The USA Market for Advanced Manufacturing (AM) and Robotics Manufacturing in the U.S. has often been assumed to be in long-term decline, with the competitive advantage moving to low-cost countries such as Mexico and China. However, with advanced technologies likely to automate as much as 60% of factory tasks, in the future low-cost countries may no longer enjoy a competitive advantage, and the USA could well regain lost ground. Although many basic and low value-added products have moved out of the USA, the country still has an incredibly thriving manufacturing sector with more than $4 trillion

The Italian Trade Agency Office in Mexico City hands out the Italian Plastic Technology Award and the Italian Packaging Technology Award. The project aims to create a link between graduates and undergraduates in engineering programs at leading Mexican universities, and to increase their awareness of leading technology and solutions available in Italian plastics and packaging machinery. Each award had been organized alongside its respective Italian industry association: ASSOCOMAPLAST (the Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Moulds Manufacturers’ Association, www.assocomaplast

The Italian Technology Award program includes the Italian Packaging Technology Award (IPTA), specific to the packaging technology sector. The IPTA program asks students to write an analysis of innovations in packaging technologies for a chance to win a trip to Italy to visit leading packaging machinery manufacturers. Italy is one of the world’s main suppliers of machinery and materials for the packaging sector. The IPTA program is coordinated and organized by the Italian Trade Agency’s Chicago Office, and co-sponsored in Italy by UCIMA (Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association