Materia: a journey into the substance of nature and technology.
Materia is an immersive journey through a universe where nature and technology stand side by side, expressing the essence of sustainability, a value to which IMA Active is strongly committed.
This commitment has guided us in developing solutions that not only respond to the needs of our markets and stakeholders but also safeguard our environment and the wellbeing of people and the planet, now and tomorrow.
The project takes its purest form in an exclusive limited‑edition artbook, where the full visual and conceptual journey unfolds through the lens of photographer and filmmaker Isacco Emiliani.
At NEXTEN, a curated exhibition revealed a selection of these works for the very first time, revealing the artistic vision that connects natural elements with solid dose processing technologies.
Today, these pieces continue their journey inside the IMA Active headquarters, where they are permanently displayed, allowing the narrative of Materia to live within the very space where our technologies are conceived.
The concept
Materia was born to bring prestige and value to the entire range of IMA Active solutions, transforming technology into a visual and conceptual journey.
Through diptychs and unprecedented compositions, Materia explores the harmony between organic shapes and mechanical precision, revealing how sustainability and innovation can coexist in a single narrative.
Six paths, like the six chapters of the book, represent six natural elements, each paired with a specific IMA Active product line.
At its core, Materia embodies IMA Active’s commitment to rethinking materials, processes and technologies through a sustainable lens. At IMA Active, this commitment is more than a philosophy, it is the framework through which we design every technology. Our approach is rooted in lifecycle thinking, in machine architectures that optimise energy use, in processes that minimise waste and preserve water, and in advanced containment that safeguards both people and the environment.
The artistic concept and the industrial narrative converge into four fundamental dimensions:
Human craft transforms these elements with precision and awareness, turning natural elements into controlled, safe and efficient pharmaceutical processes.
Technological intelligence interprets matter with clarity and purpose, designing systems that deliver performance while reducing waste, energy and resource consumption.
Responsible innovation closes the circle, affirming that progress gains value only when technological excellence and sustainability can evolve together.
Where Nature shapes Technology.
Materia’s six chapters mirror the six core processes that define pharmaceutical manufacturing, each paired with a natural element that visually and symbolically represents it.
This creates a narrative continuity between the raw matter of the world and the precision of pharmaceutical engineering.
Minerals, stones, mountains – the Dolomites, the Apennines, volcanic matter.
Blending and handling may appear simple, yet they are performed with absolute precision to avoid contamination. Sealed IBCs ensure powders remain contained, protecting both operators and environment. Our smart handling solutions move materials efficiently from one phase to the next, enabling multiple blends without cleaning process areas.
Wind crossing landscapes, from Apulia beaches to stormy skies.
Granulation creates a homogeneous, uniform blend for downstream processes. By balancing active ingredients and eco‑friendly excipients such as lactose or starch, granulation enhances product quality while limiting waste. Monitoring sensors and software tools optimise energy consumption.
Granulation creates a homogeneous, uniform blend for downstream processes. By balancing active ingredients and eco‑friendly excipients such as lactose or starch, granulation enhances product quality while limiting waste. Monitoring sensors and software tools optimise energy consumption.
Granulation creates a homogeneous, uniform blend for downstream processes. By balancing active ingredients and eco‑friendly excipients such as lactose or starch, granulation enhances product quality while limiting waste. Monitoring sensors and software tools optimise energy consumption.
Trees, roots, shadows, circularity.
Compression requires strength and power. High‑capacity tableting places significant demands on materials and energy.
IMA Active has redesigned this step to minimise environmental impact without compromising performance.
Producing up to 500,000 tablets per hour, our tablet presses achieve sustainable performance by maximising efficiency and reducing overall production impact.
Phases of the moon, the Milky Way, light and void.
Precision is perfection. Filling a capsule requires a process in which one technology after another contributes to speed, efficiency, a perfect dosage, an exact weight. Our capsule fillers guarantee tight dosing tolerances and 100% in‑process weight control, ensuring only perfect capsules reach the market with minimal waste, maximum accuracy.
Blossoms, vibrant colors, Spring landscapes.
An essential stage in several pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, coating tablets takes time and consumes energy, especially in batch mode.
Continuous coating cuts heating/cooling cycles, reduces friction damage, minimises waste, and ensures faster color uniformity.
Digital twin simulations allow fine control of material usage.
Water in all states — drops, ice, crystalline forms.
An essential stage in several pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, coating tablets takes time and consumes energy. Water is precious. Our washing solutions recirculate 90% of the water, introducing only 10% fresh water per cycle. This dramatically reduces environmental impact while ensuring full reliability and minimal detergent consumption.
Voices from the MateriaArtbook
Ethics and Aesthetics
“I saw a clear need, as a company, to reveal our innovations and illustrate the evolutionary process that our machines undergo to adapt to end user requirements. This has led us to embrace two essential values, merging them into an integrated doctrine: Ethics and Aesthetics. All that is beautiful and sustainable also responds to precise social and market needs. Our desire, within the scope of our activities, is to satisfy those needs. And our focus is on a sustainable approach that goes beyond today’s moral obligation. Everything we do endeavours to save energy and reduce waste, and the new materials we use spring from a conscious choice we make. Nothing can be left to chance. We witness more and more regulatory systems that demand the publication of a sustainability report in which the commitment to the environment and people must be measured and certified. Please consider this book a sign of our attempt to respond to a critical need, a need we share with our partners, with you. Let us work towards a sustainable economy, towards results that will reward our commitment, towards values that will sustain the future of our planet”.
The value of our partnership
“Empowering the customer, safeguarding the environment. These are the two key drivers behind our approach to technological evolution within IMA Active. Looking at sustainability from a distance is insufficient. Our strategy involves building meaningful sustainability from the bottom up. Every component, every system, every integration is a building block of the ultimate solution. Every decision made maps out the road toward sustainability. Solutions need to grow together with a product if they are to be effective. When we develop a product, our first instinct is to evaluate its use. Being aware of how a machine will be used once it is installed will give us the elements to assess its consumption. Our strategy starts here, knowing that we can estimate energy or water consumption based on realistic assumptions. And this means we establish a standard set of assumptions. Only this way, can we lay solid, unequivocal foundations for the forthcoming evolution. This allows us to focus on one route, while parallel activities are implemented so that we can gather data to corroborate our assumptions. Acquired digitally, these data enable us to increase machine sustainability at all levels. We learn, adjust, implement and build a better answer that will empower each customer so they may achieve results that underpin the value of our partnership. The ultimate goal is achieved when both drivers work together as one: empowering the customer and safeguarding the environment”.
Looking for a new language
“As much as it may appear to be an exercise in style, this book is the sign of a deep need we have felt to add a dimension that was missing, to both soften and strengthen our marketing initiatives with the intrinsic values of sustainability. Far from being yet another project to bring us material gains, it states our Brand Purpose: to create social and ethical value, beyond profit and economic wealth. The aim of this book is to fill a gap. Not that artistic or photographic books are a rarity, nor that books celebrating the history of a company or its bond with a territory are lacking. We were looking for a new language that spoke between the lines, connecting a visual art with rigorous technology. We hope to have found it, thereby uniting the cold metalworking industry with the natural elements and artistic flair of Isacco’s photography. Cold steel and organic warmth, a new language that emerges from between the strict conventions of product marketing and the rich variety of the natural world. Modestly, let us own this language as we turn the pages of this book, adding cultural and creative elements that encompass and go beyond the sole purpose of marketing. If just for a moment you can hear the voice that bonds both worlds, then our intention has been achieved, and the purpose fulfilled“.
A shared vision of nature
“Everything we do is always inspired by something bigger—something as vast as Nature. This is a shared project because I have always believed that you can make a difference only by sharing the same perspectives, accomplishing a work of art that becomes a tangible act of care and attention towards the environment. Starting from this mutual desire, we set out to create a unicum: a tribute to the beauty of nature in all her forms, beginning precisely from the element that first connected me to IMA Group—trees.”
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