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.

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.

On this episode of PMM Insight, Editor Ron Shinn and Senior Reporter Karen Hanna discuss cybersecurity:

• Any given company has a 50-50 chance of being hacked, and manufacturing companies are among the most commonly targeted.  

• Small companies are as much at risk as bigger companies.

• It is important to always segregate IT systems from operational technology systems.

These are the stories you will hear on this Machinery Minutes podcast episode:

• Peter Gardner, president of LS Mtron Injection Molding Machine USA, is retiring. During his tenure, the South Korean machinery manufacturer’s share of the North American market has risen from a negligible amount to an estimated 10 percent.

• Artificial intelligence has brought manufacturing to the threshold of another revolution and offers remarkable advantages for blow molding, according to Eric Simmons, chair of the SPE Blow Molding Division.

• U.S. companies have a 50-50 chance of being hacked in the next year and costs of an attack can be enormous. But there are steps to shore up defenses and companies that can help safeguard you.

What you will learn in this episode of the Machinery Minutes podcast:

• North American shipments of injection molding and extrusion equipment in the second quarter of 2025 were up 0.7 percent from both the previous quarter and the same quarter of last year.

• Currier Plastics has always excelled at adapting to changing times. It will be honored with the Recognition of Excellence Award at the Annual Blow Molding Conference Sept. 8-10 in Pittsburgh.  

• Netstal has made numerous upgrades to its PET-Line injection molding system for preforms, which is designed for high output and efficiency.

What you'll learn on this PMM Insight podcast episode, a commentary by Editor Ron Shinn:  

• The new tax and spending law reinstates 100 percent deduction of the cost of capital equipment purchases in the year the purchase is made and accelerates deductions for manufacturing buildings.

• Research and experimental or development costs can now be deducted in the year the costs were incurred.

• A tax expert said the new law creates compelling economics for domestic facility expansion and modernization.

These are the stories covered in today’s Machinery Minutes podcast:

• Plastics processors say they have plenty of unused capacity immediately available if manufacturing picks up.

• Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. has acquired Addex, Inc., a supplier of blown film extrusion equipment. 

• Kautex is relaunching its KEB series of extrusion blow molding machines, which debuted in 1968.

Here are the stories covered in this week’s Machinery Minutes podcast:

• Mold making in the U.S. is an up-and-down business. Mold shops are expanding services, consolidating operations and embracing automation and smart manufacturing.

• Canadian based Nova Chemicals has opened a linear low-density polyethylene mechanical recycling plant in Connersville, Ind. The company hopes to prove the consistency and viability of mechanical film recycling.

• Denso has upgraded its control system so it can operate two, four-axis SCARA robot arms from a single control unit. The company said the unit is well suited for assembly or when robot operations are needed in a cramped space.