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 its new Innova 250 high-speed hybrid molding machine designed for the packaging industry.  - Stork Plastics Machinery showed a high-performance molding machine named the 6600-3550, designed for thin-wall packaging products.

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.  - Processors have massive amounts of data to track, but much of it goes unused. How do you become one of the companies that tracks and uses data?  - A study suggests that every company has a 50-50 chance of being hacked, and manufacturing companies are among the most frequently targeted. Find out how to protect your company and recover quickly if you are the victim of a cyberattack.

On this episode of the PMM Insight podcast, a commentary by Editor Ron Shinn:  2025 will be remembered as the year worldwide treaty talks to end plastic pollution collapsed. Recyclers are probably the biggest losers. To solve the problem, recyclers just need solid commitments from buyers to use recycled resin.

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, control costs and keep you competitive. It is a good time to review your coverage.

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 injection molding machines, unveiled two new presses for packaging applications at K 2025.

On this podcast episode, Editor Ron Shinn and Senior Reporter Karen Hanna talk about sustainability issues with flexible packaging, including:  - An explanation of the ”green premium” and why it matters.  - Is flexible plastic packaging in danger of being replaced by paper or fiber?  - Are plastic packaging converters caught in a tough spot?

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 injection molder in Florida brought those skills together to develop a new product — a dog grooming tool with steel teeth and an ABS handle.

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 of skilled labor.  - An interesting case study about implementing automation in a blow molding cell that manufactures large industrial drums.

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 advanced recycling in North America, and what’s holding it back?

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 have since been adopted by companies around the world.  - Good news for injection molding machinery builders in third-quarter sales totals. Not so much for extrusion machinery manufacturers.

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-sales, plus he is president of Euromap. Hear what he has to say about leadership, innovation and the future of plastics.  - Recyclers may be the biggest losers in the collapse of talks on an international plastics treaty.

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 machinery manufacturers’ bottom line.

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 for NPE2027. It is “Next is Now.”  - The American Injection Molding Institute (AIM) has launched a plastics technology certificate training program that consists of 64 hours or instruction, available in person or online.

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 Chemistry Council. - Advanced recycling methods using heat and chemicals, chemical depolymerization and thermal processes such as pyrolysis are explained. - Maguire Products has unveiled the fourth generation of its Ultra line of vacuum dryers.

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 for processors who want the benefits of a central system without the infrastructure of long tubing runs or in-depth wiring and terminations.

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 15,000 registrations from 133 foreign companies at the last NPE.

What you’ll learn on today’s Machinery Minutes podcast from Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing:  - The recycling industry has been stuck in a perpetual cycle of volatility for years. Its future depends on overcoming technical, economic and legislative challenges, alongside investment in infrastructure and recovery efforts, according to an ICIS analysis. - Hillenbrand, which owns Mold-Masters, DME, Tirad, Herbold Meckesheim and Coperion, has been acquired by Lone Star Funds in a $3.8 billion deal.  - The U.S. plastics industry accounted for $154.3 billion in trade volume in 2024 but turned from a trade surplus in 2023 to a deficit in 2024, according to the annual Global Trends Report from PLASTICS.

On today’s Machinery Minutes, PMM editor Ron Shinn reports on three innovations he’s seen so far at the K Show in Germany:  - Processors who have always thought they could not afford Arburg molding machines should take another look. The German machinery maker launched the Allrounder Trend, aimed at standard molding tasks and with a lower price.  - Reifenhäuser introduced the Everex flat film extrusion line, which features high automation and a next-generation HMI for easier operation, even by inexperienced operators.  - Engel unveiled the tie-bar-less Victory Electric 220 injection molding machine that is designed to save space and energy. The company said it is highly precise, enables short cycles and offers excellent process stability.

What you’ll learn on this PMM Insight podcast:  - The K Show has opened and PMM Editor Ron Shinn lists 10 things he is excited to see.  - Engel is unveiling Inject AI, the evolution of its Inject 4.0 technology. This is expected to be a peek at the things artificial intelligence will do for plastics processing. There are also exciting new machines from Arburg, Kautex, KraussMaffei and Haitian on the list.  - Maguire is demonstrating the new Ultra line of vacuum dryers with Pitstop functionality that can make material changeovers in 15 minutes. There is more interesting new auxiliary equipment from Sepro and Dr. Boy to see.

What you will learn on this episode of Machinery Minutes: - The Plastics Industry Association and the Society of Plastics Engineers are merging. SPE will become a division of PLASTICS. - PLASTICS and the National Association of Manufacturers are warning of potential harm to domestic manufacturers if additional tariffs are imposed on importers of industrial machinery and robots. - PMM’s seventh annual machinery buying survey is open. Survey results help us shape our coverage, telling us what’s happening in machinery markets, such as the effects of trade policy, labor shortages and other factors.