In episode 33 of The Downtime, a weekly manufacturing podcast from WTWH Media, co-hosts Sarah Wynn and Sheri Kasprzak recap the past year of packaging and manufacturing coverage. They reflect on their first in-person meeting at Pack Expo Southeast, the launch of the podcast, and how building connections, both digitally and in person, has shaped their work. The hosts also highlight some of the standout interviews they covered in 2025.
From Pack Expo Southeast to podcast: The Downtime’s origins
The episode kicks off with Wynn’s first-ever trade show experience at Pack Expo Southeast, where Kasprzak showed her the ropes.
“I’m not a shy person, so I was able to walk her [Wynn] around and introduce her to people and help out with filming, and we became fast friends,” said Kasprzak. “That was an awesome event.”
PHOTO GALLERY | Pack Expo Southeast 2025
The hosts share funny moments from the trip, including Wynn’s iPhone “destabilized” stabilizer mishaps, participating in Morrison Container Handling Solution’s “changeover challenge,” and how Kasprzak wore high heels on the show floor. This meeting also inspired The Downtime podcast, which launched in April 2025.
“From PLCs to PSLs, we cover it all,” said Wynn, highlighting the podcast’s authentic style.
Meeting the people who move the industry forward
The hosts also emphasize how connecting with industry professionals fosters a sense of community around their podcast and publications.
Wynn shares how trade show connections led to podcast interviews, including episodes with Nord Drivesystems’ Mark Arisman on variable frequency drives (VFDs), LinMot USA’s Zarren Zafiro on robotic grippers, and Fanuc America’s Stacey Harimoto regarding robotic tote consolidation and her journey to becoming an engineer, including cold calling for internship opportunities.
The Downtime Podcast | Fanuc’s robotic solutions for warehousing and material handling automation
“If you’re a young person looking for some engineering inspiration, check out Stacey’s interview,” said Kasprzak. “It does pay to just be gutsy and go for it sometimes, because you never know. The most they can say is no.”
Recapping Packaging OEM coverage
Wynn highlights some of Packaging OEM’s most-viewed stories of 2025, including Coal’d Water Distilling Company, which co-packs sparkling water, ready-to-drink cocktails, and cold brew on its flexible canning line using its on-site natural spring.
She also shares the OEM profile on Morrison Container Handling Solutions.
“The Morrison OEM profile is really close to my heart, because I spent a lot of time with their team, doing interviews. That story has six different voices intertwined,” said Wynn. “We talked about timing screws and what they’re made of and why they use certain materials and how they manufacture those materials in-house.”
Celebrating system integrators
The hosts celebrate the System Integrator of the Year award winners from Control Engineering and Plant Engineering and share a video from WTWH Media senior editor Gary Cohen to commemorate the occasion.
Episode 33: Won’t You Be Our Neighbor? | Show notes & time stamps
00:17 – The co-hosts begin the show
01:05 – Wynn and Kasprzak kick off the episode by recapping the year, including their favorite moments and interviews from 2025
01:40 – The co-hosts reflect on Pack Expo Southeast in Atlanta, Wynn’s first trade show
06:30 – Kasprzak recounts how she beat Wynn in Morrison Container Handling Solution’s changeover challenge
08:05 – Wynn brings up the editor’s trip to ProMat in Chicago
14:25 – Gary Cohen, senior editor for Control Engineering and host of Ctrl+Alt+Mfg Podcast, joins the show to highlight the winners of the System Integrators of the Year award
15:45 – The co-hosts congratulate the System Integrator of the Year winners
18:55 – Kasprzak talks about her trip to Epicor Insights and seeing Pitbull in concert
22:30 – The co-hosts discuss producing original videos at events
24:10 – Kasprzak highlights some of her favorite interviews of the year, including Memphis Record Pressing’s automated packaging line and the conversation with Aaron Prather, director, robotics & autonomous systems program at ASTM International
26:30 – Wynn spotlights her favorite stories she worked on this year, including Coal’d Water Distilling Company’s co-packing line funding the venture’s distilling dreams and the OEM profile on Morrison Container Handling Solutions
29:10 – The co-hosts reflect on episodes from the past year, with Wynn emphasizing interviews with Nord’s Mark Arisman, Neugart’s Luke Rein and Joey Suprick, LinMot USA’s Zarren Zafiro, and Fanuc America’s Stacey Harimoto
30:10 – The co-hosts play an impromptu holiday game
37:00 – The co-hosts wrap up the episode, thanking WTWH Media leadership, including VP, editorial director Stephanie Neil, and SVP of sales, Patrick Lynch
About The Downtime podcast and co-hosts
The Downtime is a weekly manufacturing podcast from WTWH Media that features insights from its automation and controls publications. It’s co-hosted by Wynn, who serves as the senior editor (digital) for Packaging OEM, and Kasprzak, who is the executive editor for Plant Engineering, Control Engineering, and Consulting-Specifying Engineer.
New episodes drop every Thursday and are available on this website, along with YouTube, SoundCloud, and Spotify.
Check out The Downtime’s recent episodes
Episode 28: How Fallas Automation engineers flexible end-of-line systems
Episode 29: Fanuc’s robotic solutions for warehousing and material handling automation
Episode 30: Garvey debuts aluminum Bi-Flo accumulation table for non-washdown applications
Episode 31: Morrison Container Handling Solutions on timing screws and OEM support
Episode 32: Career insights for women in the trades from an engineer
