Arburg has received four distinctions in the prestigious “Product of the Year 2026” competition organised by the German trade magazines PolyFormNEXT and Industrial Production. Two of the manufacturer's own solutions and two projects in which Arburg participated as a partner were recognised: the electric Allrounder Trend injection moulding machine, the Gestica lite control system, and the “NextGen Medical Solution” and “Domino” projects. The manufacturer from Lossburg has once again confirmed its position as a technology leader in plastics processing.
The awards ceremony took place on 5 March 2026 at the Seehaus in Munich's English Garden. On behalf of the company, the awards were accepted by Dr Volker Nilles, CEO of Arburg. He underlined the importance of the awards for the further development of solutions for the plastics processing sector, highlighting both the innovativeness of the products and the practical dimension of the projects implemented with partners.
As Dr Volker Nilles stated: “Four awards, including three gold and one silver, impressively demonstrate our high level of innovation, customer focus and solution expertise.” He pointed out that the broad scope of the recognised solutions, covering both Arburg's own products and joint projects with partners, is particularly important. “Together with our partners, these awards give us strong impetus for the entire plastics industry worldwide. Customers benefit from practical ideas that can be implemented directly in daily production and that are already setting new technical and economic standards now and for the future,” added Nilles.
Three PolyFormNEXT awards for machines and tooling
In the PolyFormNEXT competition, the winners were selected from a total of 50 nominees in five categories. In the “Production” category, first place went to the electric Allrounder Trend injection moulding machine. The new machine series was designed from the ground up with a focus on high efficiency, low investment and operating costs, as well as a fast return on investment (ROI) and a low total cost of ownership (TCO). The design focus on operating economics is intended to meet the growing requirements of plastics processors regarding cost competitiveness and production stability.
Arburg also took first place in the “Peripheral equipment” category for its new Gestica lite control system. This basic control version with an intuitive user interface features a clear dashboard and a high level of ease of use. Such functionality is particularly important in the context of the increasing shortage of skilled workers in plastics processing, where rapid familiarisation of operators with new systems is required.
In the tools and moulds category, the joint “Domino” project submitted by Hasco and Polar-Form was recognised. In this project, a 3D-printed hot runner system from Hasco, a 32-cavity family mould from Polar-Form and a two-component Allrounder More 2000 injection moulding machine were used. In a single injection moulding step, 32 two-colour domino playing pieces are produced. This application demonstrates how new mould concepts can significantly increase the cost-effectiveness of series production by integrating multiple part variants into one mould and reducing the number of process steps.
Industrial Production award for digital medical cell
In the “Industrial Production” competition, 31 nominees competed in six categories. Arburg took second place in the “Automation, digitalisation and interlinkage” category for another cooperation project, the “NextGen Medical Solution” digital production cell. This turnkey solution was developed in close cooperation between Arburg (injection moulding technology), Hack Formenbau (mould technology) and HB-Therm (temperature control technology). The jury highlighted the combination of cost efficiency with low energy consumption, small footprint, simple operation, high availability, productivity and part quality.
In the “NextGen Medical Solution” project, a configuration of the machine, mould, peripheral equipment and material tailored to the application requirements and implemented in cooperation with the involved original equipment manufacturer (OEM) was of key importance. This approach not only led to a significant reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO), but also shortened the time to production start-up and enabled approval for use in pharmaceutical production through parametric release.
This result was also achieved through the digital interlinkage of the injection moulding machine, tool, automation and peripheral equipment, as well as numerous intelligent functions integrated into the Gestica control system. The integration of process data from the machine, mould and temperature control units enables consistent monitoring of production parameters, which is particularly important in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, where strict quality and documentation requirements apply.
The package of awards granted in the “Product of the Year 2026” competition shows that the solutions from Arburg and its partners cover a broad spectrum of applications, from economical production of technical plastic parts in family moulds to highly automated, digitally integrated cells for medical applications. The common denominator of the recognised projects is a focus on measurable improvements in economic and technical efficiency in processing plants.
Winner: On 5 March 2026, Dr Volker Nilles, CEO of Arburg, accepted four “Product of the Year 2026” awards from the German trade magazines PolyFormNEXT and Industrial Production. Photo: Pelemedia GmbH
