AI and advanced robotics: ASSOMAC studies technologies for the future

Innovation does not only mean developing technical upgrades: it is also vision. New points of view that sometimes open up by approaching worlds that seem far away. It is on this boundary – between the present and the future of the industry – that ASSOMAC, the association of Italian manufacturers of footwear, leather goods and tanning technology, is moving today.

“We have set up a working group dedicated to exploring new technological frontiers,” says Massimo Angeleri, vice-president of ASSOMAC. “Our task is to present members with emerging applications, such as artificial intelligence, to understand what really can be integrated into our machineries.”

A first concrete step was the start of a collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa. “We have already had a couple of meetings,” Angeleri continues. “They explained to us the main lines of their research. We were very impressed by their approach to advanced robotics: we are talking about robots capable of analysing situations and reacting autonomously. Not simple automation, but contextual intelligence.”

Is this a paradigm shift that could redesign the entire production cycle? The question is legitimate, and it is right to investigate. But without easy enthusiasm. “I believe that the level of our technologies is already very high,” Angeleri points out, “but this does not mean being content. We have to understand how these innovations can add real value to the innovations we already offer the market.”

The next step will be a visit to the IIT in July, to see possible applications in the field. Afterwards, some researchers will be guests at Simac Tanning Tech. “We have invited them to tour the stands,” Angeleri concludes, “so they can see our machines up close, the way we work, and the real needs of manufacturers.”

It is only by investigating frontiers that new territories can be discovered, and this is exactly the type of path that ASSOMAC and Simac Tanning Tech want to propose to the industry.