Has the lights-out era finally arrived for plastics?

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.