It's been a challenging year, yet one with a show of great resilience from the processing and packaging machinery industry. The APPMA has made progress on many fronts.
With vaccinations exceeding forecasts, NSW and Victoria are progressively opening up earlier than expected. Confidence continues to grow that 2022 will mean safe re-engagement and rebuilding across all sectors, allowing all to enjoy networking events, travel and exhibitions – including the APPMA flagship event, AUSPACK 2022 – and key industry overseas exhibitions.
Global collaborations
The APPMA is exceptionally proud of facilitating global collaborations with the World Economic Forum and Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre in a manufacturing round table. This involves major companies across the six Modern Manufacturing Initiative sectors of resources technology – medical, recycling, defence, space and, close to the hearts of the packaging and processing sectors: food and beverage.
Working and collaborating domestically, while leveraging the learnings and experience from global sectors and applying these where suitable in Australia, will help deal with our unique regional challenges. This is just one potential benefit of the initial round table – and an important step in developing long-term networking and interactive engagement.
More will be announced about the session, its outcomes, the next steps and potential flow-on regarding industry initiatives and benefits as the relationship develops during 2022.
'Whole industry' approach benefits all
Pandemic-induced disruption allowed many businesses – and the APPMA as the industry’s major representative body – to reassess the packaging and processing industry’s needs, to review what has been working, what needs adjusting, and, more importantly, exploring how positive change can evolve from a very challenging period.
For the APPMA, this included using the opportunity to engage and work with industry to explore the Australian exhibition landscape and how AUSPACK could evolve from being perceived as a primarily “packaging exhibition” into a true “all of packaging and processing event” run by the industry, for the industry. Such an exhibition would truly represent all packaging and processing sectors, including machinery, ancillary equipment, materials, food processing and industry services all under one roof. Of course, this would come with challenges and changes to address, however, the potential benefits to all stakeholders – be they exhibitors, visitors, exhibition partners or the broader industry – has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
The imminent AUSPACK exhibition is well positioned to provide a positive springboard for both 2022 and future ‘All of Industry’ Packaging and Processing Exhibitions.
Merry Christmas
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work and support of the industry during a very challenging 2021, and wish you a very safe and happy Christmas and New Year. We look forward to seeing you all at AUSPACK in May 2022.
This article was first published in the November-December 2021 print issue of PKN Packaging News, on page 2 of the Machinery Matters supplement.
