Tech4Student and culture: Cama Group accelerates development

On the occasion of Tech4Students – the long-established event through which CAMA Group engages with the education sector – ItaliaImballaggio met with Annalisa Bellante, Vice President of the company. She outlined the wide range of initiatives developed for schools and the local community, all underpinned by a single guiding principle: culture. The objective goes well beyond training the next generation of professionals. It is about the genuine dissemination of ideas, stimuli, and inspiration which, spanning technology and art, welfare, and people, ultimately shape a corporate pathway capable of making a tangible impact on society.

“The idea is to create an event that truly explains what a company is, its roles, and the activities it carries out”, Annalisa Bellante begins. “Students from ITS institutes, technical high and middle schools, are at the heart of an ongoing dialogue with teachers and headteachers. This enables us to host more than 1,000 students each year. Rotating through dedicated workstations designed specifically for them, they experience first-hand the role of a designer, a production technician, or an R&D researcher”. To maximise effectiveness and speak the students’ language, the company has devised a tailored programme involving younger colleagues, who can relate more naturally to the students. It is worth noting that the decision to pursue STEM subjects is typically made during middle school. For this reason, we have designed a dedicated project for girls, recognising a valuable intellectual resource that must be nurtured – both for the distinctive perspectives they bring and as a response to the demographic and skills shortages. Through Girl Get Set, developed in collaboration with Baker Hughes, CAMA aims to create an ecosystem in which girls perceive STEM disciplines as a viable and attractive option, free from gender stereotypes. The inclusion of female talent generates significant added value, but it is essential to build a cultural environment in which choosing STEM is both defining and socially recognised for young women”.

The network of schools involved highlights a strong partnership between CAMA Group and local institutions. What feedback has the company received from teachers and school leaders?
“Although there is a high degree of openness, what is often missing is a structured planning phase to identify, together, the specific areas where intervention is most effective. It would be extremely useful to design activities in a targeted way, defining clearly when and how school–industry collaboration should be integrated, so that it is operationally valuable for companies and genuinely educational for schools. This is already happening, for example, with ITS Meccatronica, where coordination is strong and has led to the development of innovative formats such as the hackathon. These are unconventional training and recruitment tools, effective in assessing students’ abilities by engaging them in real, tangible projects. A significant number of students have now joined CAMA, as teachers are well acquainted both with the company and with their pupils. This enables them to play a valuable advisory role, guiding those whose personal attributes and professional aspirations are best suited to a highly competitive sector such as packaging – an industry characterised by challenging yet rewarding workloads, a strong high-tech culture, and a constant drive for innovation”.

Cross-fertilisation and culture appear to be two defining keywords at CAMA
“We place great emphasis on cross-fertilisation between different contexts, where technical professionals must be able to relate, engage in dialogue, and grasp complexity beyond their own hyper-specialisation. This is why, during 2025, we rolled out a project also targeting our production teams, introducing dedicated managerial training for the management of site activities, meetings, and teams. Although frequently underestimated in highly specialised environments, these soft skills are in fact fundamental. Our aim is to enrich and inspire people with new – sometimes unexpected – stimuli, broadening their knowledge beyond day-to-day operations. We firmly believe that exposure to new inputs is always a vehicle for growth and change. The programme has also involved managers, through a two-year initiative designed to integrate humanities-based and technical competencies in order to enhance team leadership. Working with two professional trainers, we launched a personalised coaching pathway tailored to highlight individual aptitudes and bridge the gap between personal aspirations and corporate objectives. These two dimensions are now increasingly aligned, thanks to the creation of a cohesive team more inclined towards dialogue – precisely as a result of cross-disciplinary exchange between areas that, for cultural reasons alone, are often perceived as distant. This represents a classic example of cross-fertilisation between the technical component – the very DNA of CAMA – and the effective management of human resources, encompassing improved recruitment, fulfilling career pathways, enhanced efficiency, and reduced staff turnover, a critical issue across all industrial sectors”.

Training initiatives are complemented by individual and family welfare schemes, medical support, and health education programmes.
“This represents an important lever in our relationship with the local area, particularly through Empowering the New Generation, a project encompassing a range of guidance activities – from STEM initiatives and open days to training programmes, and engagement with institutions. It is a network developed to create a local skills ecosystem, enabling people to find opportunities close to home that combine professional growth with quality of life. Our goal is to foster the development of a highly specialised territory, equipped with advanced expertise in the packaging sector and capable of both attracting and retaining talent. Overall, our staff turnover remains low, which confirms the effectiveness of the HR strategy currently in place. That said, commuting distance can still be a factor when significant, and this is precisely why we continue to strengthen our ties with the local community”.

Let’s talk about CAMA and the impact of AI and geopolitical dynamics ahead of Interpack
“We are conducting a thorough analysis of our processes to identify where artificial intelligence can serve as a lever for development. Consider mechanical design or software development – areas in which the human operator remains essential, providing the analytical capabilities needed to oversee AI performance. This requires training personnel to exercise advanced machine supervision, consistent with the high safety standards underpinning packaging machinery. At Interpack, AI will share the spotlight with line robotisation – a central theme for CAMA, including humanoid applications, whose deployment is increasingly pervasive. The leading role of our region, particularly Bergamo, as a development hub allows us to collaborate with specialised technology companies, which we integrate to maximise each partner’s expertise within our business model.

From an international perspective, tariffs have introduced uncertainty among American clients, awaiting clarity on government policies. Nonetheless, we began 2026 with a strong order book already in the first quarter. We are also focusing on the Middle East – the UAE, a market with significant potential – and India, which benefits from a legal system inspired by European frameworks. Not to mention Europe, with strong growth in Poland and France, alongside Latin America, a market long-established for CAMA.

Looking to Interpack, CAMA will showcase three different machines, epitomising the Machine Enhancement Programme (MEP), a three-year initiative launched at Ipack-Ima, with further innovations planned for 2026. Highlights include the integration of a cobot for automatic warehouse loading within a production environment featuring ACL, ACP for automated handling, and AMR support. The exhibition programme will also feature a series of keynote speakers and the unveiling of the company’s new corporate graphics, where the concept of cross-fertilisation takes centre stage”.

Turning back to the dissemination of culture as a core corporate value… what projects can we expect in the near future?
“In 2026, CAMA celebrates its 45th anniversary. Returning to culture, the celebrations will take place in Monza’s long-closed theatre, now renovated and ready to host an evening of opera, reimagined for contemporary audiences. A selection of famous arias has been curated to create a performance designed to bring opera closer to people, with plans to extend performances beyond traditional theatre spaces. We believe theatre opens minds and offers entirely new perspectives. It is therefore an ideal medium to convey CAMA’s values, which emphasise technology, innovation, and specialisation. The theatre, as a complex and highly specialised environment, also provides insights applicable to our daily work, enriching understanding of skills, project management, and the quality of outcomes. In short, culture, sponsorship initiatives such as those for Palazzo Reale and FAI, and the CamArt division, represent forms of ‘training in beauty’ that we consider central to everyday corporate life”.