Five Signals from PACK EXPO 2025
Insights from the year’s leading automation event.
At PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2025, the floors were packed, with more than 2,300 exhibitors, 35,000 professionals, and the unmistakable hum of machines running full tilt. Douglas Harp, Managing Partner at Momenta, and I spent three days walking the halls, talking with machine builders, operators, and innovators, tracing the real signals beneath the flashy demos and glossy headlines.
What follows are five takeaways you can’t ignore if you build, automate, or invest in industrial tech.
At a Glance: Shifts You Can’t Miss
- Siloed operations still block innovation and automation
- Robotic deployments are up 5× since 2023 (PMMI)
- 68% of beverage producers plan major equipment upgrades within three years
- Fewer than 1% of OEMs actively sell Equipment-as-a-Service models
- Sustainability mandates are now driving procurement and reshaping entire lines
1. Automation’s Achilles' Heel: Fragmentation
Every hall told the same story: The packaging value chain remains deeply fragmented, with isolated machines, disconnected processes, and limited data interoperability. Integration remains the hardest, yet most crucial, barrier to achieving scalable efficiency.
Takeaway: Solving for interoperability is no longer optional; it’s the key to unlocking next-generation productivity, especially for connected machine builders.
2. Machine Builders’ Digital Lock-In Strategy
OEMs are doubling down on full-line solutions, especially in greenfield projects. By supplying most of the equipment on a line, they can deploy proprietary digital ecosystems, creating long-term customer lock-in.
Watch for: The growing tension between vendor-controlled ecosystems and an industry increasingly pushing for open, interoperable platforms.
3. Robotics: Specialization Over Scale
Robots were everywhere, five times as prevalent as in 2023. But the real story? Deployments focus on semi-custom, labor-intensive applications: palletizing here, pick-and-place there. While the use cases vary, the hardware often comes from a few dominant suppliers.
Implication: The next wave of robotics value isn’t about the robot itself; it’s about integration and orchestration. How well systems communicate will matter more than how they move.
4. The Beverage Industry’s Capital Wave
Sustainability mandates and changing consumer expectations are accelerating modernization of beverage packaging lines and equipment. Booth after booth shared a similar message: producers are quickly retooling lines, so expect high demand and new investments in modular, recyclable-ready systems.
Opportunity: Adaptability now determines competitiveness. Flexible machinery and versatile materials are essential for market relevance.
5. Digital Transformation: Still in First Gear
Despite the rise in machine connectivity, few OEMs have changed business models and achieved recurring revenue from digital services. Data sovereignty concerns hinder cloud adoption, especially in the Pharma industry. Rockwell and Microsoft project the OEM XaaS market to be a $23B, high-growth market, but the entry barrier remains high.
Challenge: Trust and clear ROI examples will determine who truly unlocks and wins the digital business model race.
Why These Signals Matter
Packaging and processing are entering a convergence phase, driven by regulatory pressure, labor shortages, and reshoring trends. The winners will be those who break down silos and enable interoperable automation that delivers measurable efficiency and sustainability gains.
“This sector has the technology,” said Douglas Harp. “What it needs now is cohesion, a unified, industry-friendly strategy across machines, data, and partners to truly scale automation.”
WATCH: The future of packaging and processing!
Next Steps: From Signal to Strategy
Do you think these signals resonate with your current challenges or opportunities?
The Momenta Advisory team can help you translate these insights and market trends into action and growth, through strategic planning, ecosystem partnerships, fractional leadership, and M&A support.
Connect with us:
- Douglas Harp – doug@momenta.one
- Bill O’Such – bill@momenta.one
PACK EXPO 2025 demonstrated that integration, rather than invention, is powering the next frontier of industrial automation. The leaders will be those who connect existing systems, creating measurable Industrial Impact across the entire value chain.
Momenta is a leading Industrial Impact® advisory firm driving growth and digital transformation for industrial innovators in energy, manufacturing, smart spaces, and the supply chain. We advise on digital strategy and M&A while investing in and accelerating the growth of digital industry leaders and disruptors. With leadership experience at GE Digital, PTC, Schneider, and Intel, our team has scaled industry leaders and innovators for over a decade, spearheading Industrial IoT transactions and digital transformations for 50+ providers, including Xylem, Atlas Copco, Teradyne, CNHi, and GeoTab. Learn more at http://www.momenta.one.
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