Tag: AMR

  • Conference Whispers: Pack Expo Las Vegas 2025

    Conference Whispers: Pack Expo Las Vegas 2025

    Las Vegas, NV September 29- October 1

    Published to clients: October 3, 2025                                                          ID: TBW2101

    Published to readers: October 4, 2025                   

    Published to Email Whispers: October 5, 2025 at 6am

    Public with video edition: October 5, 2025 at 8am

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Abstract

    “Pack Expo Vegas 2025 drew 30,000 attendees, filling over 1 million square feet with 2,300 exhibitors across 40 verticals. From robotics and automation to vision AI and IIoT, the show spotlighted packaging tech’s expanding role in enterprise ops. TBW Advisors captured 52 videos, 135+ minutes of footage, and livestreamed twice from the floor. The event showcased the full spectrum of packaging—from boxing and palletizing to robotics, automation, and sensor-driven intelligence.”

    The Conference

    • A community of 30,000 gathered for Pack Expo Vegas 2025. The event featured over a million square feet of exhibit space, 2300 exhibiting companies serving over 40 vertical markets.
    • Technologies spanned from packaging, to boxing, to palletizing. Robots, automation, and intelligence meant sensor data and traditional AI were plentiful amongst all of the products.

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    Conference Vibe

    After 52 videos and over 135 minutes of video including 2 livestreams, 30 fact checks, over 25,000 steps, 18 flights of stairs and 4 Vegas Loops Rides our coverage of Pack Expo Vegas 2025 closes. Opening day provided a rush for everyone to get their badges at Registration along with a temporary line. The Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) South Hall Upper featured every packaging need for dandy and confectionaries including the Confectionery Pavilion. South Hall lower featured the Containers and Materials Pavilion and related exhibitors. South Hall also features its own eateries where you can get nearly anything sweets packed. South Hall lower out back also features a Vegas Loop Station. Enjoy the ride along over to West Hall. There was also an extensive shuttle infrastructure to facilitate attendees. West Hall featured the Innovation Stage and Industry Speaks. West Hall also features an extensive eatery collection. West Hall features a air conditioned short walkway enabling all to cross the street to North Hall. It is always interesting to see how each event leverages the walkway. In this case, Pack Expo Las Vegas leveraged it to feature their Packaging Innovation Show Case. It was quite fascinating to appreciate all the hard work, creativity, and talent that goes into packaging various goods we use every day. North Hall features the Logistics Pavilion, Processing Zone, Healthcare Packaging Pavillion, Containers and Materials Pavilion and Package Printing Pavillion. North Hall also had an eatery inside the Hall as well as leveraged the traditional Central Hall Food Court. Unless you leveraged a shuttle, the easiest way to get from North Hall to South was a short walk outside. 

    We once again live streamed from on site. On Monday requesting those attending to find me to answer Questions 1-3, and Tuesday to let you know about upcoming events we have scheduled and to introduce all to TBW Advisors LLC, and requesting assistance. Specifically, I requested assistance on your favorite videos for my segment on the October 3rd broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    While at Pack Expo Vegas 2025, we conducted research for three additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available and will eventually fill in with the video version of the report so you may wish to bookmark these playlists.

    1. Whisper Report: What’s the biggest packaging tech blind spot for CIOs?
    2. Whisper Report: How will robotics in packaging reshape enterprise ops?
    3. Whisper Report: What’s the most overlooked data source in packaging?

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Pack Expo Vegas 2025 Playlist in its entirety. Once the video edition is available, the playlist will be sited as a pinned comment on the video edition. It is also easy to locate any previous Conference Whispers playlists through TBW Advisors LLC corporate website.

    Welcome to Pack Expo Las Vegas

    Tracy Stout, VP of Marketing and Communications at PMMI, the organization that hosts and runs Pack Expo Las Vegas, welcomed Press to the event. The CEO of PMMI, Jim Pittas, then shared highlights of what to expect at the show. Specifically, the show featured more than a million square feet of exhibit space and 2,300 exhibiting companies representing 40 vertical markets. One of the more exciting aspects of the press lunch was the State of the Industry Address. Enjoy the entire session; the net takeaway was this industry continues to grow despite years of continued growth. Later in the event we were able to catch the Sr. Vice Chairman of Pakistan’s packaging association, APCCMA, Aftab Ahmed. Mr. Ahmed wanted all to know to know Pakistan is open for business with many goods to sell around the world.

    Exhibits

    With over a million square feet of exhibits, and 2300 exhibitors – each exhibit had plenty of space to show off their machines, equipment, automations, and ROBOTS. Signode Technologies shared their autonomous robots on an integrated line. This line demonstrated palletizing, ring wrapping the pallet along with transportation of the loads between steps by robots. KUKA shared their complete robotic portfolio with attendees. The portfolio included SCARA robots (selective compliance articulated robot arm), Six-Axis robots, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) as well. For those not familiar, Six-Axis Robots are industrial robots capable of moving with six degrees of freedom that would be X, Y and Z axis and rotations including roll, pitch and yaw around these axis. We were also able to capture the Six-Axis Robot by Universal Robots along with their AMR by MiR. Robot Units is an industrial manufacturer that creates modular automation systems involving aluminum extrusion, robotic framing and guarding to conveyors and powered roller belts, timing belts, modular belts. If you are seeking a cost effective one-stop shot for control automation, Unitronics would love to speak with you. If however, automation backed by three generations of experience catches your attention, the industrial integration company of Flex-Line Automation  was also in expo hall.

    A very critical aspect of packaging is that of boxing. The SOMIC Superflex 434 can rotate the packages so that they can be placed in alternating positions for maximum capacity. In addition, SOMIC also offers a solution to pack unglued boxes saving space and money without losing packaging strength. Attempting to box sticky products and don’t want to give away too much product? Harpak specializes in exactly that sticky situation! Once packages are in a box it is time to think about palletizing. B2B solutions was on site with their innovative 1 and 3 pallet solutions. What was most interesting was the tiny, five and a half by seven and a half feet space it can fit in. If that is not convenient enough – it can leverage a standard wall outlet.

    Space isn’t the only area of efficiency that many sought. If you are focused on getting your stock levels at the correct levels, Netstock’s video should catch your attention. If you find yourself having workers work overtime only to have workers with no stock before them 3 shifts later, you need to address this problem. Be sure to schedule an inquiry with your TBW Advisors analysts at the earliest convenience so we can discuss where you are today. In addition, create an action plan and strategy to digitally transform your organization enabling not only efficient use of staff but of packaging materials as well.

    Other interesting technologies located include this innovative printer head by Hitatchi Industrial ensuring your product codes are readable without significant and constant human intervention. As any network team in the distribution and manufacturing sector can tell you, constant reconfiguration can mean tricky cable management. In expo hall we found icotek that enables reconfiguration and reconnecting without all the traditional hassles.

    One cannot have all these robots and manufacturing lines without significant proliferation of vision AI. Flexible Vision focuses on quality control and traceability, analytics and data collection. If you are seeking to examine the quality of your products leveraging vision at speeds up to 13,000 or more parts per minute – Vision Software was in expo hall. If you are seeking to get intelligence from sensors in general, perhaps even need to procure those sensors, SICK is there to help you realize your Industrial Internet of Things – IIoT – soluton. It’s not about the sensor; it is about the business result.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    Pack Expo Vegas 2026 will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at Las Vegas Convention Center with dates to be announced.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

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