Milan, 3 May, 2022 - From 3 to 6 May at Fiera Milano, the industry of instrumental mechanics will meet up at The Innovation Alliance. Four events - Ipack-Ima, Print4All, GreenPlast and Intralogistica Italia - more than 1,600 companies and 11 exhibition halls to talk about digitalization and Industry 4.0, but above all to define the path towards a new awareness of sustainability.

The Innovation Alliance is a synergistic project intended to display the best of instrumental mechanics and the most innovative solutions dedicated to the various sectors represented by the event, with a wider perspective of the supply chain This is a unique format at European level, that embraces and enhances the design and production capacity of a strategic supply chain for our Made in Italy, that is worth a total of 25.6 billion euros, employs over 107,000 people and has an average export of 60% of the total production. As a matter of fact, in this context of great change, investing in innovation and creating a system among complementary sectors is crucial to make our SMEs even more competitive on a global scale.

The format, appreciated since the first edition of 2018, will allow professional visitors to have at hand, within a single event, a detailed snapshot of the major changes affecting the industry and that require a high level of innovation, new skills and investment in research and development. An opportunity to showcase the best technologies for the manufacturing industry, with products ranging from green solutions, developed by rubber and plastics industries, to food processing technologies, from packaging for food and non-food sectors to graphic customisation, up to storage and handling of the finished product.

The common thread underlying the whole event will be the major themes that are actually revolutionizing market and production models at all levels. In fact, the focus will be on industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, sustainability and circular economy, servitization, digitalization and artificial intelligence, all fundamental tools for a conscious development of the industry, that are essential not only to innovate systems and processes, but also to determine the need for specific training, something crucial to enhance and strengthen the skills of human capital within this new scenario.

2022: FOCUS ON CIRCULAR ECONOMY
 

This edition of The Innovation Alliance couldn’t fail to propose a strong push on the theme of circular economy. Throughout the four days of the fair, the discussion, which started in March with the Circular Economy Summit - Artificial Intelligence and Circular Economy models: towards a regenerative industrial ecosystem, will find new opportunities to analyze the ideas at stake, both during the scheduled events and the training sessions.

Many elements are needed to facilitate the development of this new industrial paradigm, which is destined to renew processes and production methods. Legislation is going to be fundamental, as it has to regulate waste management, but also the exchange of waste between countries and its international management. Then training is essential, both internal and external to companies, because where there’s “culture” there will be a better recycling management. Finally, a significant role will be played by Ecodesign: a design phase that takes into account the product’s end-of-life means giving consideration to the environmental impact throughout the whole life cycle, from conception to disposal.

But above all, in order to achieve these goals, it will be necessary for all actors along the supply chain to collaborate and work on common standards and, most of all, on the ability to make investments to renew production facilities while aiming at sustainability in all phases of production.
 

THE FLOOR TO THE ORGANIZERS
 

Each exhibition will present a vertical vision of its own sector with a focus on innovation, which will be part of a wider offer - in the logic of supply chain - that presents, within a single context, multiple solutions for different sectors of the manufacturing industry and favours the exchange of knowledge and positive contamination inspired by cases of excellence originating from complementary sectors.

This is the shared strategic objective that led all the partners of The Innovation Alliance - Fiera Milano, Deutsche Messe and the associations ACIMGA (Association of Italian Manufacturers for the Graphic, Paper and Converting Industry), AMAPLAST (National Association of Manufacturers of Machinery and Moulds for Plastics and Rubber), UCIMA (Union of Italian Manufacturers of Automatic Packaging Machinery) and ARGI (National Association of Printing Industry Suppliers) - to renew their collaboration in order to re-propose an event of great international appeal, able to host and enhance the design and production capacity of the entire sector.

“State-of-the-art packaging and advanced processing and packaging systems for consumer products, as well as for industrial and durable goods. This is the proposal of IPACK-IMA, with over 1,150 exhibitors from 27 countries and more than 20 specialized food and non-food events. IPACK-IMA will present to the Italian and international manufacturing industry an attractive and complete technological overview, also with predictions on future production trends. A return in presence that is much-awaited and much-needed for the industry, the right place and time for our exhibitors and visitors, who will be looking for just one thing: innovation. IPACK-IMA generates for Italy an € 11.4 billion turnover, with an average export share of 73% of production, 55,600 employees and an average growth trend of +5% per year over the last three years” - declared Valerio Soli, President of Ipack Ima.
 

“ACIMGA and ARGI, together with Fiera Milano, decided to give a strong push to the project of Print4All, enriching the format with content and initiatives that might represent concrete opportunities for the market.” – said Andrea Briganti, managing director of ACIMGA, association that promotes Print4All - “Operators at the fair will benefit from a transversal platform that combines business, networking and training. Innovation will be at the center of the proposal, with the ability to produce any type of printed product, in which ennoblement and customization become a vehicle of communication, as well as the most original solutions for packaging, with increasing attention to sustainability, the cornerstone of this new production method, which is changing the market and now requires new skills, new approaches and new technologies to combine efficiency, attention to the environment and energy optimization”.
 

“GREENPLAST is an event designed to encourage discussion between the various players of a supply chain that is looking to highlight its highly innovative nature, and is able to provide, or rather anticipate, answers to the growing demand for technologies by a constantly evolving market” - explained Mario Maggiani, CEO of Promaplast - “Our hope is that GREENPLAST will contribute to reaffirm how plastic, which sometimes has been questioned especially by non-experts, is actually an absolutely sustainable material, as well as essential and versatile”.

“In a complex moment like the current one, logistics and in particular intralogistics have become extraordinary elements of flexibility for our production system. In fact, thanks to the precision and speed provided by intralogistics tools, companies are now able to manage and modulate production inputs, as well as to adapt to market volatility and hyper-targeting of production. Intralogistics is therefore a fundamental element of resilience for contemporary companies, and INTRALOGISTICA ITALIA is the only place in Italy where, through autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), the latest autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), or within the extraordinary picking and sorting systems, this resilience can be witnessed first-hand.” - explained Andreas Züge, Managing Director of Hannover Fairs International GmbH.

The appointment with The Innovation Alliance will be at Fiera Milano, from 3 to 6 May 2022.

Ufficio stampa Fiera Milano

Rosy Mazzanti; rosy.mazzanti@fieramilano.it

Mariagrazia Scoppio, +39 024997.6214, mariagrazia.scoppio@fieramilano.it