Bergami Srl was founded in 1980 by Leandro Bergami in Altedo near Bologna - an area which would later become known around the world as the most famous packaging region in Italy.
Technology enthusiast and expert in automation mechanisms and assembly, Leandro Bergamo decided to pursue his business career with the help of his family, and they still continue to manage the company today.
From a family business to a strong international company, with an average yearly turnover of around 10 million Euros, Bergami has become a prominent machine builder for many leading multinationals in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors supplying complete packaging lines or single boxing, wrapping, casing, tube fi ling and palletising machines.
“Right from the start Bergami has focused on total quality in its machines,“ Daniele Bergami, Sales Director explained. “From the initial design of a machine to its final construction, including its component parts, my father has never made any compromises between price and quality, and in the long-term this philosophy has fully repaid all our efforts to deliver top of the range lines. For example, in the cosmetics sector product packaging is very visual. It is often used as a marketing differentiator to successfully attract and also to promote exclusivity, or a desired value or quality, of the products inside the packaging. For this reason, in addition to being fast, our packaging machines must also be extremely precise with the ability to be able to change the packaging format size without any dead times or extra costs”.
On the strength of this philosophy, Bergami has developed its business, which is almost exclusively based on export sales with 95% of the machines they build exported to countries around the world.
Davide Bergami who, together with his father, manages the technical and production offices added, “To achieve high quality product development, including inspection efficiency, all our machine production is directly managed in our Italian headquarters where our factory has recently been extended to 6,000 square meters on just one floor. Our mission is to produce cutting-edge packaging machines, incorporating innovative designs, that are constructed according to FDA-EU and CMP guidelines, that are easy to clean, allow fast format changes and which can be technically supported by our global network of appointed and established Bergami experts”.
He continued, “For us, the use of SMC components is not open to debate. Even though there are other competitors who offer cheaper components, we are not prepared to make any compromises. The quality and reliability of SMC products are unequalled and as we work with multinationals and on a global scale, the availability and reliability of the components are of primary importance. For example, at the recent Pack Expo exhibition in Chicago, which is one of the most important international trade fairs for Bergami, our stand featured machines and production lines using SMC components to help demonstrate our commitment to quality and to also act as a further guarantee of the reliability of our plant”.
At this year’s Expo Pack exhibition in Chicago, Bergami exhibited their ASV 60 Vertical Automatic BoxingMachine which typifies the excellent build quality and advanced technological features found throughout the complete Bergami range.
And, as customer confidentiality is accepted as a fundamental requirement when working with multinationals, Bergami also recognise the need to provide a completely confidential service to their customers. Consequently, for the design, construction, control and commissioning of all their machines, they use people who work exclusively for Bergami to meet their customers’ needs.
“Through our spirit of enterprise we will continue to improve our customer service, creating direct agreements for the supply of spare parts and after sales service”, Daniele Bergami continued. “In the USA we have decided to open a Bergami branch, as a step up from the classic local distributor. However, in the rest of Europe, Asia, China, India, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, etc, we already have agents and distributors that have created a diffused organisation with offices around the world which, given that we have installed more than 1000 lines in 45 countries, is essential to be able to respond directly to the needs of the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, chemical, food and tobacco industries”.
Automatic vertical cartoner ASV 60
The ASV 60 cartoner has been specifically designed to meet the increasing demands of the cosmetics industry and especially for packaging products such as creams, lotions, and perfumes.
This intermittent motion cartoner uses a modern “Balcony” style construction which makes it possible to completely separate the machines mechanical area from the carton and product conveyor area. Thanks to this design, the cartoner´s internal components can be thoroughly inspected at the end of the production run, thereby allowing complete accessibility, for cleaning, maintenance, inspection and size changeover operations.
Incorporating the latest ergonomic features (operator friendly), cartons, liners, leaflets, coupons and other required materials can be easily loaded from the front of the machine using either automatic or manual feeding.
The carton pick-up and positive opening mechanism consists of double tilting arms combined with a mechanical pre-breaking device that places the erected carton directly into the cartons transportation belts. At no time does the carton come into contact with the metal rails as the transport belts actually travels with the carton. The carton transport system consists of scratch-proof white plastic toothed belts to ensure package integrity, even when processing cartons with a high gloss finish. The ASV 60 cartoner is ideal for handling fragile or delicate products including cartons with internal liners or partitions.
The automatic in -feed liner system forms the liner before loading into the carton and is suitable for handling traditional, unusual liner shapes, and delicate cartons.
The automatic in-feed product system can be designed with either a simple transport belt for stable products or with recyclable pucks for unstable products.
Several Pick & Place systems are also available for product rotation before the loading into the carton.
Similar to other Bergami machines, the ASV 60 uses accurate mechanical movements and reliable product feeding systems. Size changeover is very quick and simple with adjustments made via digital indicators located on the front of the machine.
Bergami Engineers have detailed knowledge and experience of:
• Various materials used in the packaging industry.
• Cartoning with or without partition of vials and ampoules.
• Labelling and printing techniques, ink-jet printing, thermo
transfer printing, hot foil and laser printing, etc.
• Carton closing systems (tamper-evident).
• Research and assessment capabilities – selection
of qualified suppliers of machines based on analyzing strengths
and weaknesses.
• Complete project management
Some Bergami approved SMC products:
• Series SV2000 Solenoid Valves
Series SV2000 solenoid valves are used by Bergami in their K15 case packer machine. Offering outstanding reliability and operational flexibility, these solenoid valves enable the end user to make last minute changes to the modular system during the manufacturing process thereby building a truly “tailor-made” machine. According to Bergami Srl´s technical experts, the winning attributes of this valve series are their modular electric and pneumatic features, which enable customised solutions right down to the last detail. Additionally, as SMC can provide a complete service including “turnkey solutions”, Bergami customers´ can specify a pre-assembled manifold, complete with all the required accessories.
• New Series ZSE10 Digital Vacuum Switch
Another product that is used and highly recommended by Bergami Srl, is SMC´s latest Series ZSE10 Digital Vacuum Switch. Normally configured with M5 threaded attachments, for use with vacuum ranges between 0 and 101.0 KPa, the switch is used to control vacuum and interfaces with any PLC the end user may specify. Using pre-set values which meet the correct operational range, the ZSE10´s dual-colour digital display changes from green to red when the vacuum circuit is working outside the programmed parameters.
• Energy saving product: ZL112
As an energy aware organization, Bergami now use SMC´s new Series ZL112 multi-stage ejector, with integrated ZSE30A digital vacuum switch to select the operation range. This product has led to considerable savings in air consumption, as the multi-stage technology optimises the air discharged from the individual Venturi tubes. The ZL112 ejector delivers a high suction flow rate with reduced air consumption and therefore offers outstanding energy efficiency. The multi-stage ejector is used in all the Bergami machines with “Pick and Place” mode movements, where very fast transfer speed and operation cycles mean that low air consumption is especially important.
February 2011
