Richmond Hill, Ontario | October 2026
PlasticsToday has published a feature on Rob Miller, President of WITTMANN BATTENFELD Canada and the designer of ROTOLOAD, tracing his 40-year career in plastics automation and the origins of the ROTOLOAD powder weighing and dispensing system for rotational moulding.
The article, “Four Decades of Plastics Automation: One Expert’s Journey,” by Richard Garner, appeared on September 8, 2026. It follows Miller from his early days as a machinist at Tradesco Mold to April 1986, when he joined NUCON Systems Inc., a young resin conveying company founded by his uncle, Len Miller. NUCON became part of the Austria-based WITTMANN Group in 1999, and WITTMANN’s acquisition of Battenfeld in 2008 added injection moulding machinery to the portfolio.
From a plant in Oman to a global product
The feature describes how ROTOLOAD began. While working inside a large rotational moulding operation in Oman, Miller saw how much manual labour went into measuring, moving and preparing resin for each mould. The project he was developing for that plant did not proceed, but it convinced him that rotational moulding material handling was ripe for automation. Miller and his Canadian team continued developing the concept with an early Canadian manufacturing partner, and the result was ROTOLOAD, an automated weighing and dispensing system for rotomoulders.
According to PlasticsToday, ROTOLOAD went on to win customers internationally and became a significant part of the company’s material-handling offering. In 2015, Miller received the Canadian Plastics Industry Association’s Plastics Innovator Award for its development. Today, more than 600 ROTOLOAD units are in use worldwide.
“Some of the best opportunities can be in the processes connecting everything together; moving material, weighing it, drying it, handling it, and eliminating repetitive steps around production.” – Rob Miller, in PlasticsToday
Five generations of automation
The article frames Miller’s career through the generations of plastics automation he has worked through: automating physical work, connecting individual machines into systems, using automation as a business tool to improve repeatability, scrap and throughput, the connected and data-driven factory, and an emerging stage in which systems begin to adapt using sensor data and AI.
Miller is clear that data and AI are only valuable when they solve a real manufacturing problem.
“Collecting more information is only the starting point. The real value is being able to use that information to recognize a developing issue earlier, improve the process, or allow the system to respond more effectively.” – Rob Miller
He also stresses that the engineering fundamentals still matter.
“No matter how advanced the intelligence surrounding a conveying system becomes, we’re still dealing with material that physically has to get from point A to point B.” – Rob Miller
What it means for rotomoulders
That philosophy is built into ROTOLOAD. The system weighs every dispense rather than measuring by volume, moves powder through enclosed conveying lines, and uses barcode, RFID or QR-code recipe control to confirm the right material, colour and weight. The result is the kind of practical automation Miller describes fewer repetitive manual steps, more consistent shots, and data that operations teams can actually use.
Read the full feature on PlasticsToday, or meet Rob Miller and the ROTOLOAD team at Booth 200 at Rotoplas 2026 in New Orleans, November 17-19.
Sources: PlasticsToday, Four Decades of Plastics Automation (Sept. 8, 2026) | CPIA 2015 Award Winners (GlobeNewswire)
