Manufacturing Talks

Send us Fan Mail What a treat it was to have John Suh as our guest to talk broadly about how advanced tech will help reindustrialize America! John is a seasoned engineer with experience at Hyundai, Xerox, and General Motors, and he discussed his innovative work on combining robotics with car design, particularly an off-road vehicle with robotic suspension. Despite the project's end at Hyundai...

Send us Fan Mail The wide range of opinions on the right path forward to revitalize American shipbuilding gave us an idea: how about having a couple previous guests with differing opinions on to debate them? Many thanks to Colin Grabow of the Cato Institute and Lance Lemcool, a career shipbuilding executive, for taking on the challenge! For background on each, tune in to their previous individual...

Send us Fan Mail David Rashid, an expert on trade cheating, discussed his experiences and the challenges of combating trade fraud. He detailed how his competitor shifted production from China to Thailand to avoid tariffs, leading to a significant loss of business. Despite efforts, including hiring investigators and engaging the DOJ's Trade Fraud Task Force, the case remained unresolved. David...

Send us Fan Mail For our 200th episode, we have a guy who has one whale of a life story! Denny LaVé, a US Senate candidate from Idaho, talks about his background in the trades, entrepreneurship, and faith. Denny discusses his company, Precision Precast Erectors, which specializes in precast concrete installations. He shares his journey from an iron worker to business owner, emphasizing the dignity...

Send us Fan Mail For Episode 199, we dive into a whole host of important topics with our longtime pal Gail Robertson. She's the "recovering journalist," entrepreneur, and fellow manufacturer and podcaster who has been on several times before and helped with our most important episodes. Gail discussed her diverse background in journalism, fundraising, and marketing, which led to her...

Send us Fan Mail Note: this episode was recorded on Wednesday, March 11. That's important to know given the incredibly dynamic situation in the Middle East. We have a confluence of potential crises to analyze here, and who better to help us with it than the walking encyclopedia AND world atlas, G. Allen Brooks, publisher of the newsletter "Energy Musings?" Allen and I discuss the en...

Send us Fan Mail Prepare to be challenged in how you think about the effects of AI on manufacturing! Radu Spineanu and Mike Carroll have done the deep thinking and exhaustive research on what AI means for the industrial world so you don't have to. Radu and Mike from Humble Manufacturing talk all about the integration of AI in manufacturing. Radu, a third-time founder, and Michael, with extens...

Send us Fan Mail Yep, we're back to shipbuilding again! Because it's vital. This time, industry insider Lance Lemcool, an executive who has spent his whole career in the shipbuilding world, discusses the current state of American shipbuilding, highlighting its decline and the need for government support. He emphasizes the industry's volatility, the importance of a stable workforce,...

Send us Fan Mail You guys know I'm all about reliable and affordable energy, a strong military, and rebuilding America's industrial might. That's what makes Tom Holm such a great fit as a guest! As he put it, it's "preaching to the preacher." Tom, who is Executive Director of the Energy Defense Council, discussed the potential of nuclear energy to enhance military dom...

Send us Fan Mail This show is a solo promo for my upcoming book, which went to the publisher last week. In it, I discuss the book, tentatively titled, "Inspiring American Makers," which profiles 22 American manufacturers to counter the misconception that the U.S. no longer manufactures. I highlight the country's second-place ranking in global manufacturing and advocate for a resurge...

Send us Fan Mail Yep, we're right back to discussing the American shipbuilding crisis! During our January focus on shipbuilding, one of the best articles we used as a resource was one on the Jones Act co-authored by Colin Grabow at the Cato Institute. Colin joined us to share his broader perspectives on the U.S. shipbuilding situation. Colin discussed the complexities of shipbuilding, emphasi...

Send us Fan Mail Too many manufacturers still struggle with effective maintenance management, and still scratch their heads over what they should be doing with AI. MaintainX has answers for them on both counts. They're  leading the digital revolution in maintenance and operations, enhancing the way teams work and collaborate worldwide. Hugo Dozios-Caouette, CTO and co-founder of MaintainX, jo...

Send us Fan Mail It's the fourth and final week of the monthlong solo efforts by our host Jim Vinoski and his deep dive into the crisis in American shipbuilding. This week's episode focuses on identifying solutions to the tremendous problems we face. Jim discusses a number of the solutions his research has identified for the crisis, emphasizing the need for a stronger Navy presence and c...

Send us Fan Mail It's the third week of solo efforts by our host Jim Vinoski to do a deep dive into the crisis in American shipbuilding. This week's episode is focused on identifying the causes of the problems. Jim discusses the crisis in American shipbuilding, citing historical inefficiencies and current challenges. He references articles by Brian Potter, Colin Grabow, Inu Manak, Daniel...

Send us Fan Mail It's a second week in a row with a solo show by our host Jim Vinoski! Jim discusses the reluctance he has encountered repeatedly in his efforts to address the crisis in American shipbuilding. Despite significant declines—from 60% to 0.3% of global ocean-going shipbuilding capacity—and critical national security implications, many experts and high-ranking officials avoid the t...

Send us Fan Mail This week we've got a solo effort by our host, Jim Vinoski. He's going over the basics of an article from a year ago last September by Brian Potter with the same title as our episode. Jim discusses the decline of American shipbuilding, highlighting that the U.S. now holds only 0.3% of global shipbuilding capacity, producing about five ships annually, while China produces...

Send us Fan Mail Nick Reinhart has a good chunk of the answer. Nick founded Kreate, which makes toolboxes and storage totes for Home Depot, and a whole lot more. Nick  discussed his company's rapid growth in plastic injection molding in the U.S. since 2018. Kreate operates four facilities with 110 machines, employing 600 associates, and has an exclusive partnership with Home Depot. The compan...

Send us Fan Mail Across the industrial world, everybody is TALKING about autonomy and AI-enabled production. What most people are actually DOING, meanwhile, is scratching their heads over how the heck to use all the data they already gather. That's where Oleksandr Khimiak from Advisource AB and their Factory Cortex service come in. What a treat to chat with Oleksandr and talk honestly about w...

Send us Fan Mail What great fun this episode was! Jay Dekmar, founder of Lok Grips, had us out to his Wyoming, Michigan, shop to record right on the factory floor and hear all about how he founded his business and what he's got going on. Jay shared his journey from a tool and die apprentice to owning a successful pistol grip manufacturing business. Initially, he faced challenges in the job sh...

Send us Fan Mail When aren't you in cost-cutting mode in manufacturing? "Never" is indeed the right answer. But is all cost-cutting effective? "No" is the right answer. But Chuck Deise is here to help with that. Chuck, from EFESO Management Consultants, joined us to discuss strategies for sustainable cost-cutting in your industrial business. He highlighted a survey EFESO d...

Send us Fan Mail It was great to have Mush Khan join us for his second appearance! Mush, co-founder and CEO of Alchemy Industrial, leads a team of talented and passionate people who are dedicated to building a domestic manufacturing industry. This time around, he discussed Alchemy's focus on reshoring battery energy storage systems for commercial and industrial customers, avoiding residential...

Send us Fan Mail One thing that's critical in reindustrializing America is teaching our youth about building their own companies. But according to Dave Goerlich, we aren't always doing the greatest job at that. Dave is co-founder and CEO of The Refinery, a software development firm specializing in manufacturing. He joined us to discuss the importance of entrepreneurship education. He cri...

Send us Fan Mail Why are five of the biggest American defense contractors neck-deep in divisive, destructive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices? Dustin DeVito had a great article about that recently (link at the bottom), and he joined us to discuss just why that needs to change, pronto. Hint: it's not just about DEI. Dustin, director of research at the 1792 Exchange, discussed t...

Send us Fan Mail What I love about this episode is how Tony Gunn utterly, shamelessly shatters the myth of perfection. Tony is a prominent advocate for manufacturing, and he shared his diverse and challenging journey from a troubled high school student to a leading voice in the industry. He discussed his early struggles, including dropping out of high school and being kicked out of multiple univer...

Send us Fan Mail Software runs the world these days, and the machining world is no different. And the biggest name in software there is Mastercam, so it was educational to have Russ Bukowski as our guest for this episode. Russ, president of Mastercam, discussed the integral role of software in modern machining and Mastercam's mission to solve manufacturing challenges. He highlighted Mastercam...