The work presented in this paper takes advantage of newly developed instrumentation suitable for in-process monitoring of an industrial stretch blow molding machine. The instrumentation provides blowing pressure and stretch-rod force histories along with the kinematics of polymer contact with the mold wall. A design of experiments pattern was used to qualitatively relate machine inputs with these process parameters and the thickness distribution of stretch blow molded PET (polyethylene terephtalate) bottles. Material slippage at the mold wall and thickness distribution is also discussed in relation to machine inputs. The key process indicators defined have great potential for use in a closed loop process control system and validation of process simulations. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 32: E436E450, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/adv.21291