ACMA Tea Days – A world in a teacup
ACMA recently hosted Tea Days at its headquarters in Italy, an event dedicated to the world of tea, revolving around three concepts: Knowledge, Sustainability and Innovation.
ACMA, which in 2019 celebrates 95 years in the business, is a Coesia company that specialises in the design, construction and marketing of machines and systems for the packaging of consumer packaged goods, with significant experience in the tea sector. In this context, ACMA’s know-how not only encompasses the specific area of packaging technologies but extends right along the supply chain, taking in the various phases connected with the production and consumption of the beverage: from the cultivation of the tea plant to the process of drying and producing the product, and through to subsequent marketing and consumption phase, which differs according to the reference market.
Knowledge, Sustainability and Innovation
During the event, the world of tea and the time-honoured culture with which it is associated were represented within the Knowledge section. In a dedicated area, guests were able to enjoy an exhibition of innumerable types of tea and objects connected with the consumption of this beverage in various countries, from Japan to England, and from China and India to Morocco. A highly sensory experience based on sounds and smells as well as aesthetics.
Meanwhile, the materials used in the packaging of tea were the focal point of the sustainability section, which involved specialist suppliers. Companies that took part in the event included Terranova and Glatfelter, both involved in the manufacturing and processing of filter papers; Interfil and Zwirnerei, which specialise in the production of tea bag threads; Polypack, which produces tags and envelopes; Cartotecnica Naldi, whose core business is the manufacturing of cardboard boxes and Rockwell Automation, which supplies systems for controlling and optimising the consumption of machines.
ACMA proposes solutions that work with sustainable materials in order to guarantee the utmost attention to environmental protection.
As well as external suppliers, lots of attention was also focused on the technology partnerships with some Coesia companies. These were explored in the Innovation section. Collaboration with the other group companies is complementary and strategic for the development of customised and complex projects.
Tea Days was attended by Atlantic Zeiser, which displayed its latest applications in inline and offline digital printing, designed for track and trace solutions. Flexlink, a company specialised in the creation of product handling systems, exhibited an application based on collaborative robots – cobots – for the palletisation of boxes of tea and two types of conveyor belts. Emmeci, specialised in the creation of boxes for “premium” sectors, presented solutions to enrich our current range of secondary tea packaging products.
ACMA’s tea portfolio
In the exhibition area customers were able to see the different models that make up ACMA’s portfolio of solutions dedicated to tea. The first machine on display was the TM 320, designed to pack single chamber tea bags and presented in the comprehensive over-wrapping configuration, thus representing a complete solution. The TE 500 F stood out for its top-level performance (it can reach 500 ppm) with heat-sealed double chamber tea bags, displayed in “complete line” mode for the secondary packaging of the bags in pouches. Finally, there was also the TD 300, a mid-speed machine (300 ppm) for the creation of double chamber tea bags, produced without the use of metal staples or glue.
This underlines the important influence that ACMA has had in the development and integration of technology over the last 95 years. Technological innovation that is always in step with the times and the needs of the market.
