PMM Insight: A Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing Podcast

Plastic scrap sourcing, automation sales slump, Wilmington Machinery sold: Machinery Minutes, Feb. 17, 2024

On this episode of Machinery Minutes, you'll hear about U.S. plastics processors and recyclers searching for domestic suppliers of plastic scrap as they face the prospect of significant tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. 
In other news, sales of automation equipment are in a slump, with few signs that things are going to pick up this year. The Association for Advancing Automation (known as A3) recently released sales figures for 2023. 
And a private investor has purchased Wilmington Machinery, and founder Russ LaBelle has stepped away. The blow molding and injection molding machinery maker pledged to continue honoring contracts with customers, and hopes to double its workforce this year. 

Trump tariff threats, Milacron sale, QC for bright parts: Machinery Minutes, Feb. 10, 2025

In this episode of Machinery Minutes, senior reporter Bruce Geiselman looks at the potential ramifications of President Trump’s announcement that he planned to enact 25 percent tariffs against goods imported from Canada and Mexico.
Though they are currently on hold, the prospect elicited strong reactions from manufacturers, plastic industry leaders and consultants, both positive and negative. We also share ways you can prepare now for potential shocks if those tariffs do go into effect.
We also discuss Hillenbrand's pending sale of an approximately 51 percent stake in Milacron, an Ohio-headquartered manufacturer of injection molding and extrusion equipment, to an affiliate of Bain Capital; and a new spectrophotometer from Byk-Gardner for quality control of small, bright, glossy parts. 

Trump's tariffs and the recycled plastics market: PMM Insight

The proposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico have the potential to affect plastics recyclers and the processors who buy their resins.
The U.S. is a net importer of plastic scrap, getting about 40 percent of it from Canada and 18 percent from Mexico, said Emily Friedman, who monitors the plastics recycling market for ICIS. Recyclers would need to realign their sourcing strategies.
It could also affect what processors pay for virgin resin and for various grades of recycled materials.
Learn more in this conversation between Friedman and PMM senior reporter Bruce Geiselman.

Wittmann IMM upgrade, integrating cobots, selling your business: Machinery Minutes, Feb. 3, 2025

On this week's Machinery Minutes podcast, we give you a quick rundown on these three stories:
Wittmann's SmartPower Combimould line of injection molding machines, designed for multi-component molding, now offer servo-electric injection units for improved efficiency and performance.
David Stahl, a wealth management partner at Plante Moran Financial Advisors, offers three personal wealth planning steps owners of plastics businesses should take before selling.
Have you been thinking about adding cobots to your plastics plant? It needn’t be a daunting task, says Chris Buse, Universal Robots’ Applications Engineer Manager for North America West. Learn more on how to add cobots to your plastics plant.

How to add cobots to your plastics plant: PMM Insight

Taking the first step for adding collaborative robots need not be a daunting task, according to Chris Buse, Universal Robot’s Applications Engineering Manager for North America West.
Buse, who has a plastics engineering college degree, outlined the process and talked about the value cobots bring to plastics processing in an interview with Editor Ron Shinn at the inaugural Collaborate conference and trade show in Novi, Mich., on Jan. 28. 

2025 predictions, recycled railroad ties, 3D printing for anyone: Machinery Minutes, Jan. 27, 2025

In this week's Machinery Minutes, senior reporter Bruce Geiselman updates you on a roundtable in which the PMM staff discusses what may lie ahead for machinery makers in 2025. Are they optimistic that interest rate cuts will boost business, or do they see continued tough times ahead?
Another vision of the future comes from Slant 3D president Gabe Bentz, who wants to revolutionize manufacturing in a way that allows anyone to turn an idea into a part.
We also have news on a manufacturer of recycled plastic railroad ties that has attracted an investor. 

Our 2025 outlook for plastics machinery sales: PMM Insight

The year ahead looks uncertain for many plastics machinery OEMs and processors. Will lower interest rates spur investment in equipment? What effect might tariffs have? What end markets are on the rise?
In this episode of the PMM Insight podcast, editors Ron Shinn, Lynne Sherwin, Bruce Geiselman and Karen Hanna discuss the results of our annual survey and comments from machinery makers about their expectations. 

Trump expectations, Netstal in Mexico, Wasp's large-format 3D printer: Machinery Minutes, Jan. 20, 2025

This week's Machinery Minutes podcast, summarizing three important stories from the plastics machinery world, begins with our take on the story everyone's talking about: the beginning of Donald Trump's second term and what it might mean for the industry.
We also report on Netstal's new subsidiary in Mexico, following a trend among injection molding OEMs, and a large-format 3D printer from Wasp that was designed for boat builders.
Join us every Monday for Machinery Minutes, and be sure to subscribe.

Public education makes a city recycling program profitable: PMM Insight

The city of Akron, Ohio, implemented the Recycle Right public education program to curb costly contamination in the recycling stream. It's been so successful, it cut nearly $200,000 in costs and is now turning a profit, setting an example that other municipalities should notice.
PMM editors Ron Shinn and Lynne Sherwin, who both live in Akron, have seen its success from their own front yards, and discuss it in this episode of PMM Insight.

Machinery outlook for 2025, Proco's cobot spinoff, Geiss thermoformer: Machinery Minutes, Jan. 13, 2025

In this episode of Machinery Minutes, learn about the results of our annual survey of processors' machinery investment plans, and what OEMs anticipate for the market in 2025. 
You'll also hear about a new cobot-centric spinoff business of blow molding automation provider Proco Machinery, and an upgraded control system for the Geiss T11 thermoforming machine.