• More than 30 professionals have participated in the Innovation Tours at Advanced Factories and Interpack to learn first-hand about key technologies for the digitization of the packaging sector.
• The BREF Digital Packaging project, co-financed by ACCIÓ, is promoted by  a consortium of entities and companies in the sector with the aim of  accelerating the digital transformation of packaging SMEs in Catalonia.

The IRC BREF Digital Packaging  project continues to make steady progress in its mission to accelerate the digital transformation of the packaging sector in Catalonia. In recent weeks, the initiative has carried out two strategic actions of great impact: two Innovation and Technology Tours organized within the framework of two of the benchmark fairs in the industrial and packaging scene: Advanced Factories (Barcelona) and Interpack (Düsseldorf, Germany).

The objective of these technological visits has been to connect Catalan companies first-hand with the most disruptive technologies and innovations applicable to the entire value chain of the sector.

First stop: Artificial Intelligence and  automation at Advanced Factorías

The first Innovation Tour took place at Advanced Factories, the benchmark event in industrial innovation held in Barcelona. Accompanied by 25 professionals from the sector and in collaboration with the Digital Cluster of Catalonia and the Packaging Cluster, attendees were able to explore advanced solutions in areas such as robotics, digital twins, artificial vision, MES systems, sensors, cloud, traceability and artificial intelligence.

The tour, carried out with the support of Silvia Palomé from Eurecat, has made it possible to explore key solutions for industrial digital transformation. Among the companies visited were Siemens, ABB, AIS  Vision Systems, T-Systems Iberia, COPA-DATA, ifm, AETECH, Mapex and tai smart factory, which have shown solutions in industry 4.0

The international leap: Sustainability and  packaging solutions at Interpack

Shortly after, the project travelled to Düsseldorf (Germany) to participate in Interpack, the world's leading trade fair for the processing and packaging industry. On this occasion, a new Technology Tour guided by Adrià  Llacuna from Market AAD allowed Catalan companies to get to know the global trends in automation, predictive maintenance, sustainability, smart packaging and the future Digital Product Passport.

The international tour toured the spaces of leading companies and centers such as Packaging Valley, Lenord+Bauer, Hesser Packaging, ARANOW, MULTIVAC, PLASTICBAND, Innoscentia, R-Cycle and Fraunhofer  Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV , detecting key opportunities in new materials and flexible production connectivity.

About the BREF Digital Packaging project

These activities are part of the IRC BREF Digital  Packaging project - Advanced digital transformation for the packaging sector in  Catalonia. It is a collaborative initiative promoted by a consortium of leading entities: the Digital  Cluster of Catalonia, the Packaging Cluster, BertIA, ZERTIFIER, tai smart factory and market AAD, and has the support of  ACCIÓ.

The project was created to specifically address the challenge of the digital transformation of industrial SMEs in the packaging industry in Catalonia. It does so by identifying and disseminating the best technological practices in the market and by generating a reference document that will serve as a guide to activate a mixed ecosystem of digital supply and demand in the sector.