SALES and partnerships being agreed on stands appear to have made a comeback at the PPMA Total Show 2025, with exhibitors hailing the event as being ‘more important than ever’ amidst increasing pressures on businesses.
Packaging Scotland was in attendance on the final two days of the three-day event, where we were able to hear first-hand how major deals were signed and set in motion at Birmingham’s NEC – with visitors going as far as to take their own products along to test on machines.
Long-term exhibitor Autopack showcased its largest stand to date – featuring a whopping 15 machines and 20 employees. Its Vertical Form Fill and Seal (VFSS) brick pack format machine – alongside the entire exhibited line including gantry and weigher – was sold to a customer specialising in chickpeas. The firm describes the VFFS machine as being ‘compatible with all product types’, as well as being incredibly user-friendly. It is most commonly used in the food industry to pack coffee, flour, chocolates, cereals, and grains.
“We knew it would be popular, so much so someone has actually bought it – it’s very, very unusual for such a big asset to be sold (at a show),” Wayne Kedward, director at Autopack, said. “At the end of the day, nothing is better than experiencing it in person – putting your hand on it, seeing how it operates; that’s what PPMA is about.”
Elsewhere, Peebles-based Evolution Bottling & Packaging Solutions (BPS) received a number of enquiries for large-scale projects. Thefirm occupied a larger than usual stand right at the entrance.
“This was a great opportunity for us to be positioned just as people are entering the event,” Roz Cormack, marketing at Evolution BPS, said. “The enquiries we’re getting are for bigger and more interesting projects. There needs to be some work done afterwards, but the initial contact has been made.”
Showcasing a Serac dosing machine, Evolution looked to highlight its ability to deal with viscus products by processing caramel live at the show.
“At this show we really wanted to push the cups division of Serac,” she continued. “We’ve had quite a few different enquiries this year because we’ve had this machine on the stand.”
Reeco Automation scooped the Innovative Robotics/Automation accolade at the Automate UK Awards for its LD series. Llewelyn Rees, founder and technical director, said the award win is a ‘credit to the engineering team’, adding that it was fantastic to be able to celebrate together as a team on the night.
The firm’s stand was bustling, with particular attention paid to the new PM150-T, which Reeco said sets a new standard in pallet movement automation. Designed for efficiency, versatility, and seamless integration, it combines high payload capacity with an ultra-compact footprint.
“Yesterday (at the show) in particular was really good, the stand was very busy, and it always seems to pay off – we’ve been doing PPMA for years, and each year you get a new customer and sell a new product,” Llewelyn said. “I actually said to someone yesterday, if it wasn’t for this show I don’t think Reeco would be around, because when we launched the business, it was PPMA that catapulted that presence in the cobot market – so I’m a big fan of the PPMA for that reason.
“I really think the government needs to appreciate what PPMA does,” he continued. “In Germany, shows like this are subsidised. If we are going to be a country that’s competitive on the global market, we need to race automation and take in automation – and the government should step in to say let’s boost your industry, let’s get manufacturing more competitive.”
Fortress Technology launched its new Vyper Vision machine. The fully automated top and bottom label inspection solution featured in the PPMA Live Demo, with a walkthrough of the innovation beamed across the venue. The launch follows findings that revealed labelling errors accounted for almost a quarter of all UK food recalls in 2024, a figure Paul Ingall, technical support manager, told Packaging Scotland is ‘not at all’ sustainable.
The machine promises to prevent label-related defects reaching the point of sale due to wrong data input, poor quality printing, or illegible allergen details and barcodes. The machine has already been trialled by a major producer, who has submitted orders for it.
“Yesterday we had a customer bring their own product to run it through the machine and they were impressed, and it’s those sort of interactions that really give you a feel for what you might be buying,” Paul said. “Even though a lot of information is provided online now, meeting face-to-face, understanding who you’re dealing with rather than just looking at broachers is a game–changer, especially when it comes to very niche, technical projects such as product inspection or label verification.”
Schubert showcased its Schubert TLM cartoner with single-lane erector. The streamlined machine is capable of erecting, filling, and closing up to 60 cycles a minute in a compact line. Ariel Wynn, sales and marketing executive, said it had been a ‘really, really positive’ event, with the company able to speak to a range of new and existing customers.
Having this year launched its Packaging Competence Centre, the firm is using its expertise to help guide clients through new regulation as well as providing advice on aspects like packaging design, materials, and automation.
Software specialist Nulogy showcased its offering with the hard-hitting theme of ‘Don’t lose sleep over your factory floor’, as it seeks to put an end to the culture of management being kept awake at night over work stresses via its Smart Factory offering. The plug-and-play system monitors production and gives manufacturers real-time data and insights to boost efficiency, maximise capacity, and limit downtime by connecting to automated machinery and capturing relevant data.
Josephine Coombe, chief commercial officer Europe, revealed a number of conversations had been had with manufacturers during the event, with the common theme being an understanding for the need for OEE – just a lack of knowledge on how to implement it.
“This has been a very good event for us,” Josephine said. “There’s been a lot of manufacturers here who have automated lines who are worried about their machine downtime issues and then capacity constraints so we’ve had some very good conversations about how Smart Factory in particular can improve the quality and reliability.
“There’s no fighting against automation and digitalisation, it’s the way the world is going and it’s either embrace it and thrive or you’re not going to survive.”
Ishida’s Sentinel 5.0 won the Innovative Processing System award at the Automate 2025 awards. The system combines AI, machine learning, and cybersecurity to transform production lines into a self-optimising system. Torsten Giese, PR & exhibitions at Ishida Europe, said companies risk being left behind unless they start embracing AI now, before revealing the important discussions had at the event.
“Although you may have webinars, you may have mailers, you can talk on Teams… in our industry they want to see physical machines,” he explained, with the firm showcasing its Q300 machine. “They only believe it when they see it…People come to exhibitions to meet people and machines and get an idea to get the feel for something. You can’t get that in a webinar, and that’s why it’s so important to go to exhibitions.”
