April 14 – 15, 2026 | Lancaster, PA
This spring, Augmentir is excited to attend the 79th Annual PMCA Production Conference, taking place April 14-15, 2026, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hosted by PMCA, this long-running industry event brings together confectionery and snack manufacturing professionals for two days of technical learning, supplier engagement, and peer networking.
The PMCA Production Conference is known for its strong technical focus, with presentations reviewed by a committee to ensure high-quality, relevant content on essential and emerging industry topics. For manufacturers looking to modernize operations, strengthen workforce capability, and improve execution on the plant floor, PMCA is a valuable place to discover what is next in confectionery production.
Learn more about the event here.
Why The PMCA Manufacturers Confectioners Conference Matters
The PMCA Production Conference is one of the confectionery industry’s leading technical events, designed specifically for professionals across production, engineering, R&D, quality, and operations leadership. The 2026 conference combines technical presentations, breakout sessions, hands-on learning, and a supplier expo to help attendees stay current on the trends and challenges shaping confectionery and snack manufacturing.
This year’s program highlights topics such as natural colors across applications, flavor innovation in the age of AI, protein incorporation into confections and snacks, chocolate cost pressures, and regulatory updates for the confectionery industry. The conference also offers attendees direct access to suppliers, solution providers, and industry peers in a setting built for both education and connection.
More information and registration details for the event can be found here.
How Augmentir Supports Confectionery Manufacturers
At PMCA, Augmentir is highlighting how AI-powered connected worker technology is helping global confectionery manufacturers, such as Hershey, improve consistency, workforce agility, and frontline performance across global operations. Confectionery producers face rising pressure to maintain quality, accelerate onboarding, reduce variability, and capture critical know-how across increasingly dynamic production environments.
With Augmentir, manufacturers can:
- Standardize production, quality, sanitation, and changeover processes with digital work instructions and guided workflows.
- Improve training and onboarding for operators and technicians with skills-based guidance and in-context support.
- Capture tribal knowledge from experienced workers before it is lost.
- Reduce execution variability across shifts, lines, and plants with connected worker best practices.
- Use AI-driven operational insights to identify improvement opportunities and support continuous learning on the frontline.
For confectionery and snack manufacturers pursuing digital transformation, Augmentir provides a practical path to modernizing frontline work while supporting safety, quality, productivity, and workforce resilience.
What You’ll Find at the PMCA Production Conference
At the 2026 PMCA Production Conference, attendees can expect:
- Technical sessions covering current manufacturing challenges and emerging innovations in confectionery and snack production.
- A Technology Tuesday program featuring natural colors across applications, including gummies, panning, fat-based products, and troubleshooting, with demos and tasting samples.
- Morning presentations on topics including texture development, chocolate cost pressures, flavor innovation, and protein incorporation.
- Afternoon breakout sessions spanning savory candy trends, functional confections, fats and oils in filling textures, titanium dioxide replacement, nut industry insights, and regulatory updates.
- The Learn | Connect | Grow Expo with a sponsored lunch, dynamic supplier exhibits, and expanded opportunities to engage with exhibitors.
- An evening awards reception focused on celebrating achievement and bringing the PMCA community together.
Whether your priority is process improvement, product innovation, workforce development, or supplier discovery, the PMCA conference delivers practical ideas and valuable industry connections.
Who Should Attend
The PMCA Production Conference is designed for confectionery and snack industry professionals, including:
- Production and plant operations leaders
- Manufacturing and process engineers
- R&D and product innovation teams
- Quality and food safety professionals
- Supply chain and operations excellence leaders
- Training and workforce enablement teams
- Equipment, ingredient, packaging, and technical service suppliers
If your organization is focused on improving manufacturing performance, staying ahead of product and process trends, or connecting with peers across the confectionery sector, PMCA is a strong event to have on your calendar.
Book a demo to see how AI-powered connected worker software can support your production, quality, and training goals.
