On this week’s Machinery Minutes podcast:

• Arburg is leaving the additive manufacturing market, 12 years after introducing the Freeformer series of 3D printers.
• Dan Weissmann played key roles during the evolution of plastic beverage containers as well as the plastic closure for hot-fill packaging.
• At the K Show next month, KraussMaffei is showing how to use its ColorForm technology to apply a thin polyurethane surface directly to thermoplastic components within an injection mold. The product is an automotive headlight with a PU protective cover.

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

• After more than two years of negotiating, talks for a worldwide treaty to end plastic pollution collapsed.

• There has been a great deal of innovation built on and because of the advances made in plastics. The industry needs to keep pushing the limits and capabilities of the material.

• What next? Countries should develop their own national action plans and not wait on a treaty.

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.