Packaging item made of thermoformed paper |
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Italian technology plast / August / September 2023 |
constant at OMG and just recently , recalls Simonetti , there have been interesting developments in terms of performance , among other things : “ More and more customers require different heating solutions : for years we have mounted black heating elements and now the use of black ceramic heating elements is becoming increasingly popular in order to reduce consumption . Then we established important synergies with some end-of-line manufacturers and therefore we are starting to deliver complete machines . We ourselves have opened a branch of the company dealing with palletisation : a specialist in this field has joined our team and we are also including the handling of boxes with the thermoformed elements inside . The basic idea is to minimise the work of human operators : even in areas of the world where historically labour costs less , in fact , there is a demand for reducing this aspect in order to prevent human errors . It is therefore not only a problem of labour costs , automation is good everyone in general . If the customer requests it , in practice , starting from the roll or plate , the finished product comes out of our lines already packaged . At the same time we have also implemented an exactly opposite application with our machines intended for subcontractors that perhaps deal with small batches , based on quick mould change and an easy to use software system : these features are certainly not able to self-correct , but thanks to different solutions facilitate the operator in understanding the process or the related variables . In short , a sort of advanced automation . In addition , we have developed a hybrid machine ( roll / plate ) which ensures a very wide flexibility of use : a fundamental advantage today , with batch reductions occurring every day . In the sense that until now the thermoforming machines could be fed either only from a roll or with a plate , while we have created |
one that can work with both options : for example , if a customer were to make 200 pieces of the same type he will opt for plate feeding ; if instead the pieces are 3,000 or more he will choose the roll , with the possibility of handling thicknesses up to 2.5 mm ”.
STRONG EXPORTS , RECOVERY IN ITALY The customer that looks to OMG to find answers to his needs remain largely a foreign one but the share of Italian customers is constantly growing , underlines Simonetti : “ Facilitations and incentives linked to Industry 4.0 have changed the situation , especially in the last two years , initiating a recovery at a national level which has benefited not only us , but the entire sector . For years bthe pandemic , exports accounted for a large share of our turnover , up to 92 %, of which 22 % in Europe and almost 70 % in North and Central America , our main outlet markets , so much so that we opened a branch office in the United States , in Dallas , Texas , where we keep a stock of spare parts . It is also an ideal location for the Latin American market as well . After the pandemic peak , which affected exports , and the increased support to companies from the government , there was a pickup in Italy , whose share went from 8 % to the current 20 %”.
BEYOND THE STANDARD Finally , Simonetti is keen to underline how the company has always had an eye towards the real
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evolution of the market , also focusing on nonstandard machines : “ OMG stands for Officine Meccaniche Givolettesi : we are first and foremost machine manufacturers and this means that we want to give what the market needs , regardless of the almost 60 years of experience we have gained in the thermoforming of plastic material . We are interested in implementing new technologies and in fact , tough at the Plast in Milan we will bring a classic thermoforming machine , at the recent Interpack fair in Germany – thanks to the cooperatoin with a German customer who patented the process – we were able to unveil a machine with completely different dry technology but able to guarantee finished products of equal quality based on a paper commonly used in the industrial filed as well as for packaging in general , but also for food contact , through specific additives . This allows us to be ready for the use of materials other than plastic and not to fear market trends , although I do not see a dramatic future for our sector : probably alternative packaging materials will be used , above all paper , depending on the application . After all for years , we have made CPT , CPET and CPLA crystallising directly inside the mould using a traditional thermoforming machine and a mould engineered by us , without the need for a preform . These materials are not 100 % plastic . In the United States , seven of our machines do just that . Knowing how to differentiate your business today is a winning factor ”. |
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