Universal Pack History
For more than six decades, Universal Pack has grown alongside an industry that was just beginning to take shape. Throughout this journey, we have contributed to its development by designing packaging technologies built to deliver lasting value, consistent performance and reliability over time, with many of our machines still operating successfully after more than 30 years.
The story begins. Gino Donati, only a clever teenager then, goes to secondary school. He first encounters a hand-cranked packaging machine during an exhibition in Rimini Town Theater. His curiosity and technical interest are immediately clear. We’ll call this the first “spark”.
Gino eventually comes into contact with a business in San Giovanni in Marignano that had entered the thermo-sealed films packaging industry. This became the second ‘spark’.
He then moves to Turin and starts working as a technical operator at a compnay specialized in co-packing activities of several products. This time will turn out to be extremely useful for gaining experience in the industry.
Gino returns back to San Giovanni in Marignano, where he founds a company and starts building his first thermo-sealing packaging machine, capable of packaging several products with a unique, simple and versatile design for that time. From these features, the name “Universal Pack” was born.
During Italy’s economic ‘boom’ the first Universal Pack machines start to appear. The continuous technological innovation led by Mr. Donati commences: years of countless premium solutions designed and built for different markets and uses.
Gino’s philosophy is to produce on your own anything you can do by yourself. He had already realized that manufacturing machine components in-house gives you greater control over the solutions you are offering. This is how the first production plant was built. A clear path ahead.
Universal Pack machines are installed across different continents. These packaging solutions became recognized worldwide as synonym of the quality “Made in Italy”. Gino decides to build a new factory (1,000 sq m) next to the main plant in order to increase the in-house production of machine components.
Some significant packaging lines with increased performance start to appear. The main challenge concerns matching the cartoning solution output to match the output of two sachet machines in an integrated complete system. Here is a complete line with 2 multi-lane machine by Universal Pack.
Following a request from an Italian sugar producer, Universal Pack builds its first sugar sachet machine capable of printing sachet graphics in line. A true innovation for the time.
High demand for Universal Pack machines worldwide leads Mr. Donati to the expansion of the 80s factory, with an additional 2,000 sq m.
With the advent of more sophisticated electronic controls and systems, machines start to get more complex in design and construction, as well as increasingly customized based on the customer requests.
As one of the company’s core values, innovation is not only welcomed but continuously sought after. One of the many patents held by Universal Pack is therear exit on a stick pack machine. An example of a simple yet smart way of improving the ergonomic design.
Pietro Donati, Gino’s elder son, becomes the new CEO of Universal Pack, bringing a fresh wave of innovation. In fact, the following years of in-depth research and development are key for the design and construction of many innovative solutions.
This is a year of major new solutions. The first Alfa Flexi is built, the revolution of the stick pack machine as we know it: versatile, highly efficient and built with modular architecture, allowing for many stick pack formats on a single machine.
Theta, another groundbreaking machine, is developed. With an innovative sealing concept, specially designed for processing pharmaceutical heat-sensitive powders, this high-speed sachet machine allows for the high output in a modular reliable solution.
Following the Covid and global supply chain crisis, Pietro Donati decides to enlarge Universal Pack’s storage capacity with the construction of new vertical automated warehouses. Acquiring more components in advance helps address the component shortages in times of high demand.
In 2025, Universal Pack gives shape to its own story with
Ad Astra – A Universal Story.
A journey through sixty years of ideas, people, challenges and achievements, where every page reflects the passion, resilience and vision that have guided the company since 1965.
More than a book, it is a celebration of a shared path.
A tribute to all those who have been part of it, and a milestone that honors the past while looking, once again, toward the stars.
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