Pack Expo: Major industry growth forecast

The largest PACK EXPO International and co-located Healthcare Packaging EXPO in history opened its doors last week amidst forecasts of growth in the packaging industry. Based on the newly released State of the Industry U.S. Packaging Machinery Report by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technology, owner and producer of the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows, packaging machinery shipments are forecast to grow to $10.5 billion.

“With so much growth in the packaging industry, PACK EXPO International is an invaluable event. It gives exhibitors and attendees the opportunity to see solutions from other vertical industries to assist in addressing production challenges and boost their company’s ability to innovate,” states Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI. “You can learn firsthand the latest innovations in the industry to be on the forefront of your business.”

Bringing together 2,500 exhibitors and 50,000 attendees across 1.25 million net square feet of McCormick Place exhibit space, no event in the world this year is poised to offer targeted solutions to meet this increasing demand like PACK EXPO International and Healthcare Packaging EXPO.

Per the State of the Industry report, the value of domestic shipments of packaging machinery rose 6.4 percent to $8.2 billion in 2017 – and are forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 percent to 2023.

Food represents the largest packaging machinery sector in 2017, accounting for 36.6 percent of shipment revenues, followed by beverage at 22.1 percent. The pharmaceuticals sector is expected to grow the fastest to 2022, at a CAGR of 3.5 percent. While the largest machinery type category in 2017 was case handling at 15.1 percent, bottling line machinery is forecast to grow the fastest to 2023, with a CAGR of 5.3 percent.

E-commerce has influenced much of this market growth with the first quarter of 2018 e-commerce sales accounting for 9.5 percent of total retail sales, according to PMMI’s recent report, E-Commerce: Think Inside the Box.

“Across all demographics, from Baby Boomers to Generation Z, a growing number of people are purchasing a large portion of their products online with greater frequency than ever before,” says Paula Feldman, director of business intelligence, PMMI. “E-commerce operations need advanced equipment in order to keep up with demand, manufacturers are investing in smarter, automated functionality to achieve a greater level of machine flexibility.”