What you'll learn on this podcast:
- As the U.S. Senate debates President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” we look at what it could mean for plastics processors.
- Henning Stieglitz, CEO and CTO of the German company that manufactures Battenfeld Cincinnati extrusion machines, talked with the VDMA about sustainability, artificial intelligence, post-consumer material and problems with the circular economy.
- Universal Robots has launched the UR15 collaborative robot, promising high performance and greater speeds.
Transcript
Hello, welcome to PMM Insight, a Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing podcast. I am your host, Ron Shinn, editor of PMM.
This is an episode of Machinery Minutes, where at the beginning of each week I share with you three things you need to know in about three minutes. You can read the complete stories on plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com.
Let’s get started.
Story Number 1: The United States Senate is teeing up President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” for debate after it squeaked through the House on a partisan vote. Opposition is expected in the Senate, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to sidetrack the budget bill.
But the Plastics Industry Association and the National Association of Manufacturers say it is good for their members.
PLASTICS President and CEO Matt Seaholm said it delivers the certainty and resources companies need to drive and secure future growth. NAM President Jay Timmins said this is a pivotal moment for manufacturing and that it is time to double-down on policies that encourage manufacturers to invest and create jobs that can keep our industry competitive on the world stage.
We are in for weeks of haggling over how much the bill will increase the national debt, immigration policies, cuts to food assistance and Medicaid as well as President Biden’s clean energy programs.
All of this will play out while President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs create chaos for the plastics industry as well as world trade.
Keep an eye on the Senate arguments. The outcome could have a big impact on your business.
Read the complete commentary on plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com. Headline is “Budget bill isn’t perfect, but it boosts plastics.”
Story Number 2: We have a thoughtful interview with Henning Stieglitz, CEO and CTO of the German company that manufactures Battenfeld Cincinnati extrusion machines. He discusses sustainability, artificial intelligence, difficulties in using post-consumer material and problems with the circular economy.
Stieglitz said his company is already using artificial intelligence to support machine operators in tasks such as identifying errors and suggesting solutions or tracking energy consumption and suggesting how to improve it.
He also said this could potentially lead to unmanned extrusion machines.
The article is headlined “Making extrusion more efficient and sustainable.”
Story Number 3: In new product news, Universal Robots launched the UR15 collaborative robot at Automate 2025. It has a payload of 33.1 pounds but that can be increased to about 38.6 pounds for wrist-down tasks such as palletizing. It has six joints and maximum reach is 4.3 feet.
The UR15 joins the UR20 and UR35 in the company’s high-performance cobot series. The Dannish manufacturer said the UR15 is about 30 percent faster than other UR cobots in pick-and-place applications, which improves cycle time.
Headline is “Universal Robots launches UR15 cobot.”
Those are my Top 3 items for this week. We have a new list every Monday.
I hope you have enjoyed this episode of Machinery Minutes. You can always find our podcasts and the latest information about the worldwide plastics industry on our website, www.plasticsmachinerymanufacturing.com and on social media.
Remember to subscribe to the PMM Insight podcast on your favorite podcast app and tell a friend or colleague if you think they would enjoy the show. This podcast was produced by Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing, an Endeavor Business Media brand.
Ron Shinn | Editor
Editor Ron Shinn is a co-founder of Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing and has been covering the plastics industry for more than 35 years. He leads the editorial team, directs coverage and sets the editorial calendar. He also writes features, including the Talking Points column and On the Factory Floor, and covers recycling and sustainability for PMM and Plastics Recycling.
