The Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (PPMA) is a UK trade membership organisation headquartered in

Wallington, Surrey Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton, in South London, England. It is south south-west of Charing Cross. Before the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington merged into the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London in 1965, ...

. The PPMA is part of Automate UK, which represents a range of processing equipment, packaging machinery manufacturers and component suppliers in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, and across

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

and North America.

Purpose

The PPMA assists member companies with the sales and marketing of industrial

processing Processing is a free graphical library and integrated development environment (IDE) built for the electronic arts, new media art, and visual design communities with the purpose of teaching non-programmers the fundamentals of computer programming ...

equipment and

packaging machinery Packaging machinery is used throughout all packaging operations, involving primary packages to distribution packs. This includes many packaging processes: fabrication, cleaning, filling, sealing, combining, labeling, overwrapping, palletizing. ...

through various exhibitions, events, publications, and business and regulatory training.

History

Incorporated on 30 March 1987, the PPMA was born out of a desire to run an exhibition ‘for the industry by the industry’ by eight founder member companies. The first three-day PPMA Show was launched in 1988 a
Telford International Centre
In the proceeding years, the association experienced substantial growth, which included the merger with the Packaging Equipment Manufacturers' Association and the launch of the PPMA's official trade magazine, ''Machinery Update'', in 1989. As the PPMA Show grew in stature, it moved to the

National Exhibition Centre The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, creating competition with a larger show, Pakex, run by

Reed Exhibitions RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...

every three years. In 2002, Reed and the PPMA entered a joint venture to run the PPMA Show two out of every three years and renamed its Pakex Show to Total Show, which replaced the PPMA Show triennially. In 2009, the PPMA took over the secretariat of the

British Automation and Robot Association The British Automation and Robot Association (BARA) is a UK trade membership organisation headquartered in Wallington, Surrey. History BARA was founded as the British Robot Association (BRA) in 1977. As a trade and academic membership associ ...

(BARA) and UK Industrial Vision Association (UKIVA). In January 2010, the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distribution Association (PMMDA) joined forces with the PPMA to bring about four associations operating under the trading brand of the PPMA Group of Associations. Despite the initial optimism, the PPMA and PMMDA parted company in December 2013. The PPMA ended its 12-year partnership with Reed Exhibitions in 2013 to regain ownership and management of its PPMA Show in 2014. The company also purchased the major exhibition brands of Pakex and Interphex in the UK. Collectively, these shows increased in size and revenue, attracting 400+ exhibitors from manufacturers’ around the world selling into the UK market. Also, in 2014, the PPMA set up and funded PPMA Business Education Skills and Training (BEST), a registered charity (1156041) in England, Wales and Scotland, to encourage more young people to take up a career in engineering and more PPMA member companies to take on apprentices. In 2019, the company staged its first PPMA Conference at the National Conference Centre. On 31 January 2020, the PPMA launched a new training academy, designed to upskill and cross-train company employees through a range of practical engineering and online learning modules. In a bid to drive strategic events and services, the PPMA announced the part-time appointment of Peter Williamson to the position of CEO on 13 December 2022. On 1 December 2023, the PPMA announced the group had changed its name from the PPMA Group of Associations to Automate UK to reflect the greater adoption of automation throughout the manufacturing sector.

PPMA Show

PPMA Show is the UK’s largest annual event for the processing and packaging industry. The first exhibition was staged a
Telford International Centre
in 1988, before the show moved to the

. The three-day exhibition, now held twice every three years, showcases the latest innovations in materials, containers and packaging design, which includes technological advancements in robotics and machine vision technology. It principally supports those within the

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies ...

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

, household

chemicals A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

and

toiletries Personal care or toiletries are consumer products used in personal hygiene, personal grooming or for beautification. Products Personal care includes products as diverse as cleansing pads, perfume, colognes, cotton swabs, cotton pads, deodorant, ...

industries. On 2 July 2020, it was announced that PPMA Show 2020 (29 September - 1 October) had been postponed until September 2021 due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a bid to connect a range of industry buyers and suppliers, the PPMA launched a new PPMA Show Meeting Hub on 7 September 2020 to provide users with access to over 1,500 brands from over 300 PPMA Show 2020 exhibitors. The PPMA Show returned to the NEC on 28–30 September 2021. The next live Show is scheduled to take place at the NEC on 24-26 September 2024.

PPMA Total Show

PPMA Total Show is the UK's largest triennial event for the processing and packaging industry, held at the

. The first PPMA Total Show was staged at the NEC on 27–29 September 2016. It incorporates the three major international exhibition brands of PPMA, Pakex and Interphex to showcase the latest in processing and packaging machinery, robotics and industrial vision systems. It also includes the latest innovations in materials, containers and packaging design. In addition to the

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

, household

industries, the PPMA Total Show brand also reaches buyers from

building supplies Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man ...

pet food Pet food is animal feed intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for animals is a byproduct of the human food in ...

micro-breweries Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

and

distilleries Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

FMCG Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, cand ...

, and

contract packager A contract packager, or copacker, is a company that packages products for their clients. The packaging and labeling services can be used for many types of products including foods, pharmaceuticals, household products, and industrial products. Fu ...

s. The Association's next triennial PPMA Total Show is scheduled to take place in 2025.

Machinery Update

Launched in 1989
Machinery Update
is the official publication of the PPMA, which targets key buyers and industry decision makers. The bimonthly magazine is devoted to publishing news of technical developments in the design and use of processing equipment and packaging machinery. It also features news and trends on robotics and automation, and industrial vision.

Affiliations

The PPMA is an affiliate member of

Make UK Make UK, formerly the Engineering Employers' Federation, represents manufacturers in the United Kingdom. Purpose Make UK provides businesses with advice, guidance and support in employment law, employee relations, health, safety, climate and envi ...

, formerly the Engineering Employers' Federation, which represents UK manufacturers. The Association is also a member o
Export Partners UK

About Automate UK

Automate UK (previously named the PPMA Group of Associations until 30 November 2023) is an unincorporated trading brand of PPMA Limited. It comprises the business activities of the PPMA, BARA and UKIVA, headquartered in Wallington, Surrey. The Group's current Chairman is James Causebrook, who took over from David Barber on 5 December 2022.

References

{{reflist 1987 establishments in England Business organisations based in London Industry trade groups based in England Organizations established in 1987 Packaging trade associations