Italian packaging equipment manufacturer Sacmi is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Founded in Imola by nine mechanics and blacksmiths, Sacmi (Società Anonima Cooperativa Meccanici Imola) is now an international group with 4,500 employees.

“The Sacmi story is an extraordinary tale,” said Paolo Mongardi, president of Sacmi Imola. “It mirrors the industrial growth of both Italy and the town of Imola, home to cooperative movement that has given substance to a dream, that of creating shared well-being through work.”

The company is celebrating its special anniversary by looking back over its history. It is also looking to the future via a series of training meetings focusing on change and issues concerning the 4.0 digitisation of production and services. For example, Sacmi is exploring the potential and challenges in robotics and automation, enabling technologies, sustainability and new materials.

“Sacmi is a cooperative. As such it belongs to no-one but is, rather, a collective asset to be nurtured and passed on to future generations,” Mongadi explained. “That means looking far ahead, all the way to 2030. It means deciding what we want to be, thinking about the challenges that await us and how we can prepare today to seize all the opportunities of tomorrow.”

Mongardi added that Sacmi wanted to “pay tribute to our founders’ courage, their ability to bring out the true cooperative spirit that allowed us to write this incredible 100-year story. Yet our most important goal is to lead the company into its second century by making the most of all the excellence and talent our community has to offer and by sharing our experience with the leading players of regional and national manufacturing.

“Our history shows us that real development only occurs when people become the focus of manufacturing. And the drive towards Industry 4.0 does nothing but enhance that outlook, continuously strengthening our skills while ensuring customers can count on new, sustainable, high quality products and services.”