IMA AUTOMATION renewed itself to enhance the technological offer towards the markets dedicated to industrial automation (2024)

• IMA AUTOMATION, division of the IMA Group, designs and manufactures systems and complete lines for micro and macro-assembly. It operates within the Automotive, E-Mobility, Electric Motors, Medical Devices, Eye Care, Caps & Closures, Electro Mechanics and Watchmaking dedicated markets;
• With an annual revenue of over 220 million Euros, it produces more than 300 lines per year destined for the global market, in plants distributed in Italy, Switzerland, USA, China, Malaysia;
• With more than 800 resources employed, IMA AUTOMATION has registered and filed more than 580 patents and has been operating on the market for over 50 years.

IMA AUTOMATION, DIVISION OF THE IMA GROUP, REORGANIZES ITS OWN STRUCTURE AND INCORPORATES ALL THE COMPANIES DEDICATED TO INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION. WITH THIS NEW STEP FORWARD, IMA EXPANDS ITS PERIMETER STRENGHTENING SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGIES DEDICATED TO ADVANCED AUTOMATION, WITH A STRONG DIGITAL ACCENT.

IMA AUTOMATION operates through an integrated network of companies with consolidated know-how gained in research and development; over the years it has turned its attention to the Automotive segment, investing above all in vertical technologies on E-mobility, a strategy that has allowed IMA Group to grow further and create a real pool of dedicated companies.

‘’The companies now part of the IMA AUTOMATION Hub have developed high-level skills,positioning itself as a leader among the companies that offer specialized technological solutions’’ explains Alberto Vacchi, Chairman and IMA S.p.A. CEO ‘’However, the emergence of new markets, such as those relating to the Automotive and electric mobility sectors, has led us to reorganize all the Group companies dedicated to the world of automation and advanced assembly under a single internal structure’’. Through the IMA AUTOMATION Division, in fact, the Group started the creation of an actual hub that gathers plants and technological skills, to offer partners and clients a global support, a better product engineering and even more advanced services in plant’s management and maintenance.

‘’The current strategic choice’’ continues Lorenzo Maldarelli, IMA AUTOMATION Division Director ‘’sees us committed at creating a new organizational model: we started a process that is leading activities and plants towards a strong integration, increased synergies and power in the technological field; at the same time, the customer care service is strengthened and expanded thanks to a more widespread presence for a better management of activities in the field.’’ Not an easy challenge, as the new hub has multiple realities, different products and targets. In fact, continues Lorenzo Maldarelli ‘’to date, nine production plants are part of the new IMA AUTOMATION hub, distributed in Italy (Bologna, Florence, Alessandria and Vicenza), Switzerland, USA, China and Malaysia. In particular, the IMA Group is investing in the widening of its productive capacity in the e-mobility and electric motors fields. ATOP’s acquisition took place two years ago, with headquarters in Barberino di Tavernelle (FI), leading company in the production of automatic machines and lines for the production of wound stators and rotors. For a much stronger penetration in the market of electric motors, no longer than a few weeks ago, the Group has completed a 80% acquisition of FASP, company that develops lines for the production of electric motors with winding and insertion technology.’’

Strategic choices that point to an emerging market such as that of electric mobility but that do not distract IMA from the remaining technologies linked to the world of advanced industrial automation. ‘’Our plant in Alessandria produces installations dedicated to continuous and indexed assembly systems for small and medium plastic components to be used in the food, beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical closures sectors. In the two plants in Switzerland we design high-tech installations mainly dedicated to the medical devices and watchmaking sectors. Lines intended for the production of medical devices, automotive, electro mechanicals and ink-jet are also being made in the North America (LovesPark, IL), China (Shanghai) and Malesia (Penang) plants.’’.

The merger involving the different plants and technologies within IMA AUTOMATION is a delicate process that will guarantee the division numerous short and long-term benefits. Under the technological profile, the integration will generate a better transversality of skills and know-how, allowing to diversify the solution’s offer and guaranteeing a minor plants’ lead time. The widest integration with the consolidated packaging experience of IMA, will also allow synergies and will expand the offer of highly customized technical solutions.

It is no coincidence that the contribution that cutting-edge technologies play within this new development plan is fundamental. Yet today integrated robotic solutions find space within most of the productive processes. Digital platforms and personalized application, products and services realized inside the Corporate IMA Digital project, allow already now, but increasingly in the future, to virtualize factories and plants, accelerating the design and implementation phases of the various solutions. Important investments in the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning fields have been made to guarantee a superior control of production compared to the current situation, a more accurate quality control of the product and a much higher productive efficiency.

IMA AUTOMATION, as it is part of the IMA Group, will lay on solid foundations, on a productive and commercial consolidated network – gained in over 70 years of experience – able to give it strong muscularity and a central role as main contractor in the supply of complete and turnkey installations. The new hub will be more than an equipment manufacturer, it will propose itself on the market as a solution provider for our partners, thanks to a new pool of companies dimensionally suitable for the magnitude of the potential projects that will see it involved, industrially prepared and with its own integrated supply chain on a global level.

‘’And we should not leave out another fundamental aspect related to this integration of companies and skills’’ concludes Lorenzo Maldarelli. ‘’The new IMA AUTOMATION HUB will be a real channel to concretize two great sustainability projects, part of the program named IMA Zero. IMA AUTOMATION will concentrate its efforts supporting the IMA LOW-Impact, program dedicated at the reduction of energy consumptions of machines and productive processes, and IMA E-Mob, which promotes investments in the research and development of new solutions and technologies for sustainable mobility.’’. IMA Zero embodies the commitment of the Group for the creation of products, productive processes and services, realized according to a sustainability logic.

IMA AUTOMATION companies and productive plants:

• IMA AUTOMATION Bologna, with headquarters and historic establishment of the business unit located in Zola Predosa (Bologna). The plant produces and realizes customized plants that cover specific accounts in Caps & Closures, Eye Care and Automotive.

• IMA AUTOMATION ATOP, with headquarters in Barberino Tavarnelle (Firenze). Part of the IMA Group since May 2017, the company is a leader in the sector of automatic machines and lines for the production of stators and rotors for electric motors for the Automotive sectors (for the E-Mobility in particular) and for other industrial sectors (domestic appliances, power tools, industrial applications).

• IMA AUTOMATION FASP, with headquarters in Montecchio Maggiore (VI). Part of the IMA Group since July 2021, designs and builds automatic machines and lines for the production of electric motors for the automotive, electric vehicles, industrial applications, electric generators and other sectors.

• IMA AUTOMATION China Electrical Equipment Co. Ltd., with headquarters in Shanghai, deals with technical assistance on the Chinese territory.

• IMA AUTOMATION Telerobot S.p.A., with headquarters in Alessandria, produces a wide range of continuous and indexed assembly systems for small and medium plastic components used in the food, beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical closures sectors.

• IMA AUTOMATION Switzerland SA, with two headquarters in La Chaux de Fonds e Gals (Switzerland), leader in the design, production and marketing of machines for the micro-assembly of watch components and the assembly of medical products for self-medication, such as inhalers, insulin syringes, injection systems.

• IMA AUTOMATION USA Inc., with headquarters in Loves Park (USA), is a reference company for the american market and has a solid experience in the automotive, caps & closures and medical markets.

• IMA AUTOMATION Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., with headquarters in Penang (Malesia) is a strategic partner in the continent of Asia, with a consolidated experience in the electro mechanics and medical sectors.