PMM Insight: A Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing Podcast

New leader at Conair, merger in injection molding: Machinery Minutes

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.  

What is advanced recycling, and why is it important?

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?

Is it possible to make affordable, sustainable packaging? Machinery Minutes

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. 

A big honor for a blow molding innovator: Machinery Minutes

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. 

What was trending in plastics machinery at K 2025?

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. 

Husky Technologies is acquired, PLASTICS announces NPE2027 theme: Machinery Minutes

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. 

Increased recycling would create jobs, boost economic output: Machinery Minutes

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. 

Innovations in plastics recycling, Conair's new conveying system: Machinery Minutes

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. 

Looking ahead to NPE2027: How are booth sales going?

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. 

Analyzing the advanced recycling market; Hillenbrand sold for $3.8 billion: Machinery Minutes

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.