Sustainability Challenges Demand New Approaches Backed by Trusted Suppliers

Universal Pack, an Italian pharmaceutical and food packaging OEM, needed to develop machines capable of handling new recyclable and compostable laminates. These sustainable materials have different elastic, physical, and chemical properties that make them much harder to process on traditional packaging machinery.

Universal Pack partnered with Rockwell Automation to develop new operational concepts for handling sustainable packaging materials. The collaboration enabled new control architectures that are easier to program, test, and validate, with greater scope for future modifications to accommodate evolving sustainable material requirements.

Universal Pack successfully developed packaging machines compatible with recyclable and compostable laminates for food and pharmaceutical customers. Machines now offer full Industry 4.0 and smart machine capabilities while providing easier troubleshooting, reduced training effort, and improved safety.

Sustainable packaging materials require fundamentally different machine control strategies, not just incremental adjustments to existing designs. Food sector experience with sustainable laminates provides a head start when pharma sector sustainability requirements eventually mature. Trusted automation partnerships are critical when R&D must happen quickly to meet emerging regulatory and market demands.