In recent years, the discussion around industrial evolution has focused on automation, digitalization, and interconnection. Today, the paradigm is changing. Industry 5.0 introduces one principle: technology must not only enhance the performance of production systems, but also improve people’s work, make production more sustainable, and strengthen companies’ ability to face change.
“In this new vision, people are not pushed to the edges of the production process. Machines adapt to the operator’s needs and help improve efficiency, safety, and the quality of work. Their task is to lighten the most repetitive, tiring, and without real added value activities, leaving room for more qualified functions,” begins Alessio Borgo, Key Account Manager at Cama.
Technology does not replace the person but helps them. With Industry 4.0, the core was process automation and integration between systems; Industry 5.0 introduces collaboration between operators, robots, and artificial intelligence, creates synergy between human capabilities and technologies, and improves production.
“Cama makes sophisticated processes simple. The factory of the future combines human capabilities with the precision of machines. It improves ergonomics and safety and enhances human skills. For this model to be effective, companies must invest in continuous training to reduce the digital divide and improve job quality.” According to Borgo, “Industry 5.0 is built on three elements: people at the center, environmental sustainability, and operational resilience. It redefines industrial production: people are not just components of the system, but the core reference around which technology creates value.”
Collaborative applications that improve work
Along the path that is leading industrial packaging towards Industry 5.0, technology improves human work, increases plant efficiency, and reduces fatigue, repetitiveness, and operational complexity. According to Alessio Borgo, “one of the areas in which innovation is delivering tangible results is collaborative applications. Cama is focusing on automating repetitive and physically demanding activities that do not generate real added value but still affect production organization. Examples include loading products into die-cut carton magazines and palletizing operations, which in many companies are still performed manually.”
ACL (Automatic Carton Loading) systems for the automatic loading of cartons and collaborative palletizing improve the production process without reducing the operator’s role, but by enhancing it with more qualified tasks.
Borgo draws attention “to the contribution of collaborative robots, with which the relationship between operator and machine becomes the sharing of the same process according to a logic of integration. Cama works on the digital twin as a simulator of the production process to estimate operational scenarios and identify possibilities for improvement. Technology also has effects on sustainability, both for materials and for the overall efficiency of the system. The use of cardboard, one of the most recyclable materials, goes hand in hand with plants designed to reduce waste, contain energy consumption, and limit the effort of operators. Collaborative automation, digital twin, and environmental attention converge in an industrial vision consistent with the principles of Industry 5.0.”
Why resilience is a strategic factor in packaging
Industrial systems face constantly evolving markets, diverse demands, and operating conditions that change rapidly. Plants must be designed to remain flexible in dynamic contexts while maintaining high levels of efficiency. “It is necessary to build plants that can adapt quickly. This condition allows companies to respond to change,” says Alessio Borgo.
“Resilience means preventing interruptions and reducing the risk of plant downtime; technology is decisive. The integration of intelligent devices into machines makes it possible to control consumption, monitor operating conditions, and continuously check the status of components. From here comes more advanced maintenance management. If preventive maintenance is important, the real progress is predictive maintenance. Thanks to data analysis, it is possible to detect any anomalies in advance and schedule stoppages by avoiding sudden shutdowns, reducing the impact on production activities. Resilience in packaging is not only the ability to withstand the unexpected, but to design and govern adaptable, controllable plants to guarantee continuity, efficiency, and production stability over time.”
Digital twin: how packaging process management is changing
Predicting the behavior of the production process before it starts is an advantage. “The digital twin plays a leading role in this. It simulates the behavior of the plant and makes it possible to compare different solutions, making informed choices for controlled and reliable production,” says Alessio Borgo.
“Digital twins are based on models developed by Cama and integrated with parameters collected over the years from real plants. On this basis, the simulation covers not only normal operation, but also a series of critical events that may occur, making it possible to understand in advance how the system would react before the plant starts up. The Cama system remains useful even while production is underway. In the event of a format changeover or other modifications, the simulation makes it possible to assess the effects of the change before applying it on the line. Alongside the digital twin, Cama has developed augmented reality solutions to guide operators in real time.”
Industrial packaging and augmented reality: technology supporting operators
“Augmented reality makes the relationship with Cama machines immediate. With a tablet equipped with a dedicated application, the operator can scan the two-dimensional code placed on the different parts of the machine and view digital content with real-time information. The operator can access a three-dimensional reconstruction of the plant, useful for activities such as training, maintenance, and consultation of technical documentation. The strength of augmented reality is making information immediately available and guiding the operator clearly through activities that until recently required a high level of experience,” says Alessio Borgo.
“Every customer can consult the information of their own plant securely.” According to Borgo, one of the most relevant aspects is the greater accessibility of data. “In the past, much information was concentrated in the hands of highly experienced technical personnel. Today, thanks to the machine interface, this content is also accessible to operators with different levels of experience. It is an important factor in production contexts where shifts and staff turnover make simple and easily consultable support necessary. Augmented reality offers important benefits at the operational level, because it helps people work in a guided and safe environment.”
Here, the centrality of the person who uses advanced technology is recognized, technology that is easy to use every day and capable of improving training, maintenance, and the overall quality of work.
The value of retrofit: digital twin and augmented reality for existing lines
“Digital twin and augmented reality are not limited to the most complex systems or top-of-the-range machines. They can be applied to all Cama systems and, in certain cases, also to machines that have already been installed and are already in operation. The moment when these technologies express their value best is at plant delivery, when the customer gains experience, develops operational skills, and learns to manage a complex machine correctly. Having both the digital twin and augmented reality available means making learning faster, reducing the risk of error, and limiting the possibility of plant downtime,” explains Alessio Borgo.
“These systems do not concern only new plants. Cama is developing upgrade projects on existing lines, offering customers the possibility of on-board machine installation even at a later stage. The benefit is evident in companies where staff turnover is frequent. Less recent machines may present some limitations: plants installed many years ago may not have the necessary characteristics to obtain the advantages of the most current solutions, but it is always possible to contact our support at service@camagroup.com,” Borgo points out. “Despite this, interest in these systems is increasing. Those who experience the benefits of these technologies on new plants are the first to ask for their extension also to lines already in operation.”
In this scenario, preventive maintenance and, above all, predictive maintenance take on a decisive role. The integration of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and intelligent on-board machine devices makes it possible to collect useful data to identify possible failures in advance. This reduces downtime, extends the life of the machinery, and limits the risk of sudden shutdowns which, in a production line, can have a high cost.”
With data analysis and information processing carried out directly on the plant, it is possible to determine when to intervene, when to replace a component, and how to schedule maintenance activities at the right time. Predictive maintenance makes it possible to prevent problems before they occur and to plan downtime in a controlled way.
Edge computing: the value of data collected on board the machine
Edge computing, that is, the processing of data directly on board the machine, makes it possible to manage a packaging plant by analyzing information close to the production process. Thanks to smart devices installed on the plant, it is possible to monitor component status in real time, as well as the environmental conditions that affect line performance.
“The data collected make it possible to identify trends, variations, and deviations, so that plant behaviour can be assessed across work shifts and under different operating conditions. This is important,” explains Alessio Borgo. “In fact, when materials such as cardboard and paperboard are used, and these are affected by the humidity of the production environment, their behaviour in the machine can change and affect machine efficiency. With edge computing, we can accurately read what happens at machine level and link machine performance to actual operating conditions, turning data into a useful tool.”
The data collected are analyzed and correlated with advanced tools such as artificial intelligence, turning information into concrete operational guidance. This helps the customer better understand the production context and identify the most appropriate actions to keep the plant efficient.
“More advanced companies pay close attention to these aspects. The production environment is important, especially in food packaging and when using sensitive materials such as cardboard and paperboard. For this reason, edge computing is strategic for interpreting the operating context and managing it with greater awareness.”
Remote training: decisive, high-value support
Training reached a turning point during the pandemic, when travel restrictions led to remote alternative solutions that made it possible to provide assistance and transfer know-how to operators effectively and safely.
“Cama has turned a difficulty into an opportunity to train operators remotely, while maintaining high standards of quality, control, and reliability in knowledge transfer. Today, this is a real form of support not only in emergency situations, but also in day-to-day plant management, especially when speed and continuity become essential”, underlines Alessio Borgo. “This approach reduces time, travel, and costs, with concrete benefits for everyone. For a company with an international presence, being able to provide expert support remotely is a major advantage, especially when plants are installed in distant countries.”
Sustainable packaging: designing more efficient plants with less waste
From the earliest design stage of a plant, it is necessary to take sustainability and waste reduction into account. Correct sizing, together with tools such as the digital twin and artificial intelligence, and with the identification of what is actually necessary to produce, makes it possible to size the system precisely and operate a balanced plant that uses resources in the best possible way, reducing waste of materials, energy, and unnecessary production capacity.
“This approach makes it possible to develop high-efficiency systems, reducing losses due to line inefficiencies and downtime. The reduction in consumption concerns packaging material but also energy consumption, with priority given to the production continuity of a rational system,” underlines Alessio Borgo. “Added to this is the advantage of creating more compact and better organized plants. Solutions such as collaborative palletizing and ACL systems in fact help optimize space and make production more orderly and efficient.”
From the Digital Product Passport to Ecodesign: how industrial packaging is evolving
In European industrial packaging, it is not only the regulations that are changing, but the very way packaging is designed. Today, packaging is evaluated not only for what it protects, but also for the information it contains. The introduction of the Digital Product Passport and Ecodesign represents two important reference points in this field.
The first puts the value of information at the center. The second turns this principle into technical and industrial choices to create packaging that is transparent, readable, and aligned with the circular economy even before the packaging is produced.
The ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) gives the Digital Product Passport a central role in the flow of information along the value chain. “It is not just a matter of adding information,” observes Alessio Borgo. “The point is to design packaging that can provide information, is traceable, and is consistent with the sustainability and transparency requirements that are becoming increasingly important in the European consumer market.”
In this context, Ecodesign is the creative framework for packaging that must be sustainable from the start, reducing the use of resources, unnecessary weight and volume, and improving recyclability and efficiency in order to limit environmental impact without sacrificing function.
“For Cama, which has always worked with paperboard and cardboard, also as an alternative to solutions based on plastic materials, this challenge grows out of a design process shared with the customer. The value of the project lies in the ability to develop high-performance solutions,” observes Borgo. The message, therefore, is clear: “the packaging of the future will have to be not only sustainable, but also more intelligent, better documented, and better able to inform the consumer, clearly demonstrating its value across the entire life cycle.”
