Italy produces approximately 50% of the machinery used to produce footwear and leather goods around the world and 80% of tanning machinery globally, according to Assomac, an association that represents Italian manufacturers of machines for footwear, leather and tannery industries. Many of the manufacturers are small, with the entire industry employing approximately 6,200 people in Italy. There…

Bologna might be best known abroad for its meat sauce and for being home to the oldest university in the western world, the University of Bologna. But this city, situated between Italy's Po River and the Apennine Mountains, has earned the nickname the "Packaging Valley." Packaging machinery has become one of the dominant industries throughout Italy. Though the United States, China and Japan all…