EECO Asks Why Podcast

Lifecycle services is a comprehensive approach to professional services that provides long-term partnership to end users, their needs and how others can support them meeting needs. This applies to whatever stage of the life cycle journey they're in. It's really providing end users a simplified approach at solving their problems. End User needs are changing the way they want product is sh...

Dr. Travis Hodge shared his impactful journey and opened up his world in this conversation.  From his childhood days of working at the family True Value he was intrigued at how business works. He attended Virginia Tech and has a Sugar Bowl ring as one of his prized possessions.  At Vulcan Materials he is a proven leader and is leading several projects that will continue to keep Vulcan as a leader...

BluePrint Automation is leading the way as a premier OEM of packaging solutions.  Chung-Chee Tai is an innovative thinker and is on the cutting edge of a rapidly changing industry.  He discusses how OEM's are focusing on making their solutions easy to implement with new automation technologies. Operator to machine interface is evolving and Chung-Chee is creating new design criteria to help th...

Growing up in Chicago our hero Andrew Hastert had an early passion for learning how things worked. He took that passion to the next level and after completing a degree in mechanical engineering he pursued a career where he helps businesses solve their biggest challenges. He speaks to how staying curious and understanding your own personal values are critical in life.  Andrew recognizes the talent...

How do you build an engaged team?  It can be extremely difficult especially in today's business climate as everyone learns how to move forward with COVID.  The game is changing and Nirpal Sihota brings wonderful insight and wisdom on how he is addressing this and seeing amazing results. He defines an engaged team as when people feel comfortable and confident in bringing their best self to wor...

Jason Simon is making big waves by helping those wanting to begin a career in industry learn the skills necessary to hit the ground running.  After serving his country as a United States Marine, he transitioned to a role in education and fell in love with training others.  He had the opportunity to lead AMTEC and develop cutting edge training solutions. Workforce attrition is a major issue in indu...

With so many metrics out there in industry OEE stands out as important for all manufacturers to understand.  Mike Caccia walks through the different components of OEE and how that can be impacted in the industrial environment. He discusses production, event and fault data and how that affects the important KPI's that management focuses on.  An analogy of a three legged stool is discussed and...

Zach White is an amazing coach for engineers and shares his story on this hero episode. After graduating from Purdue he had a great opportunity at Whirlpool and from there found that his passion was helping others grow in their careers.  He took a leap of faith and created OACO and has never looked back.  Zach shares about his passion for serving others and some of the innovative items he's p...

Joe Frank leads us through a discussion about the power of network assessments.  As the old saying goes “you have to know where you are to get to know where you’re going”.  This rings so true for industrial networks and the network assessment is key to getting started on the right foot. Joe discusses the ins and outs of an assessment for all the items on the physical layer.  He discusses what he l...

This episode provides a unique perspective on how to tie business goals with the OT network.  Amos Purdy has an illustrious background with having a Masters in both Electrical Engineering and Business Administration.  He had a passion to learn how to speak the language for everyone on both the technical and business side of a company.  He provides great insight on how operations and business leade...

K Sorsenginh breaks down how Ethernet/IP and interoperability converge in industry.  Interoperability is the ability of a machine or product being able to exchange or send information and the other node that is receiving it can process and utilize the information.  When you begin to utilize Ethernet/IP the ability to move data throughout an industrial environment becomes even more critical.  K doe...

Scott McNeil is the expert in all things WiFi and does a phenomenal job of breaking down what exactly is industrial WiFi.  He walks thru the hardware and client requirements as there is a wide variety of things that impact a system and zoning in on the key objectives is key.  Connectivity is critical with an industrial WiFi system and ensuring that those that need access to the network can do so i...

In this episode Chase Boehlke gives a great breakdown of what a soft starter is and where they fit best in industrial settings. He walks us through how to properly size the solution as this can be an area that people struggle with.  He digs deep on applications to help understand when soft starters are not the best solutions.   Finally he reviews when other alternatives should be considered. Chase...

Jonathan Fuller is a rising star in industry and loves helping others solve their problems.  As the Automation and Power Product Manager, he is on the front lines with manufacturing and loves the different challenges he faces while striving to bring the best solutions to the table. For those that support industry, it is well known that no two days are the same and that is something Jonathan enjoys...

The pandemic has thrown everyone for a loop and learning how to communicate with others virtually is becoming a necessary skill.  But how do you learn this skill and what do you need to know to move forward? In this episode, Tim Pollard shares some of what he and his team at Oratium live out every day.  Tim's mission is to help everyone be better communicators. He recognized very quickly that...

Our hero, Matt Hussey, grew up in the Pittsburg area and graduated from the University of Pittsburg with a degree in Mechanical Engineering (side note his minor is Nuclear Engineering which means he loves a challenge). In this episode Matt walks us thru his career and offers insight and advice to what has helped him grow professionally.  He embraced new opportunities that opened a door to make an...

Sit back and dream for a minute about what areas of your manufacturing process could be enhanced if it had a digital solution. Perhaps items such as scheduling are still being done via a manual process.  What if there were options available to enhance some of these areas that make a significant impact? In this episode Bill Migirditch unpacks this idea and discusses several ways manufacturers could...

Brett Melancon is a rising star in Engineering and shares his passion for industry. He loves technology in electric vehicles and had opportunities in his career to grow his knowledge in that space.  Currently at Bühler he's working on many projects and some are tied directly to the medical field which impacts so many people. With the rapid development of the medical field it's directly i...

Companies that embrace digital transformation will be able to attract great talent in the future.  That in itself should be enough to get everyone on the train.  In this episode Tessa Myers unpacks how companies can begin a digital transformation journey that leads to success.  This topic can be confusing and knowing where to get started is tricky.  Tessa gives examples to consider around some of...

If you're looking for inspiration this conversation hits the mark.  Jack Lawson shares many lessons and stories he had throughout his stellar career.  Jack served as the President and CEO at EECO and was able the lead through several areas of significant change.  In fact being a "change agent" was something he remembers fondly and gives wonderful advice for those that truly want to...

 A load flow study (LFS) determines proper loading as well as whether the proper voltage is maintained at each circuit due to voltage drop. In simpler terms, it helps to determine how much current load you have and whether the equipment is overloaded or not. Kareem Josephs shares what is needed to get started on a load flow study.  Items specific to the total load demand in the facility are factor...

In this episode Dan Leeman breaks down what an arc flash study (AFS) is and how to use that information to make better decisions in the future to enhance safety and reliability.  The AFS takes a holistic look at the entire electrical power system, all the way down to the individual piece of equipment that is being reviewed. An AFS gives valuable information about voltage class and characteristics,...

A great way to enhance safety and reliability in an electrical system is by performing a coordination study.  In this episode Kareem Josephs explains what a coordination study is and how it can positively impact end users.  Picture in your mind a set of dominoes.  For each domino to fall the previous one has to "trip" and then causes the next action to occur.  This happens all the way th...

Entering an electrical room can be unsettling for those new to industry.  How do you keep yourself safe in these environments?  Dan Leeman is an expert in this space and walks thru practical ways you can ensure a safe engagement with electrical gear.  Dan reviews how being proactive with visual inspections will give tons of data that you can act on.  He unpacks terms such as limited approach and r...

Protecting equipment from unexpected changes in power is key to a safe and reliable system. One of the best ways to ensure a system is properly designed and will manage faults in the most efficient way is to have a short circuit study completed.  Kareem Josephs unpacks why short circuit studies are important in this idea episode.  He shares how to start the process of obtaining a short circuit stu...