The main event 2023 that prepares the international package printing and converting industry exhibition Prit4All (Fiera Milano, 27-30 May 2025) brought together entrepreneurs and managers from the entire supply chain, the technical press and leading technicians on 6 July in Stresa. They came from all over the world to create an ever stronger and more fruitful network of relationships.
The organisers of the Print4All Conference aimed to strengthen an industry community that thrives on opportunities to meet and learn about markets and technologies. They did this effectively by inviting to Stresa, on one of Italy’s enchanting lakes, operators from all over the world: around 300, including the 70 buyers in the ICE quota to whom specific moments of contact with the vendors participating in the initiative were dedicated: the laboratories held by Petratto, Uteco, Ricoh, Fujifilm and Omet and the following day’s visit to the Omet headquarters. Everyone was there, and it was great to see the unity of purpose of the Italian operators and the genuine interest of the foreign guests in meeting during the breaks between conferences and at the eve dinner.
Satisfied were the organisers of Argi, Acimga and Fiera Milano, who were committed to weaving the network of international relations necessary to consolidate Print4All 2025 as a reference for those operating in the various printing segments: publishing, commercial, industrial and all types of flexible packaging, paper, corrugated cardboard and accessories.
The market is changing and companies must transform
The 6 July conference involved leading experts, technology suppliers and users, representatives of institutions and associations, with the specialized press involved in presenting guests and moderating round tables, and the young Leonardo Venturi (Stratego Group) coordinating the event with solid professionalism and effectiveness.
The inspirational theme of the conference – the convergence of technologies and applications, which generates hybridisation and new mixes of products and services – was introduced at the start of the proceedings by the Presidents of Acimga and Argi, Daniele Barbui and Antonio Maiorano, with Enrico Barboglio weaving the thread of the talks.
Important contributions came from Mark Hanley, founder and president of the international consulting firm IT Strategies, and Pat McGrew, an American analyst and consultant of recognised calibre and experience. They painted a picture of the rapidly changing global printing and converting markets, bringing with it rising prices for media, consumables and labour costs. These are the main challenges that package printing suppliers face in order to be able to offer more value in return for the inevitable price increases.
To stay in the market, says the analyst, printing companies must automate processes, enhance connectivity and control the TCO of the entire process, and also redefine business models. How, was addressed by Pat McGrew. She spoke about the importance of management based on proven processes, which generate an automated and flexible workflow, because only this type of efficiency allows costs to be optimised, guaranteeing healthy profitability for converters. Starting from the beginning: from a snapshot of the state of the company, through an assessment that will help to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Roundtables for an inter-supply chain
Armando Garosci, editor-in-chief of Largo Consumo magazine, led two round tables that gave voice to brands and retailers. ‘Pack as media: ideas for the future’ featured Raffaele Bombardieri, Granarolo Packaging R&D Manager, Luca Cheri, Fonti di Vinadio (Sant’Anna) Sales Manager and Diego Lazzarin, Private Label Manager – Packaging Bennet. Illustrating their most recent projects, they showed how concrete the trend is to invest in sustainability and to make packaging more capable of communicating corporate values.
In the meeting ‘Wide-eyed: visual communication in the new century’ Laura Patrizia Condello, Marketing Manager Rinaldo Franco (Best Friend), Laura Bettazzoli, Marketing Director Bonduelle and Daniele Castagnini, National Sales Director FRoSTA AG spoke about the importance of visual tools in the new distribution scenario. Objectives: to increase the visibility of products, also by dramatisation of point-of-sale activities, to capture the attention of even the most distracted consumer.
A final round table, certainly not in terms of the importance of the topics, was led by Chiara Bezzi with the title ‘Sustainability, Circularity, Packaging Regulation: what developments for the supply chain?’. It involved experts of the calibre of Marco Pasqualini, Association Development Istituto Italiano Imballaggio, Massimo Ramunni, Deputy General Manager Assocarta, and Alberto Palaveri, President Giflex to clarify the complexities, contradictions and consequences for the supply chain of the new Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR) regulation.
And then there was talked of good business
The last speech of the day was the most surprising and the most exciting and has to do with those values of social responsibility of the entrepreneur (and then ‘down’ of all individuals) of which so much is spoken. Certainly as Nico Acampora, founder and manager of the PizzAut pizzerias, spoke of it, it is not ‘socialwashing’. Extraordinary in his sentiment, generosity and oratory, Acampora recounted the genesis of this particular enterprise, which arose from the need to do something concrete for his autistic son and all those like him. Which are many and more and more: one person in 100 making the world average, which becomes 1 in 36 in the USA, 1 in 77 in Italy, 1 in 86 in the United Kingdom according to the statistics of the World Health Organization. For them, no one knows what to do and so no one – national welfare, school, social institutions – does anything.
Acampora set out to create an opportunity for real inclusion, in work, without which you cannot become independent and therefore an adult and therefore have a future. It was impossible, everyone told him, indeed harmful to prospect an autistic person for an inclusion that could only fail. Instead, Acampora did it. He has offered his autistic children a present and a future worth living, and doctors valuable information on the nature of an ‘illness’ that cannot be dealt with without love and dedication. And he offered to all who would listen the confirmation that building a civilization requires the commitment of all. Testimonials: Pope Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and many others like us.
#Convergence: present at the Print4All Conference 2023 alongside Acimga, ARGI and Fiera Milano were Assocarta, Assografici, Atif, Comieco, Enip-GCT, Era, Federazione Carta e Grafica, Gifasp, Gifco, Giflex, Gipea, Taga Italia and Unione GCT Milano.
