PMM Insight: A Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing Podcast

On this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast with PMM editor Ron Shinn, discussing three top stories of the past week in the plastics industry: 

• SPE officially became a division of PLASTICS on Jan. 1. The challenge now is to merge SPE’s extensive offerings of technical events, products and membership into PLASTICS. 

• The Wittmann Group debuted two new injection molding machines at K 2025, a redesigned MacroPower ...

Lights-out production has been a goal for the plastics industry for three decades, but until now, machines have still required operators to set them up, monitor and adjust them and perform quality checks.  

On this PMM Insight podcast commentary, Editor Ron Shinn sees signs that true lights-out capabilities are on the horizon: 

• Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence (AI), smart factory technology and a skilled labor shortage ha...

On this episode of Machinery Minutes, we discuss three stories about new injection molding machines introduced at K 2025, which we are covering in depth on our website. 

• KraussMaffei’s redesigned PX injection molding machine series is more compact and energy efficient. It features a simplified, web-based MC7 control system for improved usability and cyber resilience. 

• Chinese manufacturer Tederic Machinery unveiled ...

In this episode of Machinery Minutes, PMM Editor Ron Shinn gives his three favorite stories of 2025 and compares his list to the top three stories readers viewed on plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com.

Here are the editor’s favorites: 

• Business management experts said that leaders need to change their thinking to successfully navigate tariff whiplash and stock market volatility, but at the same time stick to their values. 
• Proc...

On this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast, in which PMM Editor Ron Shinn discusses three top stories of the past week: 

• LS Mtron is continuing its aggressive expansion plans by enlarging its Chicago-area technical center. 

• Wittmann USA President Sonny Morneault discusses leadership, changes he has seen in the plastics industry and what’s ahead. 

• Your business insurance can help maintain uptime, con...

On this episode of Machinery Minutes, our weekly podcast roundup of three important stories on the plastics industry: 

• The number of people working in plastics and rubber manufacturing fell by 3.500 from August to September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

• Cobots from Universal Robots will be manufactured in the Detroit area starting next year. 

• Haitian, the world’s biggest manufacturer of i...

On this episode of Machinery Minutes, our weekly roundup of top stories with Editor Ron Shinn: 

• A good sign for U.S. manufacturing: Industrial robot orders were up in the third quarter. A bad sign for plastics and rubber manufacturing: Robot orders dropped. 

• There is a new player in the North American thermoforming processing machinery market, and its name is Asano Laboratories. 

• A small tool maker and in...

On today’s Machinery Minutes podcast with PMM editor Ron Shinn, we round up these three essential stories in five minutes: 

• John Erkert, CEO of PiovanGroup North America, has assumed the additional role of president of Conair Group. 

• Japanese injection molding machinery makers Nissei and Toyo are merging, citing lessening demand and rising costs, tightening global competition, environmental concerns and a shortage o...

This episode of the PMM Insight podcast focuses on advanced recycling, which uses heat, chemicals or a combination of both to turn waste plastic into reusable monomers. PMM editor Ron Shinn and senior staff reporter Karen Hanna discuss the technologies. You'll learn: 

• Why is advanced recycling important to the circular economy?

• Who are some of the biggest players players in the industry?

• What is ahead for...

This is what you will learn on today’s Machinery Minutes podcast with Ron Shinn, in which we round up three impactful stories from the past week: 

• Can companies continue to make packaging profitably while heading off regulations that could put plastics on the chopping block? 

• Russ LaBelle, the well-known founder of Wilmington Machinery, died at the age of 86. He developed specialized plastic machinery solutions that...

Here's what you'll learn on today’s Machinery Minutes podcast, in which PMM editor Ron Shinn rounds up three top stories from the past week: 

• Are you familiar with PWDS, SFDR or WDLS? If you are in the blow molding business, you know they are acronyms for equipment to optimize thin bottle walls. But you might be surprised where this equipment came from. 

• Tobias Baur is Arburg’s managing director of sales and after-s...

On this episode of PMM Insight, a commentary by Editor Ron Shinn about hot topics heard on the show floor at K 2025: 

• Competition – particularly from Asian machinery manufacturers – has caused Arburg to build a lower-cost molding machine. 

• Artificial intelligence is coming, but machinery manufacturers are very divided on when it will get here. 

• Aftermarket parts and service have become more important for ...

What you will learn on today’s episode of PMM's Machinery Minutes podcast, in which we round up three top stories from the past week in five minutes: 

• Injection molding equipment manufacturer Husky Technologies has been acquired by CompoSecure, a financial technology services firm. Husky will continue to operate under current management as a standalone company. 

• The Plastics Industry Association announced the theme ...

What you’ll hear on this episode of PMM’s Machinery Minutes podcast, in which we round up three top stories from the past week in five minutes: 

• If 50 percent of plastics in the municipal solid waste stream were redirected from landfills to recycling facilities, the U.S. could add an estimated 173,200 jobs, $12.8 billion in annual payroll and $48.7 billion in annual economic output, according to a new study from the American C...

What you will hear on today’s PMM Machinery Minutes podcast: 

• A comprehensive story about the state of advanced recycling revealed some interesting developments. 

• Creating a stand-up pouch that can be recycled seemed like an impossible task when a team from Effytec, LD Pack USA, Dukane Corp. and Hoffer Plastics first looked at the problem. 
• Conair’s new PowerFill Pro is a compact, portable vacuum conveying system fo...

Today’s PMM Insight Commentary by Editor Ron Shinn looks ahead to NPE2027: 

• Despite industry headwinds, early booth reservations are on track. 

• Companies that traditionally buy big booths do not seem to be reducing their space. 

• A top NPE official said it is too early to tell if new visa restrictions and tariffs from the Trump administration will impact NPE exhibitors or attendees. There were more than 15...