2025 Inside the Workforce Gap
2025 Inside the Workforce Gap (PMMI – The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, 2025) examines how workforce shortages and undocumented skill loss disrupt plant-floor performance and what OEMs and end users plan to deploy in response. Drawing on June–July 2025 quantitative surveys of 136 respondents (separate End User and OEM samples) and July–August 2025 qualitative interviews, the analysis contrasts operator and technician pain points with OEM support readiness. Findings highlight gaps in onboarding and tribal knowledge transfer, growing appetite for machine-embedded HMIs, predictive maintenance, remote OEM support, short task-based videos, QR-linked documentation, and targeted automation for loading and changeovers. The report reveals which embedded tools, training formats, and machine design changes are most likely to close frontline skills gaps.
Why read this report?
- See how operator onboarding times affect packaging line productivity
- Explore shifts in machinery predictive maintenance alerts adoption rates
- Identify trends in materials HMI-based troubleshooting and on-machine videos
- Analyze packaging training format effectiveness for reducing operator downtime
- Assess sustainability ROI barriers for automation, changeovers, and space constraints
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Published by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies in November 2025. Based on an online quantitative survey of 136 End Users and OEMs collected June 19–July 15, 2025, and 14 virtual qualitative in-depth interviews with End Users and OEMs conducted July 7–August 13, 2025.
