Spanish exporting firms showcase their latest innovations in search of new packaging markets
Machinery and packaging solutions manufacturers and their customers to present success stories to international buyers
Hispack 2024 will be a new opportunity for Spanish suppliers of packaging technology and solutions to boost their exports.
With the "Spanish Solutions" initiative, the leading trade fair for the packaging industry in Spain in collaboration with amec envasgraf has organised a programme of activities aimed at international attendees, including conferences and case study presentations, guided tours, a Brokerage Event and more than 800 scheduled business meetings between exhibitors and buyers from key countries.
Hispack is expected to receive more than 3,000 international professionals from countries such as Portugal, Italy, Germany, France, Morocco, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, Tunisia and Turkey, among others, interested in learning about the packaging and process technology on display at the fair.
Spain is among the top ten producers and exporters of packaging machinery and equipment. Internationalisation, tailor-made solutions for each project, flexibility, high quality, state-of-the-art technology, competitive prices and excellent after-sales service are the main qualities of this speciality with a turnover of 1,750 million euros, according to amec envasgraf.
Last year, exports of Spanish packaging machinery grew by 15% compared to 2022. The United States has consolidated its position as the leading destination market for the sector's foreign sales. By geographical areas, Europe accounts for 48% of exports, the United States and Canada, 17%, Latin America, 16% and Asia, 9%.
According to the president of amec envasgraf, Luis Villegas, the main innovations that Spanish packaging technology manufacturers will showcase at Hispack are characterised by "greater automation and digitalisation, more versatile equipment adaptable to the use of new materials, more efficient and sustainable solutions, as well as compliance with the highest standards of safety, reliability and quality".
Spanish Solutions: Success stories
As a complement to the commercial offer and to show international buyers the competitive advantages of packaging solutions "Made in Spain", Hispack 2024 includes a dozen conferences in which machinery manufacturers, accompanied by customers, will explain their best success stories.
According to Luis Villegas, "these presentations will allow international visitors to learn first-hand, in a quick, dynamic and brief format, about real case studies applied in client companies. I am convinced that they will feel fully identified with the problems that will be raised and learn how they have been solved".
Thus, AND & OR, together with Delicias Coruña, will present the productive improvement that the automation of the palletising process entailed in order to avoid falls or damage to the products. For its part, Ayrtac, with a high vacuum dry packaging machine, managed to get the French pepper powder producer Biper Gorri to automate its production line, guaranteeing the best preservation.
The elimination of machine downtime, improved usability and energy and material savings in packaging design are some of the benefits offered by Invpack to Chocolates Reybar and will be explained at Hispack. Also the case of Terg, a Polish company of household appliances and electronic products, which thanks to Limitronic and its partner Sparck Technologies achieved a packaging adapted to the size and exact shape of the product, to save on cardboard, improve safety and even personalise each package by means of a direct digital printing system.
On the other hand, Innova solved the problem of final protection of the bags of animal feed products for the Mexican manufacturer Nutec with an automatic wrapping machine, which reduced the consumption of stretch film and improved the stability of the pallets for transport.
There will also be details of how Capsa Packaging managed to help MediaMarkt reduce the economic and environmental costs of its reverse logistics by reusing its cardboard boxes a minimum of six times. As a result, an 80% reduction in the carbon footprint of this process was calculated.
Another success story that will be detailed is that of the Galician winery ViniGalicia, which relied on Meler to reduce the use of plastic in its packaging and the associated costs. For its part, Bodegas Fundador will reveal how it managed to drastically reduce the level of rejection of its labels for poor quality and rework of incorrect bottles thanks to Difmaq.
It will also be possible to learn about the results of E2M's automated inspection and verification system using computer vision, capable of processing up to 600 cans per minute to detect any defects, which was installed on the production line of the canned food manufacturer Escurís. Finally, Hero will tell how Macsa helped them to reduce the use of ink and solvents in the coding process of their products and to increase the speed of packaging marking.
International buyers
In addition to these conferences, Hispack has organised an intense programme of activities in the International Business Center (IBC), located in Hall 3. In this area of the show specially dedicated to international business, visitors from other countries will be able to receive information and personalised advice on the most suitable Spanish suppliers for developing their projects. They will also be able to sign up for themed guided tours around the show to learn about sustainable packaging technologies or the application of Industry 4.0 solutions in packaging machinery, among others.
The IBC will also be the reception point for invited international delegations, and there will be presentations on business opportunities for Spanish packaging in Morocco, Poland, Tunisia and Mexico. A day will also be devoted to exploring the possibilities offered by the Japanese market. There will also be a Brokerage Event, quick business interviews to find suppliers or collaborators. Finally, the almost one hundred buyers invited through Hispack's Hosted Buyers Programme will hold business meetings with the Spanish companies present at the show. More than 800 such meetings are expected to be scheduled.
Hispack with almost 780 companies
Hispack, the sector's leading trade fair in Spain for more than 40 years and one of the most important in the European trade fair calendar for the packaging industry, will this year have 780 exhibitors from 30 countries and 1,250 brands represented at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue and will welcome more than 27,000 professionals, 10% of whom will be international.
60% of Hispack's offer corresponds to equipment and machinery for processing, packaging, bottling, packaging manufacture, coding, labelling and marking, automation, robotics and logistics. The remaining 40% of exhibitors, meanwhile, present raw materials and materials for packaging, containers and packaging, and POS elements for various industrial and consumer sectors, as well as for distribution, e-commerce and retail.
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