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6 days ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
By Ron ShinnUniversal Robots (UR) created buzz at Automate 2025 in Detroit with the global launch of the UR15, described as being sharper, faster and more agile than any other UR cobot. The UR15 joins the UR20 and UR30 in the company’s high-performance series. The UR15 has six rotating joints. Payload is 33.1 pounds but can be increased to about 38.6 pounds for wrist-down tasks such as palletizing. Reach is about 4.3 feet.
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1 week ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
Key points from this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast:Corporate sustainability goals are colliding with the reality of a political climate dominated by news of cuts and regulatory backlash, but work on recycling is moving ahead at the state and company level because it makes business sense. Pete Sullivan, a long-time publisher of trade magazines for the plastics industry, and a member of PMM's founding team, passed away last week at age 81.
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1 week ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
T. Peter Sullivan, longtime publisher of trade magazines for the plastics industry, passed away May 27 at age 81. Sullivan was a member of the team that founded Plastics Machinery Magazine in 2014. It later changed its name to Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing. He served as a partner and publishing adviser and steered the new publication to focus on machinery and equipment, which he saw as an underserved sector of the industry.
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2 weeks ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
Bekum America added 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space to its Williamston, Mich. facility in 2021 to meet demand for its blow molding equipment and allow it to design and test turnkey systems. The company takes pride in its highly trained technical staff, who can help both new and experienced blow molders. The company recently gave Editor Ron Shinn a tour of the facility, where the company builds machines for a variety of applications and also trains its apprentices.
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2 weeks ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
Key points from this episode of Machinery Minutes:Bekum America builds application-specific extrusion blow molding equipment and prides itself on customer support, especially to new blow molders. Take a look behind the scenes. The SPE Thermoforming Division presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Greg McCunn, staff engineer for materials at John Deere, at its recent conference. Learn about Wittmann’s latest granulator, the S-Max Dual 8.
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3 weeks ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
By Ron Shinn More and more brand owners that once purchased huge numbers of blow molded containers have in recent years started making their own. It is a trend that Bekum America has embraced with application-specific extrusion blow molding equipment and customer support that can jumpstart customers new to container manufacturing. “They were consumers of plastic containers, and now they have become producers,” said Steven London, president and COO of Bekum America Corp. in Williamston, Mich.
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3 weeks ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
Key points from this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast Digital transformation holds the key to making better decisions about your customers’ needs, machine maintenance, supply chain trends and more. A top leadership consultant discusses how to cope with fear, volatile markets, global instability and waves of tariff announcements and suspensions. PTi has upgraded and rebranded its twin-screw dryerless sheet extruder formerly known as the HVTSE.
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4 weeks ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
By Ron Shinn Plenty of innovative new equipment for both plastic and metal 3D printing was on display at the 3D printing industry's biggest show. While talk outside April’s Rapid + TCT 2025 centered around tariffs announced by President Trump about a week earlier, representatives at the show said they were unsure how they would be impacted. 3D Systems, based in Rock Hill, S.C., said the printer is designed to provide accuracy and repeatability, from part to part and printer to printer.
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4 weeks ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
Key points from this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast:A survey of PMM readers found processors and equipment suppliers are unhappy and are at a loss as to how to deal with the constantly changing tariff landscape. Orders are slowing down and processors are postponing equipment purchases. Read the summary story or listen to our podcast commentary. It may seem like chaos in the business world, but you still have to pull up your big-boy pants and manage through it.
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1 month ago | 
plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com | Ron Shinn
Key points from this PMM Insight podcast episode:Processors and others responding to a PMM survey said they believe that the Trump administration’s trade policies will have a negative impact on their business and that customers are already delaying orders. More than 60 percent said they are delaying purchases of new machinery and equipment. There was little optimism that reshoring would result in new business for the domestic plastics industry.
