PlastMilan 2026: Italian show to showcase Madein-Europe machinery
During a press preview organised early this year, officials spoke to journalists about the 20th edition of Plast 2026, scheduled for 9-12 June at Fiera Milano, Italy; with factory visits to machinery companies such as Luigi Bandera, Moretto and BMB.
Plast sees growth with new exhibitors
The Milan-based event, said to be Europe's premier trade fair of the year for the plastics and rubber sector, and the second largest after the mammoth Germany-held K show, has demonstrated its resilience with the participation of around 200 new exhibitors, compared to the previous edition, 30% of whom are international companies, said officials from organiser Promaplast speaking at the press preview.
This, the officials added, is a particular significance “in a decidedly complex market context”, especially since sectors like automotive are undergoing a phase of transformation and adapting to current global dynamics.
“Hence, the ability to attract new exhibitors in this scenario confirms the solidity and international appeal of Plast and underlines the sector's growing confidence in the Milan event as a reference platform for presenting innovations and developing commercial partnerships,” said Mario Maggiani, Managing Director of Promaplast.
Meanwhile, Alessio Fineo, Plast Exhibition Manager, said the exhibition aims to significantly increase the presence of international visitors, with delegations coming from Middle East, Africa and Asia, organised in collaboration with ICE (a government body responsible for promoting Italian companies) and strategic agreements with trade associations, both within the sector and target markets.
Furthermore, Gabriele Caccia, Vice-President of machinery association Amaplast, said the "Madein-Europe" machinery segment is characterised by a strong export orientation towards emerging markets with growing investment propensity, and maintains a strategic role in the global scenario.
The show will have a participation of more than 1,000 exhibitors and expects visitors from 120 countries.
Bandera to promote new business unit
At Plast, extrusion machinery maker Luigi Bandera, located in Busto Arsizio (Varese), will present a new business unit on coating and lamination, the expansion of its service and spare parts program, water-soluble PVOH/PVA film and 100% PA vacuum film. It will also showcase flat-die membranes and geomembranes as well as technical sheets in ABS, PMME and PC.
The new coating and laminating business will highlight Alphacoat, which is targeted at liquid packaging, aseptic packaging, paper disposable products and packaging, aluminium packaging, and film packaging.
Furthermore, the company will introduce its ANY MA Line Supervision, said to be an intelligent and modular system for managing the entire machine and peripherals, which is developed in-house by Bandera. It can be updated remotely, reducing commissioning and troubleshooting times, said Massimo Santini, Sales/Marketing Director.
With EUR20 million invested in R&D over the last five years, the company is also focusing on AI and presented a roadmap, which includes three phases. In the first phase human error is eliminated with AI acting as a quality control guardian. Specialised cameras are strategically positioned at the winder and images are captured and passed to the AI in real-time, detecting anomalies instantly and ensuring no oversight.
In the second phase, the system evolves and will identify exactly why a defect has occurred, correlating the defect with active machine data, and provide specific parameters to operators to adjust plant set-up.
The final step aims to have a self-adjusting machine that closes the loop to ensure zero-waste production without human intervention. The machine will continuously detect any process defect, diagnose underlying causes and autonomously adjust parameters to correct the process.
BMB: focus on technical, high-speed machinery
Brescia-based injection moulding machinery manufacturer BMB SpA has a history that dates back almost 60 years ago having been established in 1967 by Egidio Bugatti as a small mechanical workshop, now with his son Marco Bugatti having come into the picture to take it to the international market.
Ensconced in the heart of the metalworking district in north Italy, with foundries, die casting and forging available in the area, BMB is able to source castings, metal fabrications, and iron/steel components for its machinery locally, allowing for lead-time management and quality control and cutting on costs of transportation, said Marco.
The family-owned business has chosen to stay midsized, with a production of 400 machines/year in the range of 100-4,800 tonnes of hybrid/electric types, and is customer-focused, according to Sales Director Lucio Strappazzon.
“We do not want to compete with Asian machinery in terms of pricing or the number of machines produced, but focus more on the technical designs of machines,” he added.
At the Plast show, it will display the eKW45HP/3450WP hybrid model tailored for high-productivity packaging and medical applications, such as a 30 ml cup production. It ensures consistent output, high speed, and operational stability.
It will also display the full electric, cleanroom-ready eKW20Pi/700 machine for food packaging, while for caps/closures, a standard business for BMB, it will display the eKW38Pi/2200 that offers energy savings and optimised cycle times, for high-volume production with reduced operational costs.
The third presentation will be another hybrid machine, eKW28Pi/1300, designed for food packaging and high-speed injection applications.
At the core of the machines is the iQ-pump technology, a hydraulic system that adjusts power output according to cycle requirements, with 15-20% reduction in energy consumption, lowering operational costs while maintaining optimal performance, says BMB.
Meanwhile, the self-lubricating pneumatic guides minimise the need for lubrication, reducing maintenance requirements and allow for a cleaner mould area, while user interaction is optimised through an advanced interface.
The new clamping unit design in the KW series also improves mould parallelism by reducing the distance between the moving plate and mould centre, supporting higher precision and accommodating large multi-cavity moulds.
BMB also offers flexible configurations for the electric and hybrid models for high-speed production.
(PRA)SUBSCRIBE to Get the Latest Updates from PRA Click Here»
