Programa & Speakers

Procurement Day is an event that aims to broaden the knowledge of Procurement professionals on current issues, tools and trends, as well as to interconnect and generate networking among professionals.

The first day begins with the official inauguration of the corner in front of the first visitors to the fair, shortly after the doors of Fira Barcelona open, with an institutional presentation of representative figures.

SUSTAINTALKS by ITENE is a series of conversations with ambassadors of sustainability in the packaging value chain who are leading the transition towards the circular economy in their companies. In this conversation, Mercedes Hortal from Campofrío will talk about her commitment to sustainable packaging through recyclable packaging with less virgin plastic and the incorporation of recycled materials.

When we talk about sustainable products, it is essential to conceive them with their entire life cycle in mind, i.e. to design for a circular economy. In this talk we will discuss how to approach the conception of sustainable products from the analysis of the product & customer journey, applying agile innovation methodologies, such as Design Thinking, to observe and co-create solutions that solve the needs of the consumer and society from a sustainable point of view.

Find out about the latest news in the packaging sector through the main topics covered by the media and the information channels par excellence in order to be able to glimpse the trends that will mark the future of the sector.

Automation of Piece Picking in warehouses - why it's so hard?AI-powered vision software integrated into PLC automation Return on investment: How to enable cost-efficient and easy-to-use systems

We will have the views of major companies in the food and beverage sector to discuss how they see and debate how to tackle the creation of new concepts and products that contribute to a more sustainable society, both from the point of view of the materials and energy needed for their manufacture and distribution, as well as from the point of view of designing-conceptualising products designed for a circular economy.

By 2030 all packaging must be 100% recyclable and contain a minimum recycling rate. Recycling percentages are included both in the draft waste law and in the draft royal decree on packaging, which sets important recycling content targets ranging from 15% to 60%, depending on the type of product. Is there enough recycled material? is it possible to meet these objectives? What challenges do we have to overcome to achieve them?

Limited seating - registration required.

The transformation of training in the packaging industry will be discussed, what the current needs are, what training or knowledge is going to be needed for the sector and how we can get there, with an expert from the sector and education.

Ultracongelados Virto has implemented a 100% automated storeroom using Swisslog technology. It is a large freezer with the capacity to handle a flow of 350 pallets per hour and to store some 56,000 European-type pallets or 48,000 industrial-type pallets, which will allow the company to have a stock of between 50 and 70 million kilos of ultra-frozen product. A session to discover the roadmap of the project, the technologies involved and the challenges that had to be solved in its implementation.

A space in which to learn about an example of good practice from a packaging company that represents one point in the value chain.

The transformation of packaging and the management of packaging is a fundamental part of the commitment to sustainability and the circular economy in the perfume and cosmetics sector. Transformative projects through innovation in reusable, bio-based and/or recycled plastic packaging materials, as well as improvements in eco-design and the digitalisation of processes, will allow us to respond to the demands of the new conscious, supportive and sustainable consumer.

Wallbox has decided to automate the logistics of its new factory in Barcelona to expand its production capacity. Mecalux has developed a series of 4.0 logistics solutions that will improve Wallbox's productivity and efficiency in this stage of growth. The storage systems installed by Mecalux will allow Wallbox to store over 43,700 boxes and over 3,600 pallets of raw materials and finished products. The automated box storeroom will streamline storage and order preparation tasks to support the production of one million electric chargers a year. Mecalux's Easy WMS software will guarantee precise control and total traceability of stock in order to ensure deliveries of electric chargers to the end customer in just 72 hours.

IntelFoodPack 2.0 is a project for the operational deployment of a Competitive Intelligence System for the Agri-Food and Packaging Sector. It is the implementation of an intelligent digital platform to obtain recurring market information for the agri-food and packaging sector on an international level. This is an inter-cluster project between the food and packaging sectors, a collaborative project where different links in the value chain of the two sectors can be represented.

UR+ is not only the cobot industry´s largest ecosystem, it helps you to automate quickly and easily. Susanne explains in her keynote how you can be part of that success. Level up your palletizing operations and increase your capacity and throughput with UR+ certified products. Or bring your own UR+ product to market that helps others to simplify their packaging automation.

Different start-ups and innovation experts Eatable Adventures will explain the keys to entrepreneurship in business and how to replicate it in consolidated companies.

Meet the first Open Innovation ecosystem capable of energising key Packaging organisations (knowledge agents, manufacturers and users) to promote collaborative innovation with impact, knowledge exchange and the development of projects in the areas of digitisation, circular economy, user experience and new materials.

Taking performance and quality of picking, packing and palletising operations a step further through robot technology

To what extent is your packaging circular? The current linear economy model is based on depleting natural resources as if they were unlimited, but the circular economy is the alternative. Find out how the Circular Design Metrics works. A tool to clearly assess the performance of the circularity and identify your packaging’s potential for improvement.

Global Foodture is a 30-month European project, with the ambition to create an international multi-institutional "Global Climate Alliance for Food", encompassing the entire value chain to develop and promote a sustainable, more environmentally friendly agriculture and agri-food industry aimed at reducing the impact of climate change. This project will be based on Europe-Asia cooperation and will enable European SMEs to offer innovative solutions to promote this transition.

What is the present and future of collaborative robotics in packaging? What solutions will be taken further? Where should we start automating?  

We are facing a new business era in which companies are increasingly defining a social business purpose to guide their activity. This transformation process is also reaching the packaging, which is becoming an essential element in conveying this purpose to the company's stakeholders. What will packaging look like in the future? How will packaging change in the light of this new business trend? In this session moderated by B Lab Spain, we will address these issues with the help of major brands such as Danone, The Body Shop, Ferrer and Quadpack.

A session to discover how the interior lighting manufacturer Normagrup has managed to automate the transport between 3 production areas, the assembly area and an automatic storeroom, travelling through reduced spaces and shared with the factory staff, thanks to the integration of a fleet of small mobile robots with their automatic loading and unloading points

A space in which to learn about an example of good practice from a packaging company that represents one point in the value chain.

EU-funded programme that aims to forge relationships between EU low-carbon technology providers and companies seeking sustainable solutions in Colombia.

Selection, implementation and integration of mobile and autonomous robotics and handling solutions in Industry 4.0. Presentation of use cases in industrial environments.

To move a strategic brand reflection forward we need a partner, and one of the most important ones is packaging design, as it obliges us to deliberate and provide answers with regard to our positioning, the channels, the range of structures and so on. To achieve objectives we have only two cards to play, packaging and communication, and packaging is one of the most important contact points for connecting with the consumer. To illustrate the contents we’ll present the recent redesign process at Aceitunas Sarasa and during the round-table discussion we’ll discuss some key factors that are recurrent in these kinds of processes.

Intermark Packaging & Labelling has implemented the Mecalux Easy WMS management system to optimise all logistics processes, from receipts and storage to picking and dispatch. The WMS enables cross-docking management to reduce the number of product movements within the storeroom and achieve more efficient order reception and picking. The Multi Carrier Shipping Software module has also been installed, which streamlines the packing and labelling of orders, while communicating with transport agencies. Finally, the Supply Chain Analytics module has been installed so that the customer has access to a series of dashboards/panels, which allow them to see interactively what is happening in the storeroom through the traceability of different KPIs

SUSTAINTALKS by ITENE is a series of conversations with ambassadors of sustainability in the packaging value chain who are leading the transition towards the circular economy in their companies. In this conversation, Patricio Carpena from Mercadona will talk to us about how the company is currently approaching sustainability in packaging, as well as his vision of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The Spanish Logistics Centre (CEL) proposes a morning of innovation to make intralogistics evolve: six start-ups present as an elevator pitch the technologies that solve everyday challenges of end-of-line and last mile operations and how their innovations have a direct impact on the efficiency of the packaging and supply value chain. Equal parts inspiration and innovation. A day with Estoko Logistics, Allread, Freightol, Kubbo, Groenlandia Tech and Vonzu Tech elevator pitches, along with a keynote by technology promoter Luís Soler.

Ecodesign, recyclability, reintroduction of post-consumer material and personalisation are some of the challenges that will mark the future of packaging, in a context of uncertainty derived from important legislative changes and an unprecedented global crisis of raw materials, transport and energy.

The visibility of women in the industrial field is one of the wars that we are winning step by step, and this is another space where you can find cases in which to find out how various women in the packaging sector manage their day-to-day lives

Francisco Manuel Muriel will speak about sustainability applied to processes and products. This presentation will highlight the various challenges facing the sector today when implementing sustainability mandates. He will explain how the sector is transforming. He will also highlight the important role played by R&D&I in the packaging transformation process. He will conclude by talking about SP GROUP's latest sustainability launches.

SUSTAINTALKS by ITENE is a series of conversations with ambassadors of sustainability in the packaging value chain who are leading the transition towards the circular economy in their companies. In this conversation, Françoise de Valera and Emma Cándido will talk about Pack2Earth's commitment to innovation in packaging that leaves no trace on the environment, specifically in the development of home compostable packaging for semi-liquid products.  

The pandemic has changed the rules of the game and e-commerce has undoubtedly been one of the sectors that has been forced to overhaul its processes. CEL analyses the current e-commerce logistics scenario and how it impacts on the packaging value chai

Chemical Recycling is postulated as a strategic technology to increase the circularity of plastics and achieve the objectives set by the European Union. This session will present the main chemical recycling technologies and processes and what opportunities they can offer to the packaging sector. The main challenges to be overcome in order to make this strategy a reality in the near future will also be discussed.

Precision is essential when it comes to improving the processes that form part of the agri-food value chain and collaborative robotics is playing its part in this.

#Innolablogistics with Estoko Logístics. A new way of understanding warehousing and logistics, interconnecting via Cloud+AI companies that need flexible storage space with other companies that have unused excess storage capacity.

Chempack is a project developed by the Packaging Innovation Cluster and Quimacova. An initiative that has worked on the main challenges facing the chemical, drug and cosmetics industry in terms of packaging. With the participation of leading brands from the chemical sector, suppliers and technology developers, the session will focus on experiences in the development of new packaging, new materials, the promotion of recovery strategies and the reintroduction of recycled materials.

The Servicontrol project will develop, on the one hand, process control in the production of packaging (primary packaging), and, on the other hand, it will implement the monitoring of machinery in packaging applications (secondary and tertiary packaging), thus improving productivity and process control and obtaining data processing. In addition, connectivity between companies in the value chain is promoted, thus boosting the servitisation business model for SMEs.

#Innolablogistics with AllRead. A cost-effective and frictionless solution for capturing and extracting valuable information in operational environments. It reduces repetitive tasks, eliminates errors and enables immediate processing of information.

It will be focusing on the three most significant aspects regarding the European Next Generation Funds: Snapshot of the end of 2021, forecast for 2022, and current events. How to seize the opportunity and what does the packaging sector need to consider in order to tap into the funds? More immediate potential and readying for the end of 2022, in addition to the financing options we offer to UR products and what we can include in this financing.

#Innolablogistics with Freightol. The Transport 4.0 tool that allows companies to quote, compare, book and buy transport freight worldwide.

Packaging is an extension of the product and, consequently, your brand and company. With packaging, brands have the opportunity to create unique experiences that thrill and become part of people’s everyday lives. In an increasingly digitised world, packaging remains the key medium for conveying the brand’s values, although these two worlds (the real one and the virtual one) are currently feeding back into each other. Three of the most important and renowned branding and packaging agencies and founding members of the Aebrand (Spanish Branding Association), encompassing different sectors, will take part in this panel discussion: Batllegroup, Morillas and Summa Branding. The three agencies have experienced and featured in the evolution of packaging as a lever of branding and they’ll talk about their experiences and visions through the success stories of their customers.

New companies from the packaging industry join the cluster to improve their skills, contacts and projects. We explain who they are and what their potential is.

How International safety standards have been key in helping industrial robot system integrators to meet the safety requirements for machinery, not only in the past and present, but also in the foreseeable future. Safe us of machinery is not only about safe machines. Whether you are a machine manufacturer or you use machines to manufacture, even more with collaborative robots, you don´t want to miss this keynote.

LLuís Soler, Co-founder, partner & CEO of OnDoit, invites us to reflect on how professionals in the packaging and logistics sectors can make the most of innovation so that their companies can operate efficiently, despite the VUCA environment, and avoid investing more energy than necessary in the daily management of the business without jeopardising its success.

 Do you know the keys to ensure product quality? Can you tell the difference between a bad label print on a package and a correct label? We will see it in the presentation of AIS Vision Systems.  

#Innolablogistics with Kubbo. B2B e-commerce fulfilment start-up that enables brands and their customers to access a differentiated same-day delivery experience.

A space in which to learn about an example of good practice from a packaging company that represents one point in the value chain.

#Innolablogistics with Greenland Tech. Start-up specialising in logistics solutions for traceability, security and temperature control during the transport of biological samples, vaccines and organs, among others.

#Innolablogistics with VONZU. An SaaS solution that enables the orchestration of the last mile logistics ecosystem, integrating retailers and logistics operators on a single cloud platform.

The circular economy is key today and will be in the future in the face of the lack of material resources and bioplastics are presented as an alternative on the way, but are they really the definitive solution? In the presentation, we will talk about the bioplastics market and its growth trend, as well as the main applications within the sector. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities of these materials, as well as when they are truly sustainable packaging solutions.

Packaging is playing a decisive role at the height of an industrial transformation based on digitisation and sustainability. Both the OEMs and the TIERs of the different sections of the value and supply chain must have specialised packaging to guarantee factors such as efficiency, safety, quality and environmental commitment.

The Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) and Ecovidrio present the first specific eco-design guide aimed at more than 4,000 Spanish wineries. The session will bring together representatives from the wine sector value chain (wineries, suppliers, designers) to reflect on challenges and best practices for the promotion of sustainability.

Graphic novelties that boost your product sales: what you should know before designing the next packaging for your products. When a product campaign is generated, the graphics of the packaging and its staging is the ultimate commercial for our product, the one that generates the most impact. From print technology manufacturers and printers who are able to make the product a reality, we will look at the important points that will appeal most strongly to the end consumer and support the brand's sustainability messages.

A session to discover how the wine and sparkling wine manufacturer Vallformosa managed to adapt its pre-industry 4.0 machinery to a MES Industry 4.0 environment. A commitment that has enabled it to automate machine operations through full connectivity and traceability.

Presentation of the Liderpack 2020 and 2021 edition awards. The Liderpack Awards are looking for innovative, sustainable and creative packaging aimed at the end consumer, industrial sectors or for use in transport and logistics. These awards, created in 1995, are the most important prizes awarded in Spain.

Colour Sensing has developed a multifunctional smart label that is able to detect leaks, breaks in the cold chain, or control the freshness of the product by monitoring different quality and food safety parameters inside the packaging. The label, which is very low cost as it takes advantage of the capabilities of smart inks embedded in a QR code, connects to a digital application from where the different end-of-line and last mile user profiles can collect the information they need to ensure the traceability of the packaged product. The session will present the experience of the Vegalsa Eroski network of neighbourhood supermarkets with the use of this technology.

Social event with the purpose of holding the meet-up of packaging among exhibitors and visitors.

Presentation explaining the evolution by volume in the main European markets by product segments as well as estimates for 2022.

What concrete demands exist in LATAM industries and companies regarding the development of packaging for the food sector that could be solved jointly with Europe through technology and knowledge transfer.

Ilunion will explain how management is committed to a talent management strategy that promotes the representativeness of all the skills of each member of the team.

Different solutions that integrate the most innovative machine vision and collaborative robotics to ensure quality and automate processes in the packaging sector will be showcased.

Beam Suntory's sustainability goals, how we work with suppliers on a daily basis to align and achieve them together, and how we are able to apply them in our purchasing and new brand developments will be presented. Sustainability has become a fundamental pillar in our packaging purchasing decisions.

Integration of weightlessness into collaborative handling with cobots

Packfeeder integrates the BECKHOFF XTS system for flexible and efficient positioning and handling of containers. As part of the ROTZINGER Group, the company strengthens its robotic positioning systems that allow the user to install new formats without new tools and immediately, shortening the time-to-market. In addition, marking, traceability, orientation, cleaning and labelling functions are easily added within the equipment. Present and future together.

Hispack has carried out this quantification survey and sectoral analysis which is presented as a unique instrument in Spain, in which the contribution of the packaging sector as a driver of the country’s industrial, economic and social development is manifest.

The study quantifies, categorises and analyses the economic facts and figures of the more than 3,000 companies linked to the main manufacturing segments of the sector, which make possible the key role of packaging in the various industries in which it is applied.

The study concludes with a look into the future and the main lines of development on which the players in the sector as a whole are working. If the pandemic brought about a productive paradigm shift that highlighted the importance of industrial relocation and short supply chains, the current context is no less important.

The Safe Smart Food project is composed of 5 clusters from 4 EU countries, Smart Food Cluster (Lithuania), Business Upper Austria (Austria), Packaging Cluster (Spain), Foodservice Cluster (Spain) and Food Products Quality Cluster (Latvia), which have joined together to promote the internationalisation of the associated clusters and their member companies. The objectives of the project are to strengthen the collaboration between clusters and improve their management capacity in order to create the conditions for a favourable ecosystem in the agri-food sector to boost innovation, competitiveness and internationalisation of SMEs and to offer cluster SMEs a service programme based on excellence.

The future of the agri-food sector, driven by social, environmental and demand changes, involves implementing 360 sustainability strategies, and Mercabarna's fundamental objective is to facilitate and promote this vision in the sector. Mercabarna's strategy works on the different areas of sustainability and setting up projects in different aspects such as energy and the circular economy. The explanation will include the main lines of work and projects developed in the Food Unit of Barcelona.

The session will focus on the specific sustainability needs and solutions in packaging for the food sector throughout its value chain, from production to consumption. Innovation in sustainable materials faces challenges of compatibility with food contact and must in turn maintain or improve the preservation and shelf-life needs of products, as a key focus of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12.3)

A space in which to learn about an example of good practice from a packaging company that represents one point in the value chain.   

Collaborative robotics brings improved care to hospitals and rehabilitation clinics and assists healthcare professionals with safety, data and treatment efficiency. People lie at the centre of our innovation, as we treat their pain safely and effectively, and the scientific evidence makes ADAMO a device that’s unique in the world.

Innovative project for an adaptive machine based on an intelligent conveyor system capable of handling different products and containers to achieve flexible production regardless of batch size. The machine allows format changeovers without machine downtime by integrating machine vision, robotics and HMI based on ergonomic and intuitive web technology. It is the first machine of its kind on the market.

New companies from the packaging industry join the cluster to improve their skills, contacts and projects. We explain who they are and what their potential is.

At the Spanish SME we’ve always had the desire to integrate end-of-line robotics in partnership with the production team. The advent of collaborative robots has led to a major revolution, given that, with affordable investment in robots, support and tooling, we can include this technology that assists operators in tasks such as palletising, in such a way that the people can focus on quality control.

KH LLoreda is committed to sustainability, which is why it has a fully automated line to minimise the use of plastic and use coding and marking technologies that do not generate waste or use consumables. Discover the technologies it uses for its packaging and labelling operations that are environmentally friendly and guarantee full efficiency and traceability of operations.  

The impact of simple programming on industrial development

Consumer habits are changing and this is a constant challenge for the food industry as it has to adapt presentation and packaging formats that are also required to move towards greater environmental sustainability. In this context and as a consequence of the new demands of the Mass Consumption, most food companies are working on the development of more sustainable packaging that anticipates the future regulations that may arise in the European Union to advance on the path of the Circular Economy.

Explore how technology is a driver of competitiveness with different companies to learn about the management of operational data related to digitisation, cybersecurity, automation and connectivity to realise a smart industry and innovation and collaboration ecosystems.

The Universal Robots ecosystem continues to grow with an increasingly robust network of distribution partners, integrators, machine manufacturers and accessory developers on the UR+ platform. This coming together of specialised companies is benefiting the end customer when it comes to integrating customised solutions based on collaborative robotics and broad expertise.

The planet is in crisis and we must take decisive action to stop the damage and restore its health. In 2019, Unilever set out a plan to tackle perhaps the most visible environmental problem we have in the FMCG industry: plastic packaging. The company set new and challenging targets that include halving the use of virgin plastic and helping to collect and process more plastic packaging than it sells.

A space in which to learn about an example of good practice from a packaging company that represents one point in the value chain.

All packaging in the European Union must be reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030. This time horizon paints an accelerated picture of sustainable innovation among leading brands and the packaging industry. Participating companies will show how these sustainability objectives are generating new scenarios for cooperation and the development of innovation based on the resolution of specific challenges.

In times of VUCA/BANI/TUNA, the company must not only not falter, it must not succumb, its spirit must rise in the face of difficulties, and this cannot be done with a false motivation of petty motivation, but with the strength that comes from being empowered, self-confident and with the drive of resilience in its purest form. Are you coming?

We will discover sustainable packaging solutions, in the food industry, from the Clúster Gourmet de Catalunya, with a final experience for the associates.  

We analyse live with Víctor Borrás, presenter of the Packaging Podcast, the sensations of the fair and the results so far with a real-time programme of the monthly section of the cluster in the podcast.

The characteristics of the cosmetic industry and the benefits of using collaborative robots for palletizing applications.

Presentation of in-feeder solutions based on PMZ technology and collaborative robotics.

We’ll discover the main functionalities and features of the Robotiq palletising solution.

Customer Engagement, the interaction between companies and consumers, is one of the current trends in the packaging market. At this round-table discussion, the QR technology standardisation body, GS1, together with Packaging Cluster and Macsa ID, will present the possibilities of QR codes from three perspectives: a technological proposal from GS1, a study on the possibilities of customer engagement carried out by Packaging Cluster, and several use cases led by Macsa ID that confirm how the possibilities of the technology and the perspectives identified in the study are now a reality.

The Ecotherm Box project is working to develop an innovative packaging system based on recyclable cardboard at Saica Pack Amposta's operational plant, intended to replace the current expanded polystyrene plastic boxes of high-end tuna suppliers, Balfegó. With the experience of the consultancy firm Inèdit, a new box will be created with an eco-design that will meet the strict requirements of gourmet fish logistics, with a budget of over €74,000.

Reflections on the use of robots as components of industrial machines, experiences in bread manufacturing processes.

Covid-19 was a major blow to the beauty industry, although, thanks to its resilience, it did not affect all categories and channels equally. Changing consumer habits and digital transformation, at all levels of the value chain, were the catalysts for some of the trends that are now at their peak. During the presentation by Helena Rodríguez, Media & Publications Manager of Beauty Cluster, we will discover how the cosmetics and perfumery market has evolved over the last two years, how the sector has adapted to different situations and what its future prospects are.

In this presentation, Dr. Jordi Pagès will talk about the Catalan robotics company PAL robotics and the different business units involved in the company's activity, focusing, in this case, on intralogistics and a use case involving a giant in the retail sector: Throughout this presentation, we will learn about the StockBot robot, intended for inventory tracking and how this solution has contributed to improve Decathlon's stock automation.

A space in which to learn about an example of good practice from a packaging company that represents one point in the value chain.

One of the companies with the most experience in collaborative palletising systems (Neobotik) will be showing the introduction of flexible palletising solutions for their client PERSAN, a benchmark in the cosmetics industry.

Packaging and intralogistics are part of the design, manufacturing, distribution and maintenance processes found in the life cycle of industrial products (food and non-food). End-of-line automation is extended with the automation of intralogistics through the use of fixed or mobile robots. Warehouse management applications are integrated with ERP and logistics management systems. All of this has an impact on the talent the company needs in order to take advantage of this evolution, both in terms of the expansion of technological and management skills (with processes more widely distributed and new business models), as well as the transversal skills that the new, more open and collaborative work environments require.  

KID'S CLUSTER and Packaging Cluster have produced a study that aims to inspire companies in the sector to drive innovations in the design, manufacture and consumer experience of their products through boxes and packaging. The report identifies 24 trends based on the preferences, demands and expectations of the millennial, centennial and alpha generations, grouped into three major macro-trends: Fun!, Peace of Mind and Sustainability.

We’ll describe the resources that Universal Robots makes available to schools to provide an educational experience with optimal results.

Learn about the integration of additive manufacturing technology in the productive information flow and the incorporation of new technologies in SMEs.

Discover the methodology and culture of collaborative innovation to generate more ideas within an organisation through tools to develop new ideas that generate value within the company.