Pietro Cassani – CEO Marchesini Group – tells how the company founded in Pianoro, leader for packaging and automation solutions for cosmetics up to pharma, is facing with innovative and adaptive way the difficult situation of this year 2020 with real achievements.

Which are the technological innovations on which you’re focusing on?

“We’re following a path of internal development and extraordinary operations linked to 4.0 and the digital world, with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. Recently with SEA Vision, subsidiary of Marchesini Group, we acquired ArgoVision which works specifically over AI algorythms, to whom we added, during the summer, Auteco, a company based in Pavia that offers softwares for pharmaceutical processes, for data collection and pharma manufactuing controls.

Our vision goes towards all the opportunities raising from automation and robotics, our show pieces, to which we add all about the digital, to have algorhytms capables of keeping our packaging lines and trials processes always more performing. Moreover during the lockdown, we fully implemented virtual testing, remote maintenance and technical assistance and all the solutions that would have support our customers, despite a very restriced travel policy due to the pandemic situation worldwide. It’s been years since Marchesini had begun invest in these technologies, that pair with topics of packaging digitalization and that allowed us to be ready today to exploit their potential in every shadow, from technological developmet to customer care. Our future will so be more and more linked to AI.

Looking for new markets, we’re investing on the make up and beauty, with innovative products, technologies and lines, dedicated for this business. We’re focusing on the processing process of creams and other cosmetics, as well as on packaging, our traditional core business. Cosmetic sectors is a chance for Marchesini, which is already strongly represented in this market, since in 2020 some products faced difficulties, lipsticks for example. But is also an interesting market, where Italy can express company of high value. A sector on which we’re working on with all the companies of the Group, to integrate new products, so becoming supplier of more complete packaging lines for products like creams, lipsticks and parfumes. In this world we want to operate all-round with our technology, nethertheless we decided to open an dedicated business unit for the Beauty sector.

Another sector in which we’re operating are vaccines packaging lines, with solutions that combine Marchesini expertise, since the company is already a leader in this market. We put aside traditional packages with thermoforming plasic trays with paper based eco-packagings, to take part in the plastic reduction policies promoted by the European Union.

Which is your vision for IPACK-IMA?

Marchesini supports the importance of the trade shows and the face-to-face meeting between suppliers and customers. Like everybody, we’ve been influenced from the impossibility to take part to these event; to overcome the problem, we created alternative solutions such as virtual shows and video productions, to be present in communication channels with our technicians and customers. To us trade shows still remain the best places to meet and create networking, where people can exchange informally opinions; something to restore soon, with an eye over the common safety. In addition, we’re investing in machines for the cosmetic production in the Lombardy area: so we see in IPACK-IMA a much greater opportunity.

Which perspective are you seeing for your market?

Our market is tipically anti-cyclical, but having limitation for travels, with people mobility limits, quarantenes and worries are a burden that raised a number of challenging to be faced, even if we’re working virtually as much as we can. It’s clear that all is slow down, in particular installations and tests for foreign customers. Despite that we have a positive outlook, we didn’t faced any production stop.

Our commitment is not for the market itself, but on how to answer customers requests’ on time, working of machines production, and installation. We export 75% of our turnover, our lines are deliverd in every EU countries, in Asia, in America and we have to be able to work within these difficulties. Probably this will not be a short-term solution and I think we’ll face some complex months waiting for a solution tha will arrive. Waiting for vaccine availability, we have to adjust to this context.