Angelini Fameccanica Maintains Leadership in a Dynamic Hygiene Industry 

Luigi De Vito, CEO, Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica, says the hygiene industry is being reshaped by changing demographics, evolving consumer demands, new materials, and growing expectations for efficiency and sustainability. The machinery manufacturer is leading this transformation by combining its expertise in hygiene technologies with robotics, intelligent automation, connected data, and enhanced customer support. 

NWI: Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica has been a leading player in manufacturing technologies for hygiene industry for decades. How do you see the industry evolving today, and what role does Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica play in shaping its future? 

Luigi De Vito: Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica has a long-standing leadership position in the hygiene industry, reflected in the scale of our impact: in 2025, one out of four open baby diapers sold worldwide was produced on our machines. This confirms our installed base strength and the trust leading manufacturers place in our technologies. 

At the same time, the hygiene industry continues to evolve. It has long been global, but new geographies, particularly across Asia, are playing an increasingly important role in manufacturing, innovation and market development, creating new opportunities and competitive dynamics. 

Market demand is also changing. In mature economies, aging populations are increasing demand for Adult Care products, while lower birth rates are contributing to a more stable Baby Care market. In emerging markets, population growth, urbanization and rising disposable incomes continue to drive expansion across hygiene categories. 

These shifts are reshaping our customers’ priorities, from changing consumer expectations and new materials to increasing pressure on efficiency, quality and sustainability. 

In this environment, leadership is no longer defined solely by machine performance or past achievements. It means understanding where the market is heading and helping customers prepare for what comes next. More than simply providing machines, our role is to help customers navigate complexity, seize opportunities and compete successfully. 

NWI: Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica has been expanding its capabilities in robotics and advanced automation. How does this evolution build on your company’s heritage in hygiene technologies while shaping its future direction? 

LDV: Our future direction is rooted in the strengths that have shaped our history. 

Innovation today goes far beyond technological upgrades. It means helping customers develop products and manufacturing solutions that keep pace with changing demand, evolving raw materials and shifting market dynamics. 

Our ambition is to go beyond the traditional role of machine builder and act as a technology partner. What differentiates Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica is our ability to connect process knowledge, product evolution, market trends and manufacturing technologies into a single value proposition. 

The capabilities we are developing in robotics and advanced automation are a natural extension of this approach. They build on decades of experience in hygiene technologies and strengthen our ability to help customers address complex production and market challenges. 

Being part of Angelini Industries also gives us a broader perspective on innovation. As a multinational industrial group active in industrial technology, healthcare and consumer goods, it encourages long-term thinking and knowledge exchange across businesses, creating synergies that benefit our customers. 

Our commitment to the hygiene industry is demonstrated by how we continue to invest in our installed base. Hundreds of lines operating worldwide generate knowledge, operational experience and process data that allow us to improve technologies, develop new solutions and support customers throughout the lifecycle of their assets. 

This is why diversification and commitment are not conflicting concepts. By combining our hygiene heritage with new capabilities in automation and robotics, we strengthen our ability to innovate and create value for clients over time. 

NWI: What are the most important challenges hygiene industry customers are facing today and how is Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica addressing these challenges through innovation? 

LDV: Our clients must cope with evolving raw materials, growing product differentiation, higher quality expectations and increasing pressure to improve efficiency. Many organizations are also becoming leaner, with fewer internal resources dedicated to technology development and process optimization. As a result, they are looking for partners that can help them simplify operations while maintaining flexibility and performance. Helping customers manage this complexity is one of the greatest opportunities for innovation, and we do it by focusing on making converting lines increasingly intelligent, autonomous and easier to manage. 

A key area is the progressive automation of line operations, including automated material loading and solutions that move us closer to unmanned production lines. The objective is to reduce manual activities, improve safety and consistency, and make production less dependent on individual operator experience. 

At the same time, connected intelligence is becoming central to how we innovate. Our connected lines generate and analyze over 5 billion process datapoints every day, turning field data into knowledge that improves reliability, performance and quality. These data feed remote assistance, support faster troubleshooting by identifying root causes, and enable predictive maintenance and anomaly detection to reduce waste, inefficiencies and unplanned downtime. 

NWI: How can manufacturers balance the need for customization with the need for efficiency and responsiveness to changing market demands? 

LDV: Product portfolios and materials are evolving, while market opportunities emerge faster than in the past. 

Customers want equipment that reflects their specific needs, but they also need solutions that can be implemented quickly, reliably and at a sustainable cost. 

A simple analogy is tailoring. Customers rarely want a fully standard solution but may not need a fully bespoke one requiring excessive time, cost and complexity. The ideal answer is often a proven foundation that can still be tailored to specific requirements. 

This is the philosophy behind the machine architecture we are developing at Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica: standardized, proven building blocks combined with flexibility to address different customer, product and market requirements. 

This model helps customers reduce engineering complexity, shorten time-to-market and adopt innovations more efficiently, without sacrificing customization. Customers should not have to choose between flexibility and efficiency. The strongest solutions deliver both. 

NWI: Beyond technology, how is Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica evolving its relationship with customers? 

LDV: Service and customer proximity are evolving significantly. 

Much of the value we create comes from supporting the hundreds of lines already operating in customers’ facilities worldwide. 

A concrete example is MyFameccanica, our digital service portal, which enables customers to manage spare parts orders more autonomously, with greater visibility on order status, delivery timing and parts availability. In 2025, the portal numbered more than 700 orders, growing 73% in number and 45% in value versus 2024. In the first half of 2026, it had already reached 450 orders (+20%), supporting customers across 33 countries. Within the addressable active service customer base, adoption is more than 64%, confirming that digital service is becoming central to how we support customers globally. 

We are also strengthening service, enhancing spare parts availability, expanding localized support capabilities and improving our ability to support global key accounts wherever they operate. 

Being close to customers means responding faster and helping them maximize the performance of their installed assets throughout their lifecycle. 

NWI: Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of the hygiene industry and for Angelini Technologies – Fameccanica’s role within it? 

LDV: I believe the future of the hygiene industry will be defined by intelligent automation, data-driven decision-making, adaptability and simplicity of operation. 

As products, materials and production environments become more sophisticated, customers will need technologies that absorb complexity rather than transfer it to operators. Machines will increasingly become more predictive, adaptive and easier to manage. 

Our experience, engineering capabilities, installed base and decades of collaboration with leading customers provide a strong foundation for this transformation. 

Leadership is not earned once and then preserved. It requires the ability to understand how markets evolve, how customers’ needs change and where the industry is heading next.