Correspondents attending the September event were favourably impressed by the participation of industry professionals. Sustainability, automation and systems to verify the material quality are among the most interesting technology trends.

The foreign press, which intervened during the last edition of SIMAC TANNING TECH, was very impressed by the vitality of the fair. In times of the pandemic, no one expected such participation from technology manufacturers for the leather, footwear and leather goods world. And they were favourably impressed by the good attendance of visitors: “It is a pity that the event was still restricted due to Covid and therefore mostly attended by European exhibitors and visitors, but its size was impressive, despite the difficulties. The Organising Secretariat Assomac made a great effort to ensure that exhibitors and visitors felt comfortable during their participation, thanks to the help of the digital platform developed to facilitate safe contacts at the fair”, as reported by Tom Hogarth of ILM. – International Leather Maker (England).

“Many exhibitors with whom the ILM team spoke – continues Hogarth – appeared satisfied with the event, not only for the opportunity to come face to face with customers and present their work, but also for the quality of the customers that visited the fair. Even though it wasn’t a very busy show, the people who attended the exhibition were interested in closing deals and this made a difference for the exhibitors”. Alexandra Kalimulina, of Leatherstyle Showroom, Moscow magazine shares the same opinion: “Saying that this fair surprised us for its size would not be fair. The first feeling we had when entering the pavilions was admiration. Coming from Moscow, where the coronavirus is still raging, we expected to encounter stricter rules, a very small number of visitors, and just a few stands with a few proposals. The reality turned out to be completely different. This fair impressed us with its excellent atmosphere”. Andres Rodriguez Barreto of Style America had the clear feeling, walking through the corridors of the fair, that “the manufacturers of machinery and technology for the leather and footwear industry had not stopped and continued to develop numerous technological innovations for the sector”. “It was gratifying to register a positive mood of exhibitors and visitors – continues Rodriguez Barreto. Beyond the significant disturbances affecting supply chains and the slowdown in international trade, the machinery and materials fairs (Lineapelle) marked the turning point towards the reactivation of sector operators, which bodes well for the coming months”.

HIGHLIGHTED ISSUES Almost all of the press has identified the same fundamental issues that are driving the research and development of technology producers. For Nina Poliakova of Shoes Magazine, automation is the current trend topic that will change the industry in the coming years: “The robotic solutions put in place by various companies are already real and concrete, capable of changing the aspects of the entire sector”. Style America also expressed a similar point of view: “The implementation of many robots on machinery begins to cover increasingly more industrial processes, facilitating their use and adoption for manufacturers; in the same way, the arrival of artificial intelligence begins to foreshadow a new revolution, a path to follow”. Andres Rodriguez Barreto has also identified another important concept in the technological developments proposed by many companies: “The theme of respect for the environment and sustainability has now been well assimilated and is already a constant in machinery that increasingly tends to optimise the use of resources while striving for maximum productivity”. Tom Hogarth of ILM focuses more on the leather sector: “The new trends that emerged concerned machinery for the traceability of hides and leather along the supply chain, as well as energy saving and the possibility of producing leathers with a lower environmental impact and with less waste. We have noticed many technological proposals in the area of ​​leather scanning and automatic defect detection”. A positive balance was therefore drawn by the foreign press with respect to the outcome of SIMAC TANNING TECH, both for the participation level and for the quality of the innovations presented.