3 July 2023: Tomorrow’s challenges are won by innovating today: by investing in research and development, pooling knowledge, alternating points of view and betting on open innovation processes between companies, universities, start-ups and users of products and services, in order to find together beautiful, high-performance and sustainable solutions that do not yet exist. All this, and much more, will find space in the new Innovation Centre that Fedrigoni is setting up in a large 3,000 square metre area next to its Verona office, which will be fully operational in the first quarter of 2024. The investment, which will include a share of public funding through NRRP funds, will make it possible to centralise, coordinate and optimise functions that until now have been fragmented across Italy and Europe.
The Fedrigoni Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of special papers for luxury packaging and other creative solutions, as well as of premium labels and self-adhesive materials, has chosen to push the research and development accelerator, despite one of the most uncertain and complex economic contexts of recent decades, confirming its leadership in innovation. “We believe that without continuous improvement there is no future” comments Marco Nespolo, CEO of the Fedrigoni Group “and this improvement certainly comes through R&D, but also through the exchange of experiences and collaboration between different skills, in order to have the widest possible perspective and seize all opportunities: one example among all, the continuous collaboration and co-creation between us and our customers and some strategic suppliers, a real winning approach”.
“The Innovation Centre” continues Nespolo “aims to be the home of innovation for the world of special papers for packaging and creative communication, of labels and premium self-adhesives, a physical venue where to bring together the best talents, inside and outside Fedrigoni, and the most advanced technological solutions to develop specific projects, products and applications that support customers in the environmental transition. Some examples are RFID sensors for smart papers, not just for labels, or durable paper alternatives to plastic, including papers that are tear-resistant, grease-proof, water-resistant and translucent. These papers are made from renewable fibre sources and many of them are made from completely recyclable raw materials. Our customers will be able to participate even more effectively in our creative process, thanks to a dedicated area where they can immerse themselves in the Fedrigoni world, touching the products, experiencing augmented reality and creating prototypes and customised solutions. This ambitious project will be open to collaboration with our suppliers and strategic partners, with the aim of creating a significant impact on the entire ecosystem in which we operate”.
The Innovation Centre will consist of four closely complementary areas, for the practical implementation of an innovation concept that wants to open up to the outside world, also involving customers and end users. The first will house the group’s Research, Development & Innovation team, with laboratories for the analysis of new raw materials, starting with recycled fibres and alternatives to cellulose; state-of-the-art machines for testing and prototyping innovative treatments while minimising environmental impact; printers for digital printing tests, including the HP Indigo 7K Digital Press printer for which Fedrigoni will be the competence centre for Italy in partnership with HP Indigo; and a fully automated sample warehouse, unique in the world, which will collect over 8,000 samples of special papers.The second area – multi-functional and modular – will be dedicated to FedLab, the incubator-accelerator of new ideas to be transformed into highly sustainable products, services or processes, also through an ecosystem of best-in-class actors, partnerships and collaborations already in place with Italian and foreign universities and research centres such as the Universities of Milan, Naples and Pisa, the International Paper Engineering School of Grenoble Inp-Pagora and the Pulp and Paper Research & Technical Centre (CTP), companies and start-ups that will be able to work together in co-working spaces.
The third area will host the Customer Experience Centre, where through the display of both real and virtual products, accessible through screens and “touch” tables, Fedrigoni will offer different interactive and immersive experiential paths, meeting the needs of all visitors – from brands to investors, from graphic designers to printers and converters, from institutions to graphics and communication students, to school groups on educational trips – who will be able to design and configure a customised product in real time. Through a crowdsourcing system, those who wish to can also contribute their own ideas and insights to the development of new solutions.
Lastly, the fourth area will host the Customer Academy, a learning and training centre for the entire Fedrigoni community – colleagues, customers, partners and university students – which aims to become a point of reference for the entire world of special papers and self-adhesive materials. A place to participate in events, share skills and expertise, and intensify collaboration for sustainable growth.