Welcome to PMM Insight: Machinery Minutes, a quick look at three important stories from Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing. New episodes drop every Monday.

On today's episode, Senior Reporter Bruce Geiselman discusses these stories:

• APenergy, a consulting company, is helping plastics processors get utility incentives to undertake energy savings projects, which can trim their bills at little to no cost.
• Coperion has introduced its STS 75 MC Plus, which can be used for multiple applications, including recycling and production of masterbatches.
• American Plastic Molding is a company on a mission. It hopes the addition of a 3D printer for prototyping will allow the company within 10 years to increase its annual sales from about $20 million to $50 million.

The weaknesses of the U.S. electrical grid have never been more apparent, as natural disasters cause outages and EVs, cryptocurrency farms and other energy-hungry activities boost demand. Going dark, even for an hour or two, can deliver a significant hit to your plastics plant.

Microgrids are small, local energy delivery systems that are built on Industry 4.0 technology and can reduce your energy costs, provide power stability and help you meet environmental goals.

Find out more in this PMM Insight commentary by Editor Ron Shinn.

Senior reporter Bruce Geiselman rounds up five essential stories, including a look at the bioplastics supply chain, new service options and smart technology from Conair, the return of Rethink Robotics to the cobot market and a leadership change at Husky Technologies.