, with the support of ASSOCOMAPLAST/ PROMAPLAST S.r.l.

Largo Fiera della Pesca, 11 Milanofiori, Palazzo F/3

60125

Ancona

071 58971

071 5897213

marketing@erf.it

www.tanning-tech.it

Assomac Servizi S.r.l.

Via Matteotti, 4/a- CP 73

27029

Vigevano (P)

0381 78883

0381 88602

exhibition@assomac.it

www.xylexpo.com/eng

XYLEXPO

Centro Commerciale Milanofiori, 1a Strada Palazzo F3

20090

Assago (MI)

02 89210200

02 8259009

info@xylexpo.com

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

1-888-italtrade l Fall 2009

29

Italian machinery

Innovation at work in global markets 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

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Fall 2009

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Italian machinery

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 Marble and Stone Three hundred and twenty-five companies form the foundation of Associazione Italiana MARMOMACCHINE (CONFINDUSTRIA 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 70% of the total Italian production and, on average, 80% 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 packing 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 50% of the industry’s turnover, followed by the graphic arts industry with about 35%, the rest is employed in various sectors. 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 1-888-italtrade l Fall 2009

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Atlanta c/o Italian Trade Commission 233 Peachtree Street N.E., Suite 2301 P.O.Box 56689 Atlanta, Georgia 30343

Tel: 888-ITALTRADE (482-5872)

Fax: 404.525.5112 E-mail: atlanta@ice.it Chicago c/o Italian Trade Commission 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 3030 Chicago, Illinois 60611

Tel: 888-ITALTRADE (482-5872)

Fax: 312.264.6209 E-mail: info@italtradeusa.com Los Angeles c/o Italian Trade Commission 1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 700 Los Angeles, California 90067

Tel: 888-ITALTRADE (482-5872)

Fax: 310.203.8335 E-mail: losangeles@ice.it

Thank you for your consideration to turn innovation into responsibility!

For information on the companies cited within this publication or any of our thousands of Italian manufacturers, you may contact them directly, through our partner associations or any Machines Italia Office here in North America.

Don’t forget to visit WWW.MACHINESITALIA.ORG For the latest updates on Italian innovation, flexibility and creativity ready to meet your company’s specific needs.

Mexico City c/o INSTITUTO Italiano Para El Comercio Exterior Edificio Omega – Campos Eliseos N. 345 Colonia Polanco – 11560 Mexico D.F. Toll Free: (in Mexico City) 5281 50 10 or (outside Mexico City) 1.800.696.6032

Tel: (+52 555) 2808425 2813950 – 2813957

Fax: (+52 555) 2802324 E-mail: info@italtrademexico.com Toronto c/o Italian Trade Commission 180 Dundas Street West, Suite 2002 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1Z8 Toll Free: 888-ITALTRADE (482-5872)

Tel: 416.598.1566

Fax: 416.598.1610 E-mail: info@italtradecanada.com

Published on behalf of the Office of the Italian Trade Commission in Chicago USA