Guest: Joyce Fassl, Editor-in-Chief, ProFood World 

As someone who has covered the food and beverage industry for over 30 years, editor-in-chief of ProFood World magazine Joyce Fassl was our obvious first stop to help us sort through the COVID-19 clutter and news, and tell us what’s really going on with food processing during the pandemic. Are they safe? Are they all shutting down because of virus spread? What are the plants doing to keep our workers and our food supply safe?

Guest: Tracee Auld, Chief Sustainability Officer, Graham Packaging

Part two of this UnPACKed with PMMI series offers a very compelling case for making economic sense out of sustainability at any packaging operation. Graham Packaging’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Tracee Auld joins the podcast for a one-on-one discussion on how the global packaging giant is managing its ambitious sustainability goals, including a pledge to make its full line of packaging 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Guest: Donna Ritson, President, DDR Communications

During a period in time when new challenges arise daily, concerns around the global pursuit of environmental sustainability could have—and can still—fall by the wayside. This two-part series of UnPACKed with PMMI podcasts provides a look at the overarching effect of a global pandemic on packaging sustainability as well as how one major packaging company is managing its ambitious sustainability goals. Donna Ritson, president of DDR Communications, joins the podcast for part one. Ritson shares her findings from PMMI’s Packaging Sustainability – A Changing Landscape report and offers insights that will help manufacturers continue to drive sustainability initiatives.

Guests: Wendee Wood, Partner, Mercer Health and Benefits and Paul Hartgen Vice President of Member and Business Services, National Association of Manufacturers

Even before the pandemic, healthcare, and the ability to obtain good healthcare, was always a hot-button, headline-making issue. Affordable healthcare and maintaining a healthy workforce is crucial for any business and represents one of the leading factors potential employees seek when job hunting. With that in mind, PMMI and NAM, The National Association of Manufacturers, collaborated to offer Fortune-500 level benefits to companies via NAM Healthcare. Paul Hartgen, vice president, member and business services, NAM, and Wendee Wood, partner at Mercer Health and Benefits, join the podcast and discuss NAM Healthcare and how small and medium-sized manufacturing companies can obtain this life-saving benefit. Learn more and get a quote here. 

Guest: Stephanie Neil, Editor in Chief, OEM Magazine

Wondering how the packaging and processing OEM community is acclimating during the pandemic? Stephanie Neil, Editor in Chief of OEM Magazine, returns to the podcast, this time on the other side of the microphone, and discusses how OEMs can push through or even get ahead during an economic recession. Her background as a long time contributor to Automation World also helps her identify control systems and technologies impacting today's machine builders.

Guest: Matt Reynolds, Editor, Packaging World

Year after year, IoPP, the Institute of Packaging Professionals, reports salary data and trends in the packaging industry gathered through their Salary Survey. In order to understand the findings, especially after the uncertainty of the first half of 2020, Matt Reynolds, editor, Packaging World, joins the podcast to break down the details on employment status, educational factors, future career prospects and more.

Guest: Keren Sookne, Director of Editorial Content, Healthcare Packaging

With many rapid changes going on in the healthcare sector these days, Keren Sookne, director of editorial content for Healthcare Packaging makes her podcast debut to bring a targeted perspective on what has been happening so far in 2020 in healthcare packaging and the life sciences industries. Apropos of the times, the discussion features an in depth look at the many ways COVID-19 has dominated the space with PPE shortages, testing, the potential for a vaccine, risks of counterfeiting and much more.

Guests: Patty Andersen Vice President, Human Resources & Training, Delkor Systems and Vice Chairperson at PMMI and Jeff Thorstad, Automation Robotics Engineering Technologies Program, Hennepin Technical College

As one of the industries that remained in operation during the past four months, packaging and processing companies are seeing not only an increase in production, but also in the need for skilled workers. Unfortunately, the demand for trained labor comes during a time period when manufacturers were already having a hard time filling positions on their operations teams.  Join Delkor Systems' Patty Andersen and Hennepin Technical College's Jeff Thorstad, in this UnPACKed with PMMI podcast episode to hear guidance on solving the puzzle of bridging the skills gap.

Guest: Josh Becker, Senior Manager, Packaging Systems, The Hershey Company

As someone who has been on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic, Josh Becker, senior manager, packaging systems, The Hershey Company, joins the UnPACKed with PMMI podcast to share the customer perspective on how Hershey has been handling visits from suppliers, training and service issues during this time. As an essential business that remained open though out the pandemic, Becker also offers some best practices Hershey has learned throughout the past three months.

Guest: Laura Thompson, Vice President, Trade Shows, PMMI

Nothing brings our industry together like PACK EXPO International and Healthcare Packaging EXPO. In this episode of UnPACKED with PMMI Laura Thompson, VP, Trade Shows at PMMI provides an update on the status of November’s show, and why it is more important than ever for exhibitors and attendees to take advantage of the connections and opportunity it provides.