On Monday, 9th of March, the new workspace of Packaging Cluster officially opened in Sabadell, at the Can Roqueta Industrial Business Center

In 2012, the Packaging Cluster was born with the aim of offering a tool that boosted the packaging sector in Catalonia, as well as the industry, and since then, it hasn’t stopped growing. Currently, the cluster consists of 86 companies, knowledge centers and entities, coordinated by a team of four people, which at the logistics level has led to moving its headquarters to Sabadell, to the Can Roqueta Industrial Business Center more specifically. The inauguration of this new workspace took place on Monday, 9th of March, where more than 60 professionals from the cluster ecosystem attended to the celebration of this new stage in the entity.

The session began with the first meeting of the year of the Board of Directors, which periodically assemble to know the status of the cluster, to approve future activities and budgets and to take stock of what happened so far by providing a strategic orientation to boost the sector of the packaging.

The meeting was conformed by the Board of Directors, some companies as listeners and two of the new members of the cluster, Concentrol and Eurofins, who presented themselves briefly in front of the attendees. In the session an economic summary was made that reviewed the movements executed in the first quarter of the year, the planned activities for the members and the cluster were presented and the progress of the ongoing R+D+i projects: Safe Smart Food, FoodPackLab and the sector study, funded 100% by ACCIÓ through Industry 4.0 coupons, in relation to Industry 4.0. The session was used to take stock of the impact of the Pick&Pack on the positioning and visibility of the cluster, as well as the feelings on the part of the participants in the first edition of the boutique event.

These meetings allow comparing the current situation of the entity with the past one and following clear indicators, in tune with the guidelines recommended in the audit to which Packaging Cluster was submitted at the end of the year, to achieve “Excellence” in the management of the cluster, at European level. In this way, the KPI’s marked by the Strategic Plan of the cluster are constantly monitored and the results enable to activate elements, which otherwise would not happen.

Later, institutionals welcome were offered to the more than 60 invited professionals. It started with the President of Packaging Cluster, Mr. Artur Costa, who presented the new challenges facing the cluster with the relocation of its headquarters and the projection of the future, as well as the evolution of the cluster in these years.

For its part, the General Director of Industry of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Mrs. Matilde Villarroya, has pointed out the great potential of the packaging sector today, with an annual turnover of 7.1 billion euros and a key position along the way towards sustainability. Catalonia meets the ideal conditions for the industry, because it states that “we have companies, universities, technology centers and research centers” that allow the constant growth of the ecosystem itself and that has led us to reach the figure of 86 active members in the cluster.

Finally, as the special guest of the inauguration, the President of the Club of Innovation and Technology of the Cecot, Mr. Enric Barba, talked about “Leadership: a key factor in the success of innovation“. In his speech, he gave us some of the keys needed to introduce innovation on the leadership and gave real examples that occurred in the Battle of Trafalgar, replicable to the present.

The inauguration ended with a joint toast and a networking after-work among the attendees.