The PPMA Show has always been a snapshot of where the UK’s processing and packaging sector is heading. Every September, the innovations on display hint at how factories will look in the years ahead. With the show taking place every year, it’s sometimes hard to notice the cumulative impact of these changes over time. But what might we expect to see in a decade from now? Here, Bradley McEwan, business development manager at automation specialist Beckhoff UK, imagines what we might expect to see if teleported to PPMA 2035.
We’ve already had a taste of personalisation, from Coca‑Cola cans with your name on them to bespoke skincare formulations. But this is only the beginning. In the next ten years, I expect personalisation will lose its novelty and become central to how products are made and packaged.
The real challenge lies in transforming a traditional “batch” approach into what we call a “batch of one” — where every product is unique. This requires production lines capable of constant changeovers without compromising speed or cost. The good news is that the technology needed to achieve this already exists. PC‑based control, real‑time networking such as EtherCAT and flexible mechatronic transport systems like XTS and XPlanar make it possible to reconfigure packaging lines on the fly. By 2035, I expect this capability to be the norm rather than the exception at PPMA.
Sustainability as standard
Sustainability is no longer an optional extra — it’s the baseline expectation for consumers, particularly younger generations. They actively seek products with minimal environmental impact, and manufacturers have no choice but to respond.
This goes far beyond switching from plastic to paper. In the future, companies will need to measure and reduce the carbon and water footprint of every step in the manufacturing process. At the same time, we’re seeing a drive towards “more output per square metre”, which requires smaller, more agile machines delivering higher productivity without needing new facilities. For PPMA, this means the show floor will increasingly highlight compact, resource‑efficient solutions rather than sprawling production lines.
Agility over scale
Traditional long production runs where machines sit idle for weeks between campaigns will soon be a thing of the past. In an unpredictable market, the winners will be those who can adapt the fastest. Future factories will operate like chameleons: reconfiguring daily, even hourly, to meet changing consumer demand.
The technology stack that enables this agility — from modular control architectures to plug‑and‑play motion systems — is already here, but by 2035, it will be fully embedded. At PPMA, I expect to see live demonstrations of packaging lines seamlessly switching products, formats and even materials in real time.
By 2035, personalisation, ‘sustainability’ and ‘agility’ won’t just be industry buzzwords, they’ll be everyday realities. The PPMA Show will reflect this, showcasing production lines that are smaller, smarter and far more consumer‑driven than anything we see today. For UK machine builders and manufacturers, this is an exciting opportunity: a chance to lead the shift towards a more responsive and responsible packaging industry.
If you want to know how PC-based control and EtherCAT can prepare you for the future of packaging, please come and visit Beckhoff at PPMA on 23-25 September at Stand F40.