PMM Insight: A Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing Podcast

Three highlights from the K 2025 show floor: Machinery Minutes

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. 

10 plastics equipment innovations to check out at K 2025

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.  

PLASTICS, SPE agree to merge; more tariff threats: Machinery Minutes

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. 

How Cavalier Tool became a world-class mold builder: Machinery Minutes

What we're talking about in this episode of Machinery Minutes: 
Cavalier Tool has become one of the world’s best mold builders by following a simple principle of people, process, equipment. “The right people doing the right things on the right equipment,” said Brian Bendig, President and CEO. 
Arburg has a new vertical, servo-hydraulic press designed for manual and automated overmolding. 
There are just 10 days remaining until the start of the K Show on Oct. 8. Learn how you can find out the 10 things Editor Ron Shinn is excited to see at the show. 

How and why to run a supersized injection molding machine

On this episode of PMM Insight, Editor Ron Shinn and Senior Reporter Karen Hanna discuss high-tonnage injection molding machines. You'll learn: 
Some of the special infrastructure requirements for these presses, which can be the size of a basketball court. 
Increased capacity required in materials handling systems for machines that can consume as much as 250 tons of resin a month. 
The growing role of supersized all-electric molding machines. 
Read the full story on these injection molding mammoths.

The plastics industry's impact on the economy: Machinery Minutes

Key takeaways on today’s Machinery Minutes podcast with PMM Editor Ron Shinn: 
The plastics industry still faces headwinds, but employment is outpacing the broad manufacturing sector and the plastics industry is showing resilience in difficult times, according to the Plastics Industry Association's annual Size and Impact Report. 
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag plans to discontinue hydraulic injection molding machines in an effort to improve profitability. 
Paul Lloyd, president of Farrell Piomini, fell in love with the company’s giant mixing and compounding machines the first time he saw them. 

Arburg is getting out of additive manufacturing: Machinery Minutes

On this week’s Machinery Minutes podcast: 
Arburg is leaving the additive manufacturing market, 12 years after introducing the Freeformer series of 3D printers. 
Dan Weissmann played key roles during the evolution of plastic beverage containers as well as the plastic closure for hot-fill packaging. 
At the K Show next month, KraussMaffei is showing how to use its ColorForm technology to apply a thin polyurethane surface directly to thermoplastic components within an injection mold. The product is an automotive headlight with a PU protective cover.

With no treaty, how does the world solve the plastic pollution problem?

What you'll learn on this PMM Insight podcast episode, a commentary by Editor Ron Shinn:    
After more than two years of negotiating, talks for a worldwide treaty to end plastic pollution collapsed. 
There has been a great deal of innovation built on and because of the advances made in plastics. The industry needs to keep pushing the limits and capabilities of the material. 
What next? Countries should develop their own national action plans and not wait on a treaty. 

Tariffs complicate plastics machinery imports: Machinery Minutes

On this episode of Machinery Minutes: 
Expanded steel and aluminum duties may slow investment and complicate equipment imports, warns PLASTICS chief economist Perc Pineda. 
If you share manufacturing data — with customers or suppliers — you share risk. Whether buying new machinery or making deals for raw materials or parts deliveries, processors should scrutinize their partners’ approach to cybersecurity in the same way they evaluate their own systems. 
Progressive Components’ new Cooled UniLifter assemblies feature a design that accommodates water line placement. 

Preparation is key to surviving a cyberattack: Machinery Minutes

What you'll learn on this episode of Machinery Minutes: 
Retaining a cybersecurity expert in advance can help with negotiating a ransom payment, recovering lost data and getting a business up and running after an attack. 
Jason Sears, second-generation owner of Dri-Air Industries, learned the business from his Hall of Fame father, Charlie. He has pushed the company’s technology forward.  
Manufacturers surveyed by Wipfli after the second quarter were glum. Profitability is flat and capacity utilization is down. Some better news is that quoting activity is up and employment levels are steady.