Lights-out production has been a goal for the plastics industry for three decades, but until now, machines have still required operators to set them up, monitor and adjust them and perform quality checks.

On this PMM Insight podcast commentary, Editor Ron Shinn sees signs that true lights-out capabilities are on the horizon:

• Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence (AI), smart factory technology and a skilled labor shortage has delivered the plastics processing industry to the beginning of a new era in automation.

• Engel displayed the world’s first autonomous, self-regulating molding cell at K 2025.

• Haitian, Reifenhäuser, Shibaura, Stork and Wittmann — among others — also unveiled AI-powered systems for plastics processing.

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.